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The purpose of this Alzheimers Disease-Related Dementia (ADRD) initiative is to promote the development and distribution of innovative technologies, methods, protocols, and biomedical materials that enhance combined human neuropathology and neuroimaging research with data aimed at understanding the underlying pathophysiology of in vivo imaging results typically associated with vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) in TBI-related dementia and other ADRD diagnoses. Resources developed under this FOA must follow open data sharing practices and are intended to expand the broader research communitys capacity to perform research aimed at neuropathologically-informed understanding of the vascular pathophysiology of clinically-relevant, in vivo neuroimaging findings.

In alignment with the White House Initiative on Womens Health Research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is issuing this Notice of Special Interest to highlight interest in receiving research applications focused on diseases and health conditions that predominantly affect women (e.g., autoimmune diseases; depressive disorders, Alzheimers disease (AD) and Alzheimers disease-related dementias (ADRD), gender-based-violence), present and progress differently in women (e.g., cardiovascular disease; HIV; reproductive aging and its implications), or are female-specific (e.g., uterine fibroids; endometriosis; menopause).

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) solicits applications to develop web-accessible data archives to capture, store, and curate data related to BRAIN Initiative activities. The data archives will work with the research community to incorporate tools that allow users to analyze and visualize the data, but the creation of such tools is not part of this NOFO. The data archives will use appropriate standards to describe the data, but the creation of such standards is not part of this NOFO. A goal of this program is to advance research by creating a community resource data archive with appropriate standards and summary information that is broadly available and accessible to the research community for furthering research.

Awarded activities will facilitate the translation of novel recording and modulation technologies that can be used to treat and/or diagnose central nervous system (CNS) diseases and disorders and to better understand the human CNS, from proof of concept up to the stage of readiness for first in human (FIH) studies. Technologies may incorporate any signal modality (e.g., electrical, optical, magnetic, acoustic) or a combination thereof. Diverse team-based applications that integrate appropriate domains of expertise are encouraged.

"Fluctuating cognition can occur in many types of dementia and is a core clinical feature of Dementia with Lewy Bodies. Cognitive fluctuations can last from seconds to days, are unpredictable (e.g., do not just occur in the evenings, as with sun-downing), and are associated with poor daily functioning for the patient. A number of small studies have suggested that cognitive fluctuations in subjects with dementia may be related to epileptiform discharges and impaired oscillatory activity on EEG, but it is not clear that these are the only factors involved in patient populations that often experience dysautonomia, orthostasis, and sleep disturbances. The etiology of cognitive fluctuations may be multi-factorial and may vary in different dementia populations. Understanding the physiology related to cognitive fluctuations is a critical next step to the development of treatment approaches and improving quality of life for these patients. This initiate would encourage research that will better characterize the physiology responsible for cognitive fluctuations in ADRD populations. Given their variable appearance and time course, it is anticipated that wearable digital devices will be important for capturing fluctuations in a timely fashion, and applicants should consider incorporating those device(s) capable of acquiring the relevant data to support the hypothesized mechanism(s). Applicants may focus on assessing multiple mechanisms in a specific ADRD population, or may chose to compare mechanisms across multiple types of ADRDs. "

The purpose of the NINDS Institutional Translational Research Training Program is to equip trainees with the knowledge and skills needed to advance basic research toward clinical application. These programs will support, students and/or postdocs conducting basic, disease-relevant research in an environment that includes 1) basic neuroscientists and clinicians who are actively engaged in collaborative research projects, 2) neuroscience researchers with expertise in translational processes who are conducting research designed to move basic discoveries toward clinical application and 3) relationships with industry and government regulatory agencies. Programs will have a cohesive educational approach to translational training in areas relevant to the NINDS mission, and in which students and postdocs learn the processes involved in translational research in the context of their individual projects. Programs supported by this FOA must include activities that ensure a thorough understanding of experimental design, strong statistical and analytical skills, and skills for communicating science with a wide variety of audiences. These programs are intended to be 2 years in duration and support training of one or more of the following groups: advanced predoctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and fellowship-stage clinicians. Upon completion of the program, trainees will be prepared to address basic research problems with an understanding of the requirements for translating discoveries into viable therapies.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) invites applications for a U54 Specialized Center (henceforth: Consortium) to provide resources, expertise, and coordination to advance innovative, high-quality research on palliative care for those with serious illness across the lifespan. This research infrastructure will encompass Alzheimers disease and Alzheimers disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD), cancer, and other serious illnesses and populations relevant to the partnering Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs). NIH currently funds many palliative care research projects across the ICOs, and there is a need for a structure to leverage synergies, coordinate efforts, develop the scientific workforce, and address remaining gaps in the field. The goals of this initiative include generating new scientific knowledge, in part through supporting pilot and exploratory studies; fostering development of early- and mid-career palliative care investigators; serving as a national platform to provide research resources and facilitate high-quality palliative care research; engaging healthcare systems and community-based organizations as research partners and settings for palliative care research; and disseminating research findings, best practices, data, and other impactful resources to the palliative care research and clinical communities. An important focus of the Consortiums work will be on facilitating research to understand and address disparities in access, quality, and use of palliative care services for health disparities populations or in underserved areas.

This NOFO would support development and validation of novel clinically- and/or pathophysiologically-relevant human cellular models of ADRD. The cellular model systems would be expected to capture the multi-faceted pathologies and multiple cell types observed in ADRDs. Validation includes internal, face, construct, and predictive (to the extent possible) validation. These models can be developed/validated with the goal of supporting therapy development or better understanding of human disease mechanisms and mechanisms that uncover predisposition to developing neurodegenerative dementias. Human cellular models need to be novel, complex, and address a gap in the currently available models. Multidisciplinary teams will be highly encouraged. Leveraging the use of and depositing new cells into existing NIH cell repository resources will also be encouraged.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The over-arching goal of this National Insitute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nations biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs.To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on research experiences, designed to foster the development of physicians as research scientists in areas relevant to the NINDS mission. The research experiences will prepare clinicians to successfully compete for individual NIH mentored career development awards, or where appropriate, independent research awards. This FOA will also support educational activities such that participants of the R25 are expected to attend and participate in an annual workshop specific to this FOA to present their work, discuss progress and plans towards transitioning to the next career stage and to network with other researchers and leaders in their fields. Such success will facilitate their transition from resident/fellow to physician-scientist, and will thus foster retention of a cadre of physician-scientists who will conduct research into the mechanisms of, etiology, and treatment of neurological diseases.

This NOFO would support investigations with a minimum of two relevant co-pathologies (e.g., tau, alpha-synuclein, TDP-43, TMEM106B, vascular), with optional risk factors and co-morbidities, to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms of how/why multi-proteinopathy interactions drive worsening neurodegenerative processes and phenotypic outcomes. Studies should examine co-pathology cellular and molecular interactions across brain regions and time in proximate cell population, across various intracellular dynamics and localization, and upstream and downstream from aggregated protein states to determine what events lead to worse phenotypic outcomes.