NINDS Neuroscience Funding Announcements

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invite novel research grant applications to address the problem of HIV-1 persistence focused solely on the central nervous system (CNS) of HIV-infected persons treated with Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART). This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support highly innovative research in five areas: (1) basic research to identify and characterize CNS-based cellular reservoirs of HIV-1 for individuals on HAART; (2) basic research to determine the mechanisms involved in the temporal establishment, maintenance, and resurgence of CNS-based HIV-1 reservoirs in relationship to the effects and timing of HAART, viral expression, and viral evolution within the brain; (3) development of physiologically relevant animal models and CNS-based cellular assays that recapitulate HIV-1 persistence and latency in the presence of effective HAART; (4) drug screening of potential agents which traverse the blood-brain barrier and eliminate latent or other sources of residual virus in the CNS; and (5) design of therapeutic strategies aimed at eradication of HIV-1 from the CNS. Applications ranging from basic to translational research in domestic and international settings are of interest. Multidisciplinary research teams are encouraged but not required.