Complex Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Research Award

Agency: DoD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
Funding Opportunity Title: Complex Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Research Award
Funding Opportunity Number: W81XWH-16-PHTBIRP-CTRRA
Preproposal Deadline: August 17, 2016
Invited Full Proposal Deadline: November 30, 2016

Summary:
The FY16 PH/TBIRP Complex TBI Rehabilitation Research Award (CTRRA) is intended to support observational studies and clinical trials addressing rehabilitation of patients with complex TBI. TBI is defined as being caused by (1) a direct blow or impact to the head, (2) a penetrating head injury, or (3) an exposure to external forces such as blast waves that disrupt the function of the brain. Not all blows to the head or exposure to external forces result in a TBI. The severity of TBI may range from “mild” — a brief change in mental status or consciousness — to “severe,” an extended period of unconsciousness or confusion after the injury. All applications to the FY16 PH/TBIRP CTRRA must be relevant to complex TBI, defined by a diagnosed TBI in conjunction with symptoms identified in one or more of the following JPC-8/CRMRP Focus Areas:

• The Sensory Systems Traumatic Injury Focus Area involves visual, auditory, and vestibular dysfunction associated with traumatic injury.
• The Pain Management Focus Area is concerned with chronic pain, acute pain in the context of chronic pain, and establishing safety margins for prescriptions, as well as developing strategies to help patients cope with pain.
• The Neuromusculoskeletal Injury Rehabilitation Focus Area deals with amputee care, spinal cord injuries, burns and contractures, and orthopaedic injuries, as well as developing guidelines for standards of care.

In addition, research in the areas described below is very highly encouraged. Patients with complex TBI demonstrate symptoms including, but not limited to, dizziness, visual dysfunction, headaches, and cognitive deficits that are refractory to treatment (i.e., slow/non-response to current treatment regiment, relapsing symptoms following treatment). The FY16 PH/TBIRP CTRRA seeks research on the affected patient populations, mechanisms of comorbidities and potential interventions in the following three Areas of Encouragement:

• Epidemiological studies to define differences between populations of patients with complex TBI whose symptoms are non-responsive as compared to responsive to treatment. (Observational studies only; clinical trials are not supported for this Area of Encouragement. See the definition of a clinical trial and observational studies on
• Etiological studies to identify factors that contribute to differences between patients with complex TBI who respond to treatment and those who do not, with the goal of identifying mechanisms underlying refractory symptoms. (Observational studies only; clinical trials are not supported for this Area of Encouragement. See the definition of a clinical trial and observational studies on page 7 of this Program Announcement/ Funding Opportunity.)
• Interventional studies to evaluate emerging or existing rehabilitation strategies for the treatment of patients with complex TBI compared to existing standards of care. Proposed studies evaluating interventions for patients with TBI and comorbidities that may be refractory to treatment are of particular interest. (Both observational studies and clinical trials are allowed for this Area of Encouragement.)

Additionally, other studies of complex TBI may be considered if they address important issues relevant to the identified JPC-8/CRMRP Focus Areas in the context of TBI if sufficient justification is included in the appropriate sections of the pre-application and application.

Military Relevance: Relevance to the healthcare needs of military Service members, Veterans, and beneficiaries is a key feature of this award. Investigators are encouraged to consider the following characteristics as examples of how a project may demonstrate military relevance:
• Explanation of how the project addresses an aspect of the target disease/condition/ technology that has direct relevance to military Service members, Veterans, and/or other military health system beneficiaries
• Description of how the knowledge, information, products, or technologies gained from the proposed research could be implemented in a dual-use capacity to benefit the civilian population and also address a military need
• Use of military or Veteran populations or datasets in the proposed research

Award Information
The FY16 PH/TBIRP CTRRA is intended to support both observational studies and clinical trials addressing TBI and co-occurring clinical presentations (neuromusculoskeletal injuries, multisensory dysfunction, and pain) that are often slow/nonresponsive to treatment. The intent of the award is to advance the evidence-based practice for the treatment of TBI with JPC-8/CRMRP-relevant comorbidities by improving understanding of the composition and problems of this population and developing and evaluating treatments.

