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The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to expand the vision and eye health surveillance system by identifying and incorporating new data sources and validating data and key indicators, maintaining the existing system, and promoting the vision and eye health surveillance system to stakeholders to monitor the burden of vision loss and eye diseases and ultimately to improve the vision and eye health of the nation. Vision loss is recognized as a public health problem because it affects more than 4 million people aged 40 years and older in the United States. It is associated with higher prevalence of multiple chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular health, falls, injuries, depression, smoking, premature mortality and overall poorer quality of life. The United States government in Healthy People 2010 and 2020, in conjunction with the vision and eye care communities, have identified the reduction of population disparities in vision loss and access to eye care services as top public health priorities. Despite the knowledge about the individual and societal burden of vision loss and eye diseases, the public health surveillance system in the United States has only just begun to systematically understand and monitor the magnitude and implications of vision loss, access to eye care, and effectiveness of services that potentially improve health and quality of life of those who are at risk of or experience vision loss.

This funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages Multiple Principal Investigator (Multi-PD/PI) applications from United States (U.S.) and Indian institution as bilateral collaborations that will advance science and technology important to understanding, preventing, and treating blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, and their complications. Areas of Research Collaboration: Applications are encouraged from organization/institutions that propose to conduct research on the basic biology and/or genetics of ophthalmic diseases through collaborations with Indian investigators on the following: diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, including rare and genetic diseases such as congenital cataracts, as well as other eye conditions such as ocular inflammation/uveitis, refractive error, low vision, and corneal injury. Basic, translational, or epidemiological research maybe proposed. Clinical trials will not be supported under this FOA.

The "3-D Retina Organoid'' Challenge (the "Challenge''), is an ideation Challenge in which the National Eye Institute (NEI; http://www.nei.nih.gov/), part of the National Institutes of Health (http://www.nih.gov(link is external)), is asking for ideas to maximize the physiological relevance of 3-D human retina culture systems. Currently, retina culture models do not capture the complexity of the human retina. The goal of the Challenge is to transform innovative ideas into concrete concepts to develop new in vitro 3-D human retina models that recapitulate the organization and function of the human retina. NEI intends to follow this challenge with a follow-on but distinct Reduction to Practice Challenge, which will aim to invoke scientific and technological development of the model system. Technological breakthroughs in this arena could allow researchers and physicians to better understand, diagnose, and treat retinal diseases.

CDC, in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Program/Department of AIDS Control, has successfully laid the foundation for quality standards and approaches within India's vast HIV laboratory network through a previous five-year laboratory strengthening funding opportunity announcement (FOA). Many achievements were made during the course of the five-year project period, including accreditation of national and state reference labs. This follow-on FOA is expected to build upon and sustain previous accomplishments through onsite mentoring and in service staff training with an eye to higher quality services and scale up. A plan will be developed to facilitate laboratory quality at the grassroots level for 12,000 + Integrated HIV Testing and Counseling Centers (ICTCs). This shall be done through trainer/mentor creation within the HIV laboratory network to assist peripheral laboratories in implementing minimum quality standards. Given its expanded technical assistance (TA) scope, it is also expected to build the capacity and assure quality in a phased manner for HIV related tests like CD4 enumeration, HIV viral load and STI through strengthening leadership and mentoring capacity within the laboratory network. Now in Phase IV of its HIV/AIDS response, the Government of India (GoI) is keen to address any gaps in testing coverage.

The National Eye Institute (NEI) supports large-scale clinical vision research projects, including randomized clinical trials and epidemiologic studies. At the time of submission, applications requesting support for these activities are expected to provide detailed information regarding the study rationale, design, analytic techniques, protocols and procedures, facilities and environment, organizational structure, and collaborative arrangements. This information is best conveyed in a well-documented Manual of Procedures (MOP), the development of which represents a costly and time-consuming activity. This FOA is designed to facilitate activities central to the refinement of a study protocol and procedures and the development of a detailed MOP. The NEI Clinical Study Planning Grant may be used to support the development of a MOP, as well as to conduct preliminary studies to refine study procedures or document recruitment potential. The grant must not be used to generate data on the effects of a proposed intervention. This NEI FOA is applicable to both epidemiologic and clinical trial research studies.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to establish a joint initiative between the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the Vision Research Program (Vision Research Program) of the Department of Defense (DOD). Through this FOA, the NEI will support meritorious VRP proposals that were unable to be funded by the DOD.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite applications for short-term, proof-of-principle research projects that will provide preliminary data for a future FOA aimed at the development of new models that emulate human visual system anatomy, physiology and disease processes.

The purpose of the U.S.-China Program for Biomedical Collaborative Research is to stimulate collaborative basic, translational, and clinical research between United States (U.S.)-based researchers and Chinese researchers in the areas of cancer, environmental health, heart disease, blood disorders, diseases of the eye and visual system, mental health, and neurological disorders. Partnering U.S. and Chinese investigators must work jointly to submit identical applications to NIH and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), respectively.  U.S. investigators must respond to the announcement from NIH, including the Chinese application as an attachment, and Chinese investigators must respond to a separate funding announcement from NSFC, including the NIH application as an attachment.     

