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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces a unique opportunity for investigators working with small molecule compounds to gain access to a robust virtual pharma drug development network to develop neurotherapeutic drugs. Successful applicants to this FOA will become collaborative participants in this network, receiving both funding and no-cost access to contracted drug development services that are not typically available to the academic research community. Funding will be provided through a U01 cooperative agreement mechanism to conduct biological testing of compound analogs in disease assays and models in the investigators laboratory. No-cost drug development services will also be provided, including medicinal chemistry optimization, IND-directed pharmacology and toxicology, and Phase I clinical testing. Researchers in possession of disease assays and small molecule compounds that show promise for treating nervous system and psychiatric disorders, but that are not yet suitable for clinical testing, are strongly encouraged to apply.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages grant applications for Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Cooperative Research Projects (U01s). The mission of the CounterACT U01 program is to develop new and improved therapeutics for chemical threats. Chemical threats are toxic chemicals that could be used in a terrorist attack or accidentally released from industrial production, storage or shipping. They include traditional chemical warfare nerve agents such as sarin and VX, and toxic industrial chemicals and pesticides such as cyanide, chlorine, parathion, and sodium fluoroacetate. The scope of the research to be supported includes basic target and candidate identification and characterization studies, through candidate optimization and demonstration of in vivo efficacy, through Investigational New Drug (IND) submission and Phase 1 clinical trials when appropriate. Each project must include milestones that create discrete go or no-go decision points in a progressive translational study plan.

The goal of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support pre-clinical development and testing of new therapies for neurological disorders. The program will facilitate solicitation, development, and review of therapy-directed projects to accelerate the translation of basic research discoveries into therapeutic candidates for clinical testing. This program is specifically directed at projects that include therapeutic leads with demonstrated activity against the intended disease target. The program supports pre-clinical optimization and testing of these leads and projects must be sufficiently advanced that an IND or IDE application to the FDA can be submitted by the end of the project period. The program does not support early-stage therapeutic discovery activities such as high throughput screening. The program also excludes clinical research, basic research, and studies of disease mechanism. This is a milestone-driven cooperative agreement program involving participation of NINDS staff in the development of the project plan and monitoring of research progress.

The goal of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA), from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is to support preclinical development of new therapies to cure epilepsy, prevent the emergence of epilepsy following brain injury (including status epilepticus, traumatic brain injury, stroke, encephalitis, or other injury) or in other high-risk groups, or to better treat individuals with intractable epilepsy. The program will facilitate solicitation, development, and review of therapy-directed projects to accelerate the translation of basic research discoveries into therapeutic candidates for clinical testing. This program is specifically directed at projects that include therapeutic leads with demonstrated activity against the intended disease target. The program supports preclinical optimization and testing of these leads and projects must be sufficiently advanced that an IND or IDE application to the FDA can be submitted by the end of the project period. The program does not support early-stage therapeutic discovery activities such as high throughput screening. The program also excludes clinical research, basic research, and studies of disease mechanism. This is a milestone-driven cooperative agreement program involving participation of NIH staff in the development of the project plan and monitoring of research progress.

This initiative, issued by the National Institutes of Health, encourages applications from institutions/organizations that apply nanoscience and nanotechnology approaches to address problems in biology and medicine. The purpose of this FOA is to provide support for cutting-edge nanoscience and nanotechnology research that can lead to biomedical breakthroughs and new investigations into the diagnosis, treatment and management of an array of diseases and traumatic injuries. Nanoscience and nanotechnology have the capacity to drive a new wave of medical innovation through the engineering of bioactive nanoscale structures, processes and systems based on the advancement of our understanding of biology at the nanoscale. Therefore, this FOA will also support research projects that develop new or improved nanotechnology and nanoscience-based tools, methods, concepts, and devices that lead to a better understanding of basic biology in addition to conducting translational biomedical studies. Because this FOA utilizes the R21 grant mechanisms, applications that focus on novel or exploratory approaches that are risky but have potentially a high impact are encouraged as well as proposed discovery research that may lead to new areas of biomedical investigations.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage applications to pursue translational and pilot clinical studies for neural prosthetics. The program will utilize the cooperative agreement mechanism to enable support for milestone-driven projects for the design, development, and demonstration of clinically-useful neural prosthetic devices. Activities supported in this program include implementation of clinical prototype devices, preclinical safety and efficacy testing, design verification and validation activities, pursuit of regulatory approval for clinical study, and proof-of-concept or pilot clinical studies.

This initiative, issued by the National Institutes of Health, encourages applications from institutions/organizations that apply nanoscience and nanotechnology approaches to address problems in biology and medicine. The purpose of this FOA is to provide support for cutting-edge nanoscience and nanotechnology research that can lead to biomedical breakthroughs and new investigations into the diagnosis, treatment and management of an array of diseases and traumatic injuries. Nanoscience and nanotechnology have the capacity to drive a new wave of medical innovation through the engineering of bioactive nanoscale structures, processes and systems based on the advancement of our understanding of biology at the nanoscale. Therefore, this FOA will also support research projects that develop new or improved nanotechnology and nanoscience-based tools, methods, concepts, and devices that lead to a better understanding of basic biology in addition to conducting translational biomedical studies.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invites new and renewal applications for the Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence for Parkinsons Disease Research program. The overarching goal of the specialized Udall Centers program is to establish a network of Centers that work independently as well as collaboratively to define the causes of and discover a cure for Parkinsons disease (PD). A more immediate goal for each Center is to rapidly advance synergistic, high-impact research programs while serving as local resources and national leaders in PD research and treatment. The overall theme, proposed research projects, and associated scientific/clinical cores must relate directly to the etiology, pathogenesis or treatment of PD. Investigations on related parkinsonian disorders may be included, to the extent that these directly inform research on PD. Required components include: 1) a minimum of three interdisciplinary research projects, which must include one early-stage translational research project (see below); 2) a complement of resource-related Cores essential to accomplish the Aims of proposed research projects; 3) an early-stage translational research project. In this context translational research is defined as investigations focusing on the development of therapeutics, diagnostics, devices or clinical criteria that would ultimately lead to new approaches for the treatment of PD; 4) an Administrative Core; and 5) at a minimum, in the absence of a dedicated Research and Education Core, each application must include a specific mission statement for training within the Administrative Core section.

The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is a framework to enhance cooperative activities among the NIH Office of the Director and 15 NIH Institutes and Centers that support research on the nervous system. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is released in affiliation with the Neuroscience Blueprint, with Institutes and Centers participating independently, and with participation by Institutes and Centers that are not part of the Blueprint. This FOA encourages Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant applications that propose to continue the process of developing complex instrumentation, clinical research tools, or behavioral interventions and treatments. This FOA specifically invites applications for the competing renewal of previously funded Phase II SBIR grants to further develop the aforementioned types of technologies.

The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is a framework to enhance cooperative activities among the NIH Office of the Director and 15 NIH Institutes and Centers that support research on the nervous system. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is released in affiliation with the Neuroscience Blueprint, with Institutes and Centers participating independently, and with participation by Institutes and Centers that are not part of the Blueprint. This FOA encourages the translation of technologies for brain or behavioral research from academic and other non-small business research sectors to the marketplace. Encouraged from Small Business Concerns (SBCs) are Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant applications that propose to further develop, make more robust, and make more user-friendly such technologies in preparation for commercial dissemination. It is expected that this activity will require partnerships and close collaboration between the original developers of these technologies and SBCs, which may be accomplished in any of a number of ways, including the use of multiple principle investigators.