Applications for this award mechanism may propose epidemiological, etiological, and/or interventional studies (see CTRRA Areas of Encouragement on page 4).
Preclinical studies and studies using animals are not supported by this Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity.

Two different funding levels, based on the type of study proposed, are available under this Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity. It is the responsibility of the PI to select the funding level that is most appropriate for the research proposed based on the following descriptions.

The following, although not all-inclusive, are research projects that would be appropriate to propose under each funding level:

• Funding Level 1: For epidemiological and etiological studies comparing patients with complex TBI responsive versus refractory to treatments. PIs should describe a reproducible methodological approach that will identify or define factors that are associated with slow/non-response to treatment, or relapse of symptoms for patients with complex TBI. Observational studies, but not clinical trials, are permitted at this Funding Level.

• Funding Level 2: For interventional studies to evaluate emerging or existing treatment and rehabilitation strategies. PIs should explain how their work will inform the development, refinement, and/or revision of existing standards of care, clinical recommendations, or guidelines. Both observational studies and clinical trials are permitted at this Funding Level.

Both observational studies and clinical trials, but not preclinical research studies, are allowed in the FY16 PH/TBIRP CTRRA. Observational studies and clinical trials have different submission requirements and it is the responsibility of the PI to correctly identify the type of research proposed and to comply with the relevant submission requirements. A clinical trial is defined as a prospective accrual of human subjects where an intervention (e.g., device, drug, biologic, surgical procedure, rehabilitative modality, behavioral intervention, or other) is tested on a human subject for a measurable outcome with respect to safety, effectiveness, and/or efficacy. This outcome represents a direct effect on the human subject of that intervention or interaction. An observational study is a type of clinical study in which individuals are observed or certain outcomes are measured. No attempt is made to affect the outcome (for example, no treatment is given). These types of studies are not considered clinical trials. All projects should adhere to a core set of standards for rigorous study design and reporting to maximize the reproducibility and translational potential of research.

References:
Program Solicitation

Field Initiated Projects Program

Agency: National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research

Funding Opportunity Title: Field Initiated Projects Program

Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2016-ACL-NIDILRR-IF-0124 (Research) and HHS-2016-ACL-NIDILRR-IF-0125 (Development)

Due Date: 02/22/2016

Summary:

The purpose of the Field Initiated (FI) Projects program is to generate new knowledge through research or develop methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities, especially individuals with the most severe disabilities. Another purpose of the FI Projects program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. In carrying out a research activity under an FI Projects research grant, a grantee must identify one or more hypotheses or research questions and, based on the hypotheses or research questions identified, perform an intensive, systematic study directed toward producing (1) new scientific knowledge, or (2) better understanding of the subject, problem studied, or body of knowledge.

National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Website

National Robotics Initiative

Program: National Robotics Initiative
Program Solicitation: NSF 16-517
Deadline: March 7, 2016
Note:  Applications to this  multi-agency funding opportunity must be submitted to NSF using NSF guidelines and instructions. NSF is the lead agency overseeing the review process.

Summary:
The NIH is collaborating on a multi-agency funding opportunity, the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), whose goal is to accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside, or cooperatively with, people (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2016/nsf16517/nsf16517.htm), or carry out work for people in dangerous environments.  Innovative robotics research and applications emphasizing the realization of such co-robots working in symbiotic relationships with human partners is supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The purpose of this program is the development of this next generation of robotics, to advance the capability and usability of such systems and artifacts, and to encourage existing and new communities to focus on innovative application areas. It will address the entire life cycle from fundamental research and development to manufacturing and deployment. Collaboration between academic, industry, non-profit and other organizations is strongly encouraged to establish better linkages between fundamental science and technology development, deployment and use.

