Funding News - Applications for CounterACT Research Projects Requested

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) requests grant applications for countermeasures against chemical threats (CounterACT) research projects.  This announcement is made together with 5 other components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).*

The increased risk of a terrorist attack in the United States involving chemical agents has created new challenges for many departments and agencies across the federal government.  The purpose of this announcement is to support cooperative agreement (U01) research projects to develop safe and effective medical countermeasures against chemical threats.  Chemical threat agents are toxic chemicals that could be used in a terrorist attack against civilians, or chemicals that could be released at toxic levels by accident or natural disaster.

Areas of research interest include, but are not limited to:  therapies based on acute toxicity of the chemical threat agent, e.g., development of new and/or improved anticonvulsants, neuroprotectants, new approaches to counteract pulmonary edema, relevant anti-inflammatory drugs, surfactants, or the development of better skin and eye protectants; therapies based on mechanism of action of the threat agent, e.g., reactivation/protection of acetylcholinesterase, or preservation of mitochondrial respiration; alternate formulations of existing therapeutics that possess physical and chemical characteristics that allow them to be stockpiled, e.g., longer shelf lives; improved rapid diagnostic techniques/technologies used for differential diagnosis, triage, detection of subclinical exposures, prognosis, and prediction of tissue damage; identification of biomarkers (genomic, proteomic, metabonomic) of exposure and disease progression for individual chemicals or classes of chemicals with similar signatures; and safe and effective therapies and diagnostic techniques for pediatric and elderly segments of the civilian population or for those individuals with pre-existing medical conditions.

LETTERS OF INTENT RECEIPT DATE:  March 10, 2006.

APPLICATION RECEIPT DATE:  April 11, 2006.

For more information, potential applicants should contact Dr. David Jett, Program Director, Technology Development Group, NINDS, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 2177, Bethesda, MD  20892; telephone: 
301-496-6035; fax:  301-402-1501; e-mail:  dj140o@nih.gov.

*For a full list of supporting NIH components and a more detailed description of this request for applications, please visit the NIH web site at:  http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-06-004.html.