OARS funding Biomed

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant applications from small business concerns (SBCs) to develop medium- to high-throughput assays to evaluate the effects of toxicants on pluripotent or induced pluripotent cells with respect to cell differentiation and the resulting differentiated cell populations. The ability to incorporate genetic diversity in these assays would be useful.  These assays will provide information on mechanisms of chemically-induced biological activity, help to prioritize chemicals for more extensive toxicological evaluation, support more predictive models of in vivo biological response, and potentially inform on the role of genetic diversity in toxicological effects.

Comprehensive understanding of life and how and why it changes over time depends on knowledge of the phylogeny (evolutionary relationships) of living and extinct organisms. The goals of the Genealogy of Life (GoLife) program are to resolve the phylogenetic history of all life’s diverse forms and to integrate this genealogical architecture with underlying organismal and environmental data. The ultimate vision of this program is an open access, comprehensive Genealogy of Life that will provide the comparative framework necessary for testing questions in systematics, evolutionary biology, ecology, and other fields. Strategic integration of this genealogy of life with data layers from genomic, phenotypic, spatial, ecological and temporal data will produce an extensive synthesis of biodiversity and evolutionary sciences. The resulting knowledge infrastructure will enable synthetic research on biological dynamics throughout the history of life on Earth, within current ecosystems, and for predictive modeling of the future evolution of life. Projects submitted to this program should emphasize increased efficiency in contributing to a complete Genealogy of Life and strategic integration of various types of organismal and environmental data with phylogenies. This program also seeks to broadly train next generation, integrative phylogenetic biologists, creating the human resource infrastructure and workforce needed to tackle emerging research questions in comparative biology. Projects should train students for diverse careers by exposing them to the multidisciplinary areas of research within the proposal.

IDA solicits nominations from senior leaders within major universities and from DSSG mentors, advisors, alumni, and current members. Because participation in the DSSG requires acquisition of a security clearance, all members must be U.S. citizens. Selection is based on academic excellence, breadth of interests, references, consideration of discipline, and geographic distribution.  Miami faculty who would like to be nominated for the DSSG, should contact Heather Johnston (johnsthb@MiamiOH.edu) in OARS.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to stimulate the development of innovative tools and strategies for curing HIV infection. HIV establishes latent infection in long-lived cells that form a reservoir of virus that persists in infected individuals even after years of treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Curing HIV infection requires innovative strategies to identify and eliminate these reservoir cells. The task is especially difficult given the lack of HIV protein expression during latency and the low frequency of latently infected cells during treatment. Novel approaches are therefore sought to efficiently monitor and specifically target reservoirs of latently infected cells to facilitate the testing of strategies to cure HIV infection in vivo.

Comprehensive understanding of life and how and why it changes over time depends on knowledge of the phylogeny (evolutionary relationships) of living and extinct organisms. The goals of the Genealogy of Life (GoLife) program are to resolve the phylogenetic history of all life's diverse forms and to integrate this genealogical architecture with underlying organismal and environmental data.

The Department of State's Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR) is pleased to announce an open competition for assistance awards through this Request for Proposals (RFP). ISN/CTR invites non-profit/non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and educational institutions to submit proposals for projects that will advance the mission of the Department's Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP). ISN/CTR has approximately $25,000,000 available in the current fiscal year to award multiple grants and cooperative agreements in this field. ISN/CTR prefers projects that cost less than $500,000, though awards may involve multiple projects that cumulatively exceed $500,000.

The Sarcoma Foundation of America has developed a program to provide grants to investigators interested in translational science sarcoma research.  Funding of up to $50,000, allowing up to 10 percent indirect costs, is available to cover equipment and supplies in support of research on the etiology, molecular biology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of human sarcomas.

The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) announces the availability of administrative supplements to support research highlighting the impact of sex/gender differences (or similarities) and/or sex and gender factors in human health and illness, including basic, preclinical, clinical and behavioral studies.Of special interest are studies relevant to understanding of the significance of biological sex on cells; comparative studies of male and female tissues, organ systems and physiological systems; sex based comparisons of pathophysiology, biomarkers, gene expression, clinical presentation and prevention and treatment of diseases The proposed research must address at least one objective from Goals 1 through 3 of the NIH Strategic Plan for Women's Health Research.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement is to solicit applications for early-stage translational research projects focused on discovery and development of novel non-traditional therapeutics that provide alternative treatment modalities for infected patients and address the growing health care threat of increasing antibiotic resistance.

The ASH Research Training Award for Fellows (RTAF) is designed to encourage junior researchers in hematology, hematology/oncology, or other hematology-related training programs to pursue a career in academic hematology. The RTAF awards $55,000 to fellows in training so they will have protected time for research and is to be used primarily for salary support for the applicant. Awards are targeted to two separate groups of researchers: a Junior Investigator RTAF for second and third-year fellows (apply in years one or two of fellowship) and a Senior Investigator RTAF for fourth or fifth-year fellows (apply in years three or four of fellowship).