The NIH encourages robotics research and technology development to enhance health, lengthen life and reduce illness and disability. The NIH also supports non-hypothesis driven applications, which includes technology-driven and problem-driven applications. Specifically, the participating NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) on this solicitation are interested in targeting this solicitation to support the development of assistive robotic technology to achieve functional independence in humans; improve quality of life; assist with behavioral therapy and personalized care; and promote wellness/health. The most significant challenges will be in addressing safety issues, especially for applications to be used in home-based and long-term care settings where integration of complex systems will be required. Additionally, these assistive robots need to quickly adapt to changes of the user and the environment. Human assistive devices should be designed to assist healthcare providers and as well as the individuals needing care. Development of robotic applications is important to NIH because of their potential significant impact on healthcare in the future. Human assistive devices will revolutionize healthcare in the next 20 years as much as personal electronics have changed our daily lives in the past two decades. Affordable and accessible robotic technology can facilitate wellness and personalized healthcare. Continual health assessment and personalized intervention have the potential to offset the shrinking size of the healthcare workforce and the growing elderly and disabled population. In the future, assistive robotics will enable people to engage in all aspects of human life with endurance and dignity.

Examples of assistive robotic technology development include but are not limited to:
- Homecare and long-term personalized care robots
- Robotic wellness/health promotion and maintenance
- Robotic behavioral therapy
- Robotic aids for mobility, manipulation, human communication and cognition, vision for non-sighted persons
- Assistive robotics to eliminate health disparities across populations

Further Information:
NIH Guide Notice
National Robotics Initiative Website
Program Solicitation

Research on the Mechanisms and/or Behavioral Outcome Measures of Multisensory Processing (R01)

Agency: NIH
Program: Research on the Mechanisms and/or Behavioral Outcomes of Multisensory Processing (R01)
Funding Opportunity Number: PA-15-347
Deadline: Standard NIH due dates for new grants – February 5th, June 5th and October 5th

Summary:
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications focusing on the mechanisms and/or behavioral outcomes of multisensory processing, the integration or processing of at least two distinct types of sensory input as defined by distinct receptor-type transduction, neural pathways and cognate perceptual quality.   Specifically, multiple sensory inputs may include the major traditional modalities of hearing, vision, taste, smell, balance, and touch.  Additional submodalities of body senses include but are not restricted to thermosensation, body position and proprioception, pain, itch, and general visceral sensation.   This FOA encourages research grant applications investigating multisensory processing in perception or other behavioral and social outcomes and/or the mechanisms underlying multisensory processing in the context of the described specific areas of research interests from the participating ICOs. The FOA is intended to encourage basic, behavioral, and/or clinical research projects focused on two or more sensory modalities or research projects examining the interactions between other neural systems, such as cognitive, affective, or motor processes, and multiple sensory modalities.  Multisensory research applications that do not align with the specific areas of research interests described below by the participating NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) should be submitted in response to the parent R01 FOA, PA-13-302.

Background:
We perceive the world through a variety of senses, including vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, somatosensation (cutaneous and subcutaneous tactile sense, thermosensation, proprioception, nociception, and visceral sensation), and vestibular sensation. In general, the senses are studied separately.  However, our experience of the world is mostly unitary; we do not perceive a barking dog as a visual stimulus, a sound, and perhaps a smell, but as a single multisensory object. Accordingly, mounting evidence indicates that the senses cannot be treated as independent channels. That is, perceptions in one modality can be enhanced, attenuated, or completely changed by sensory input from another modality. For example, touch can improve judgments of visual colors, even though touch itself cannot convey color, and vision can alter taste. Furthermore, multisensory processing can influence subsequent unimodal sensory processing (e.g., exposure to simultaneous auditory and visual stimuli can recalibrate the way that each of these stimuli is processed in the future, even in isolation), and can have synergistic effects on neural processing in cognitive, affective, motivational, or motor systems. In addition, there are enormous individual and lifespan differences in sensory processes across different senses, as well as other factors that could contribute to systematically differing perceptions of cross-modal stimuli. For example, research has uncovered a remarkable span of individual differences in gustation (e.g., supertasters), which may make the multisensory perception of flavor vastly different across individuals.

