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The purpose of the NIH Research Conference Grant (R13) is to support high quality conferences that are relevant to the public health and to the scientific mission of the participating Institutes and Centers.

This Notice?of Special Interest (NOSI)?announces the availability of administrative supplements to?support the?dissemination of?promising technologies and?resources generated from?active Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative awards,?to?foster collaborations between innovators and new end-user laboratories, and ultimately integrate such innovations?into neuroscience research?practice. The BRAIN Initiative is aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. By accelerating the development and application of innovative technologies and resources, researchers will be able to produce a new dynamic picture of the brain that, for the first time, shows how individual cells and complex neural circuits interact in both time and space. It is expected that the application of these new technologies and resources will ultimately lead to new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites research projects that seek to explain the underlying mechanisms, processes, and trajectories of social relationships and how these factors affect outcomes in human health, illness, recovery, and overall wellbeing. Types of projects submitted under this FOA include studies that prospectively assign human participants to conditions (i.e., experimentally manipulate independent variables) and that assess biomedical and/or behavioral outcomes in humans to understand fundamental aspects of phenomena related to social connectedness and isolatedness. NIH considers such studies as prospective basic science studies involving human participants that meet the NIH definition of basic research and fall within the NIH definition of clinical trials (see, e.g., NOT-OD-19-024) Types of studies that should submit under this FOA include studies that prospectively assign human participants to conditions (i.e., experimentally manipulate independent variables) and that assess biomedical or behavioral outcomes in humans for the purpose of understanding the fundamental aspects of phenomena without specific application towards processes or products in mind.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites research projects that seek to model the underlying mechanisms, processes, and trajectories of social relationships and how these factors affect outcomes in health, illness, recovery, and overall wellbeing. Both animal and human subjects research projects are welcome. Researchers proposing basic science experimental studies involving human participants should consider this FOAs companion for basic experimental studies with humans.

To support the development of innovative tools and/or technologies to monitor or manipulate BMCs in vivo and enable investigators to adopt these tools to answer outstanding questions in basic neuroscience. This research will transform our understanding of the mechanistic role of BMCs in human nervous system health and disease and may serve as the foundation for the development of novel BMC-based therapeutics.

Some projects initiated with SBIR or STTR funding require considerable financing beyond the SBIR/STTR Phase II award to achieve commercialization. The development of medical biotechnology products is often impeded by a significant funding gap (known as the Valley of Death) between the end of the SBIR/STTR Phase II award and the commercialization stage. The goal of this FOA is to assist applicants in pursuing the next appropriate milestone(s) necessary to advance a product/technology that requires Federal regulatory approval or to bring a complex research tool to market. This opportunity aims to facilitate the transition of previously funded SBIR and STTR Phase II projects to the commercialization stage by promoting partnerships between NINDS SBIR or STTR awardees and third-party investors and/or strategic partners in the Phase IIB competing renewal. Applicants are strongly encouraged to secure independent third-party funding throughout the Phase IIB project period.

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-17-003) or to optimize existing technology ready for in-vivo proof-of-concept testing and collection of preliminary data (RFA-NS-17-004) 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. In addition to experimental approaches, the support provided under this FOA might enable calculations, simulations, computational models, or other mathematical techniques for demonstrating that the signal sources and/or measurement technologies are theoretically capable of meeting the demands of large-scale recording or manipulation of circuit activity in humans or in animal models. The support might also be used for building and testing phantoms, prototypes, in-vitro or other bench-top models in order to validate underlying theoretical assumptions in preparation for future FOAs aimed at testing in animal models.

To address critical questions surrounding the long-term impact of substance exposure on child development, the NIH seeks to create a large, diverse cohort of pregnant women, who along with their offspring, will be followed for 10 years. The cohort will consist of mother and baby dyads recruited beginning in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy and through birth; and will include babies exposed pre- or perinatally to prescription and illicit opioids, marijuana, stimulants, alcohol and nicotine. A deep, nuanced understanding of factors that affect a childs health, brain, and behavioral development is expected to emerge from this study, which is an essential first step toward designing policies and interventions that promote well-being and resiliency in children. Applications are sought from qualified researchers with the capacity and expertise to recruit and retain vulnerable populations for studies that will include neuroimaging, cognitive and behavioral assessments along with collection and analysis of biospecimens from mom and baby.

The NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-termSM (HEAL) Initiative and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), the Office of Research on Womens Health (ORWH), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), intend to jointly fund the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study using the cooperative agreement award mechanism. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications for unlinked Research Project Sites. This FOA runs in parallel with companion FOAs that solicit applications for linked Research Project Sites (RFA-DA-21-020), a single Consortium Administrative Core (RFA-DA-21-022) and a single Data Coordinating Center (RFA-DA-21-023). It is expected that investigators, upon funding, will work jointly with NIH scientific staff to assist, guide, coordinate, or participate in project activities.

The NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-termSM (HEAL) Initiative and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), the Office of Research on Womens Health (ORWH), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, intend to jointly fund the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study using the cooperative agreement award mechanism. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications for the HBCD Consortium Administrative Core. This FOA runs in parallel with companion FOAs that solicit applications for a single Data Coordinating Center (RFA-DA-21-023) and multiple Research Project Sites (RFA-DA-21-020 and RFA-DA-21-021). It is expected that investigators, upon funding, will work jointly with NIH scientific staff to assist, guide, coordinate, or participate in project activities.