The Medical Research Fellows Program gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a year of basic, translational, or applied biomedical research. Medical Fellows experience the excitement and intellectual rewards of research before making plans for residency or postgraduate training. The students select their own mentor at any academic or nonprofit research institution in the United States (excluding the National Institutes of Health or any other federal agency) or abroad, provided the proposed mentor is affiliated with a U.S. fellowship institution, and work with the mentor to develop a research proposal. Mentor selection and the research project proposal are key components of the application. Working with an HHMI investigator, early career scientist, or HHMI professor is encouraged but not required. 

Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSMLs) are off-campus facilities for research and education conducted in the natural habitats of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. FSMLs support environmental and basic biological research and education by preserving access to study areas and organisms, by providing facilities and equipment in close proximity to those study areas, and by fostering an atmosphere of mutual scientific interest and collaboration in research and education. To fulfill these roles, FSMLs must offer modern research and educational facilities, equipment, communications and data management systems for a broad array of users. In recognition of the importance of FSMLs in modern biology, NSF invites proposals that address these general goals of FSML improvement.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The goal of this NHLBI R25 program is to support educational activities that enhance the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research workforce in the mission areas of importance to NHLBI. To accomplish the stated goal, this funding opportunity announcement encourages the development of creative educational activities with a primary focus on Research Experiences.

Stem cell technology holds the promise of providing a nearly limitless source of safe, immune-matched cells for clinical use. One of the first areas where this promise can be realized is through cell products that lack a nucleus and thus face fewer regulatory hurdles, such as red blood cells and platelets. Considerable progress has been made but scientific questions remain and improved tools to enhance the production are required if translation to clinical use is to be achieved. To this end, this FOA will support research addressing remaining scientific questions to enable and accelerate the use of stem cell-derived blood products as therapeutics. While production of sufficient numbers of cells such as platelets and red cells has been demonstrated using cellular engineering methods, basic research questions related to cell differentiation and maturation remain, which if elucidated, may allow for the development of new ways to efficiently produce clinically-useful stem cell-derived platelets or red blood cells. In addition to this FOA, two companion FOAs (RFA-HL-15-029 and RFA-HL-15-030) will support small business research to develop improved techniques and tools to enhance the production of clinically-relevant, functional stem cell-derived red blood cells or platelets in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.

The goal of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) Quantum Program is to achieve a profound (quantum) advance over present-day approaches to the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and/or treatment of a major disease or national public health problem primarily through the development of biomedical engineering/biomedical imaging technologies. In order to realize a profound advance against a major disease or national public health problem, this announcement supports research to develop and prepare a target technology for clinical efficacy at the completion of Quantum funding (which may include up to two competitive renewals). The NIBIB mission is to improve human health by leading the development and acceleration of the application of biomedical technologies. Major biomedical technologies, emerging from the interface of the engineering, physical, and life sciences such as MR imaging, endoscopic devices for minimally invasive surgery, the cochlear implant, and the pacemaker have had a profound impact on human health and quality of life. In many cases, realization of a quantum impact from a new biomedical technology can only be achieved if the needed intellectual and financial resources are focused on a specific targeted project in a concerted fashion. The NIBIB Quantum Program is intended to support development of biomedical technologies that will result in a profound paradigm shift in prevention, detection, diagnosis, and/ or treatment of a major disease or national public health problem.

To support highly promising beginning scientists in their progress toward independence by encouraging and adequately funding research projects that can bridge the gap between completion of research training and readiness for successful competition as an independent investigator. Research broadly related to cardiovascular function and disease and stroke, or to related clinical, basic science, bioengineering or biotechnology, and public health problems, including multidisciplinary efforts. Proposals are encouraged from all basic, behavioral, epidemiological, and community and clinical investigations that bear on cardiovascular and stroke problems.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes the increasing demands placed on biomedical researchers to share data they generate through federally-funded research projects. As part of its Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Initiative, NIH wishes to help the broader scientific community update knowledge and skills in the important areas of the science, storage, management and sharing of biomedical big data. NIH wants to identify the array of timely, high quality courses and online learning materials already available on data science and data management topics for biomedical big data.

Through the program, the foundation will award grants of up to $20,000 to innovative projects that support the foundation's current research and education priorities, which include support for early-career investigators (fellows and young faculty) as well as for the development of innovative methods of delivering medical toxicology education to healthcare providers and the general public.

Proposed research projects should be directed toward the molecular biology of pain and/or basic science topics related to the development of new analgesics for the management of pain due to terminal illness.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages applications that propose to conduct mechanistic studies on the relationship between excessive alcohol drinking, alcohol dependence and pain. An association between chronic pain conditions and alcohol dependence has been revealed in numerous studies with episodes of alcohol abuse antedating chronic pain in some people and alcohol dependence emerging after the onset of chronic pain in others. Pain transmission and alcohols reinforcing effects share overlapping neural substrates giving rise to the possibility that chronic pain states significantly affect alcohol use patterns and promote the development of dependence and addiction. In addition, long term alcohol intoxication and alcohol dependence induce pain symptoms and may exacerbate chronic pain arising from other sources. The objective of this FOA is to understand genetic, pharmacological and learning mechanisms underlying the association between the propensity to drink excessively alcohol and pain responses.