Sensory processes are relevant to a wide variety of health impacts, including neurological, mental and emotional health; consumption (e.g., food and alcohol intake, smoking); basic daily functions (e.g., walking, reaching/grasping); lifestyle activities (e.g., exercise, navigation, dancing, art activities, driving); communication and interpersonal transactions; medical diagnosis, and healthcare utilization. Understanding the scope and the limits of multisensory perception also informs the therapeutic space for sensory substitution in primary sense deficits (e.g. Braille reading for the blind) and temporary sensory alterations caused by disease or treatments for disease.  Thus, the interplay among multiple sensory modalities also has important implications for neural, cognitive, behavioral and social science research and for subsequent health outcomes.

Despite growing interest in how individuals integrate these ubiquitous signals, the mechanisms by which different sensory systems are integrated, interact with each other, or influence the processing of the connected neural systems in the brain remain largely unknown.  The roles of biochemical and physiological changes, genetics and epigenetics, psychological experiences, or physical environments in regulating multisensory processing are mostly unexplored.  Furthermore, the impact of multisensory processing on behavior continues to be understudied.

In 2012, the NIH Basic Behavioral & Social Sciences Research Opportunity Network (OppNet, http://oppnet.nih.gov) sponsored an FOA on Basic Behavioral Research on Multisensory Processing (R21; RFA-EY-13-001), which supported 10 exploratory grants.  The current FOA intends to expand on this previous initiative by encouraging studies of the neural circuitry and mechanisms of multisensory processing, in the context of relevant diseases and disorders of the nervous system, or in relevance to social behaviors, clinical diagnostics, or therapies.

Applications to this FOA will be assigned to an appropriate NIH IC according to research priorities of the participating ICs.  Relevant assignment factors include primary sense(s) under study, and research impacts within IC funding priorities (see participating IC "Specific Areas of Research Interest" below).

Scope:
This FOA supports innovative studies using animal or human subjects to examine two or more senses (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, somatosensory including pain or other submodalities of body senses, and vestibular) for the elucidation of mechanisms and behavioral outcomes of multisensory processing.  Therefore, applications submitted to this FOA should focus on mechanisms, or the behavioral impact, or both.   The initiative encourages the use of diverse methodologies, including basic biochemical, molecular, cellular, genetic approaches, neuroimaging and neurophysiological analyses, experimental psychophysics, “real world” settings, immersive virtual technology, and animal models.

For this FOA, applicants should address multisensory integration across at least two of the broadly different senses (smell, sight, taste, touch, hearing, balance) or the submodalities of body senses including but not restricted to thermosensation, body position and proprioception, pain, itch, and general visceral sensation.   Audio-visual, visual-vestibular and chemo-tactile integration already have been noted as examples.  However, the perception of form by integrating color contrast with shape-from-shading would be considered visual, and integration of linear with angular acceleration would be considered vestibular, and not appropriate here.  This FOA also supports research on the interaction of pain (as part of the somatosensation) with other sensory systems.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Scientific/Research Contacts from various NIH ICs listed in Section VII prior to submission to discuss IC program relevance.

See the full announcement for specific IC interests.

US Army Medical Research and Material Command BAA

Funding Opportunity: US Army Medical Research and Material Command Broad Agency Announcement for Extramural Medical Research

Funding Opportunity Number: W81XWH-BAA-13-1

Application Due Date: None. This is a continuously open announcement; pre-proposal/pre-applications may be submitted at any time throughout the 12 month period. Successful pre-proposals will be asked to submit a full proposal within 90 days of the invitation.

Summary:

The US Army Medical Research and Material Command's (USAMRMC) mission is to provide solutions to medical problems of importance to the American Warfighter at home and abroad. There are seven Researh Areas of Interest, three of which have potential for funding vision research proposals are:

1)      The Combat Casualty Care Research Program, which mentions Traumatic Brain Injury.

2)      The Military Operational Medicine Research Program, which includes the prevention of vision loss in its portfolio.

3)      The Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine Research Program, which includes Vision Restoration and Rehabilitation in its portfolio.

Award Budget Information:
Funding has NOT been set aside specifically for this BAA and the number of awards is indeterminate. Selection of research projects is a highly competitive process and is based on the evaluation of the proposal/application’s technical merit, programmatic considerations and the availability of funds.

The full agency announcement is available at grants.gov