The Ohio Affiliate of  Prevent Blindness is accepting applications for its 2018 Young Investigator Student Fellowship Awards for Female Scholars in Vision Research. The Fellowship Program is designed to provide support for outstanding female scientists committed to pursuing biomedical, behavioral or clinical research careers relevant to the mission of Prevent Blindness - to prevent blindness and preserve sight.  Grants will be awarded for the summer 2018 session.  Awards will range from $3000-$5000 depending upon the availability of funds. The deadline for receipt of applications is Feb. 15, 2018. Applicants must be post-baccalaureate students enrolled in a master's or doctorate program during the summer of 2018, female, citizens or permanent residents of the United States, and conducting their research with a recognized academic institution in the State of Ohio. Applications from diverse fields in the health sciences including, but not limited to ophthalmology, optometry, nursing, genetics, public health, nutrition, gerontology, and bioengineering, are appropriate to the goals of this fellowship award. The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness encourages fellowship applications which investigate public health issues related to the burden of eye-related health and safety topics.

A central goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to understand how electrical and chemical signals code information in neural circuits and give rise to sensations, thoughts, emotions and actions. While currently available technologies can provide some understanding, they may not be sufficient to accomplish this goal. For example, non-invasive technologies are low resolution and/or provide indirect measures such as blood flow, which are imprecise; invasive technologies can provide information at the level of single neurons producing the fundamental biophysical signals, but they can only be applied to tens or hundreds of neurons, out of a total number in the human brain estimated at 85 billion. Other BRAIN FOAs seek to develop novel technology (RFA-NS-16-006) or to optimize existing technology ready for in-vivo proof-of-concept testing and collection of preliminary data (RFA-NS-16-007) for recording or manipulating neural activity on a scale that is beyond what is currently possible. This FOA seeks applications for unique and innovative technologies that are in an even earlier stage of development than that sought in other FOAs, including new and untested ideas that are in the initial stages of conceptualization.

The BrightFocus Foundation provides research funds for U.S. and international researchers pursuing high-risk studies that illuminate areas for which there currently is little understanding, helping to bring to light crucial knowledge about Alzheimer's disease, glaucoma, and macular degeneration. The organization's mission is to save mind and sight by funding innovative research worldwide and by promoting better health through education. To that end, the foundation is accepting applications for its Alzheimer's Disease Research and National Glaucoma Research programs. 1) Alzheimer's Disease Research: Grants of up to $300,000 over three years will be awarded to researchers for innovative investigator-initiated research projects. The program is designed to give scientists the opportunity to develop the preliminary data necessary to be considered competitive for larger government or corporate types of sponsorship. Applications must be received no later than October 18, 2017. 2) National Glaucoma Program: Grants of up to $150,000 over two years will be awarded to researchers for innovative investigator-initiated glaucoma-related research projects. The program is designed to give scientists the opportunity to develop the preliminary data necessary to be considered competitive for larger government or corporate types of sponsorship. Typically these awards are made to junior investigators, or to more established investigators who are proposing particularly innovative research.

The purpose of this FOA is to encourage applications that seek to conduct studies of the visual system. This FOA will support applications that either Those that involve human subjects, but are not NIH-defined clinical trials (see NOT-OD-15-015); or Those that are NIH-defined clinical trials and are designed to address either: 1) mechanisms underlying human vision in health and disease; or 2) interventions that entail procedures with minimal risk to subjects. A mechanistic trial is defined as "A study designed to understand a biological or behavioral process, the pathophysiology of a disease, or the mechanism of action of an intervention. "Minimal risk" means that the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater in and of themselves than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests. NIH-defined clinical trial applications that are neither mechanistic nor minimal risk are not eligible for this FOA. Large-scale clinical trials, human gene-transfer and stem cell therapy trials, and other complex or high resource- or safety-risk clinical trials are not appropriate for this FOA. Applicants are strongly advised to consult with NEI program staff prior to submitting an application with human subjects to determine the appropriate funding opportunity.

The purpose of the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) program is to stimulate research in educational institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced degrees for a significant number of the Nation's research scientists, but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. AREA grants create opportunities for scientists and institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in NIH research programs to contribute to the Nation's biomedical and behavioral research effort. AREA grants are intended to support small-scale research projects proposed by faculty members of eligible, domestic institutions, to expose undergraduate and/or graduate students to meritorious research projects, and to strengthen the research environment of the applicant institution.   

The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) InitiativeSM is aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. By accelerating the development and application of innovative technologies, researchers will be able to produce a new dynamic picture of the brain that, for the first time, will show how individual cells and complex neural circuits interact in both time and space. It is expected that the application of these new tools and technologies will ultimately lead to new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders.