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The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) invite applications for Specialized Center Grants (P50) grants in order to encourage behavioral, psychological, social, and biomedical research on the interrelationships among cognition, emotion, biological processes, and physical health. The NIH sponsoring organizations are issuing this Request for Applications (RFA) to foster interdisciplinary research on the interactions among the mind and body in health and disease. Applications in response to this RFA are encouraged to propose research topics ranging from basic research to those involving clinical applications.

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) seek research grant applications that will generate scientific knowledge to lead to improved care for those at the end of life. Research applications may include basic, clinical or health care studies focused on the clinical management of physical and psychological symptoms, patient-provider and patient-family communication, ethics and clinical decision-making, caregiver support, or the context of care delivery for those facing life-limiting illnesses. The purpose of this initiative is to generate research that will improve the quality of dying for Americans and decrease the distress for their caregivers.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invite qualified investigators to submit research grant applications for pilot clinical drug trials directed toward the treatment of the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer"s Disease (AD). Data from pilot clinical studies are often required before proceeding to a full-scale clinical trial. The NIA, the NIMH, and the NINDS are interested in supporting exploratory studies required to obtain the necessary information to establish the basis for proceeding to a full-scale trial. The purpose of the Alzheimer"s Disease Pilot Clinical Trials initiative is to obtain preliminary data and conduct studies to support the rationale for a subsequent full-scale clinical drug trial of an intervention to slow, halt, or reverse the progressive decline in cognitive function and/or to modify the cognitive and behavioral symptoms in Alzheimer"s disease victims as well as to delay the onset of or prevent Alzheimer"s disease. Note: There is a companion Program Announcement available, the "Alzheimer"s Disease Clinical Trial Planning Grant" (PA-99-039).

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invite qualified investigators to submit research grant applications for clinical trial planning grants directed toward the drug treatment of the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer"s Disease (AD). The purpose of the Alzheimer"s Disease Clinical Trial Planning Grant is to allow for early peer review of the rationale and design for Alzheimer"s disease clinical drug trials and to provide support for the development of a detailed clinical trial research plan, including a manual of operations and procedures. Note: There is a companion Program Announcement available for "Alzheimer"s Disease Pilot Clinical Trials" (PA-99-038).

The Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD) Branch, Center for Research for Mothers and Children (CRMC), of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Division of Fundamental Neuroscience and Developmental Disorders (DFNDD) of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invite research grant applications that address the genetics, pathophysiological mechanisms, and the development of biomarkers for Rett Syndrome. Areas of interest include developmental neurobiology, pathophysiology, genetics, epidemiology, structure-function correlations, and clinical studies that have a direct link to Rett Syndrome. Specific funds will be set aside to support investigator-initiated applications responsive to this grant solicitation.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) invite investigator-initiated research grant applications to study the mechanisms by which diabetes results in painful and disabling neuropathies and other neurological complications and to apply this information to the development of interventions to prevent, limit, or reverse these complications. The etiology of diabetic neuropathy is complex, involving metabolic and vascular effects. Recent evidence suggests that deficiencies in neurotrophic factors may also play a role. Diabetic autonomic neuropathy is a particularly understudied area. The intent of this RFA is to intensify investigator-initiated research, to attract new investigators to the field and to enhance interdisciplinary approaches to research in these areas.

In response to recent research progress and opportunity, the excellent response to the initial request, and in recognition of continuing Congressional interest to intensify and to expand basic and clinical research in Parkinson"s Disease, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invites qualified investigators to submit grant applications for the establishment of NINDS Parkinson"s Disease Research Centers of Excellence. The purpose of reissuing this Request for Applications (RFA) is to encourage additional research opportunities and discoveries that will lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of patients with Parkinson"s Disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, based on a better understanding of the fundamental cause(s) of the disease. It is expected that these Centers will foster an environment that will enhance the research effectiveness of investigators in a multi-disciplinary setting, utilizing specialized methods relevant to the study of these disorders. The original RFA was published in the NIH Guide, Volume 26, Number 38, November 21, 1997.

The primary goal of this initiative is to advance our understanding of sleep and wakefulness by developing improved molecular, cellular, and systems approaches to investigate sleep and circadian phenotypes in mice. Better and more extensively-characterized mouse models will help determine the genetic underpinnings of sleep and wakefulness, elucidate the physiological role of sleep, and develop new directions for the treatment of sleep disorders. Establishing inbred mice strains as a platform for sleep studies will advance our understanding of normal sleep phenotypes, facilitate the use of targeted and transgenic gene modification approaches, and lead to a refinement in the definition of sleep state in molecular and genomic terms.

The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to solicit applications for research grants to develop new technologies or refine established technologies for gene discovery and gene expression analysis in the nervous system. The nervous system poses unique challenges to gene expression analysis because of its extreme cellular heterogeneity and complex distributions of messenger RNAs within individual cells. In addition, the nervous system is unusual in the degree to which it uses alternative splicing and RNA editing as mechanisms for regulating the spatial and temporal specificity of gene function. The development of methods suited to the anatomical and molecular complexities of the nervous system is therefore critical for quantifying gene expression in this system, and for understanding how changes in gene expression may correlate with different developmental, pathological, or functional states. Methods of interest would include, but are not limited to: 1) isolation of mRNA from single cells or small cell populations, 2) creation of high quality cDNA libraries from small amounts of tissue, 3) high throughput methods for quantifying the expression of large numbers of genes, 4) methods for quantifying multiple spliced or edited variants of a given transcript, 5) methods for comparing protein levels to corresponding mRNA levels for a given transcript within a cell or tissue sample, and 6) techniques for visualizing RNA distribution within cells and tissues. The development of these methods is expected to improve our understanding of nervous system function in normal and disease conditions, and will aid in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) encourage investigator-initiated research grant applications to study tissue engineering. The purpose of this Tissue Engineering Program Announcement (PA) is to inform the scientific community of the NIH"s interests, and to stimulate and foster a wide range of basic and translational studies to: (1) develop optimal materials/designs for matrices/scaffolds, (2) better understand how matrices/scaffolds interact with cells and their surrounding tissues, (3) develop better animal models, and (4) validate and standardize the criteria for a successful repair/replacement of tissues and organs.