Connectomes Related to Human Disease (U01)

NEI is participating in this Funding Opportunity Announcement. They are  interested in research in populations where the visual pathways may be compromised due to congenital or acquired disease, or injury (e.g. blindness, strabismus, amblyopia, and low vision). Cohorts of patients with visual disorders should be compared with normal age-matched controls. Studies of plasticity in the visual pathways associated with the loss or restoration of vision are of particular interest.  NIMH, NIA, NIAAA, NIDA and NINDS are also participating. See below for more details



Agency: NIH
Funding Opportunity Number: PAR-14-281
Title: Connectomes Related to Human Disease (U01)
Deadline: November 14, 2014; July 14, 2015; July 14, 2016

Summary:

Background:
There has long been an interest in understanding the connectional organization of the human brain, though interest in connectivity has recently increased, as the tools to obtain such data have emerged and as other lines of inquiry have made clear the importance of such data.  Prior to the Human Connectome Project (HCP), little neural connectivity data from humans was available.

Continuing to fill this knowledge gap is paramount because connectivity is a major organizing principle of the nervous system and is fundamental to understanding brain function and dysfunction.  Attempts to understand neural connectivity in model organisms are helping to develop an integrated understanding of the interplay of genes, molecules, cells, neural systems, and behavior.  Such understanding, in turn, provides the basis for detailed models from which hypotheses about brain function in health and illness can be generated.  Without connectivity data, this kind of understanding is not possible for human brain function and dysfunction.  Knowledge of human brain connectivity will transform human neuroscience by providing not only a qualitatively novel class of data, but also by providing the basic framework necessary to synthesize diverse data and, ultimately, elucidate how our brains work in health, illness, youth, and old age.

It is important to link connectivity data to architectonic features rather than merely to coordinates, or locations of sulci and gyri.  The surface geometry of the human brain is extremely variable and idiosyncratic, and the relationship of surface features to functional subdivisions and their differential connectivity is imprecise.  Classical neuroanatomy shows strong correlations between connectivity patterns and features such as cytoarchitecture and the differential distribution of molecular tags (including enzymes, neurotransmitters, transmitter receptors, expressed genes, etc.).  For this reason, connectional studies in model organisms routinely relate connectional data to such architectonic data.  While architectonic features have been mapped extensively in the human brain, the relationship of projections and connections to these features has heretofore not been demonstrated, because human connectivity data were absent.  Linking such architectural features to the distribution of specific connections is providing a critical “anchor” that will permit connectional data to be related to a variety of other types of data, broadening and enhancing their utility.

Connectivity, in the context of brain architecture, has long figured in understanding, diagnosing, and treating certain neurological disorders.  Increasingly, disrupted or aberrant connectivity is being implicated or suspected in the etiology of disorders not previously considered from this perspective.  For example, it is very likely that quantifiable changes in connectivity accompany the variations in cortical thickness (as demonstrated with structural magnetic resonance imaging) that are seen in diseased brains (e.g., Alzheimer) relative to healthy brains, and that are seen in brains through the course of early development, through adolescence and senescence.  Similarly, it is likely that qualitative or quantitative changes in connectivity contribute to morphometric differences observed in brains of those with particular disorders, such as schizophrenia.

The overall purpose of the HCP has been to develop and share knowledge about the structural and functional connectivity of the human brain.  This purpose has been achieved through awards to two different multi-institutional research teams centered at Washington University (http://www.humanconnectome.org/) and Massachusetts General Hospital (http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org/).  These teams have developed and optimized non-invasive imaging technologies to acquire structural and functional in vivo data about axonal projections and neural connections from brains of hundreds of healthy adults.  Demographic data and data regarding sensory, motor, cognitive, emotional, and social function have also been collected for each subject.  Subjects have also donated DNA samples for genotyping and that data will be available before the awards end in September 2015.  The data and experimental protocols have been made available to the research community, and both are now being widely used.  Both research groups are now undertaking pilot studies to explore the issues with extending the HCP to children and to older adults to represent the lifespan.  Those data will also be made available at http://www.humanconnectome.org/.

While the HCP project has provided an excellent start at providing connectivity data for a community sample of normal subjects, the purpose of this announcement is to expand the HCP data to disease/disorder cohorts of interest to the Institutes and Centers that are participating in this FOA.  Applicants should review recent Notices related to Study Design (NOT-MH-14-004 and NOT-NS-11-023).


Research Studies and Objectives
The bulk of the data collection in the HCP has been by the group at Washington University.  By September 2015, they will have collected data on 1200 healthy young adults (ages 22-35), with release of the final subjects shortly thereafter.  Most of these adults are monozygotic or dizygotic twins or their family members.  The data collected includes non-invasive imaging, behavioral assessments, and genotyping assays.  It is expected that data collected under this FOA will be compatible with the existing HCP dataset.

The Institutes and Centers that are participating in this FOA have different priority/disease areas of interest.

For NIMH, research cohorts should come from either a broad category such as those with psychiatric based psychosis, mood and anxiety disorders, or depression. Subject groups can also be based on RDoC categories or based on a specific genetic profile.  Applicants must avoid cohorts from a narrowly defined DSM diagnostic group.

The NEI is interested in research in populations where the visual pathways may be compromised due to congenital or acquired disease, or injury (e.g. blindness, strabismus, amblyopia, and low vision). Cohorts of patients with visual disorders should be compared with normal age-matched controls. Studies of plasticity in the visual pathways associated with the loss or restoration of vision are of particular interest.

For NIA, research cohorts should be comprised of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging such as Alzheimer’s disease (preclinical, early- and late-onset), other dementias of aging, and/or age-related cognitive disorders such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (early, mild and late MCI).  Also of interest are cohorts with age-related hearing loss, sleep disorders, or delirium.  Normal, healthy cohorts will be critical as age-appropriate controls for connectome studies.  Disease/disorder and control cohorts should be well defined and characterized by clinical, biomarker, genetic, and/or behavioral data.

For NIAAA, the research cohorts to be studied must be explicitly defined by the applicant in terms of alcohol use patterns currently and in the past, presence of comorbid conditions, and other factors such as a specific genetic profile.  The information to be acquired must clearly relate to the mission of NIAAA to understand the effects of alcohol use and abuse on brain and behavior.

For NIDA, research cohorts should be comprised of users or abusers of licit or illicit psychotropic drugs, either currently or in the past.  Cohorts can also be composed of subjects who have known risk factors for future substance use or relapse.  These subjects should be carefully characterized for quantification of historical and current patterns of use of alcohol and multiple substances (including toxicological evidence when possible), and, when appropriate, by DSM diagnoses of substance abuse or dependence as evidence for clinically-significant use.  Because circuit-level abnormalities in abusing populations may co-occur with mental disorders, proposals featuring additional population (s) of other mental illness diagnosis or RDoC categories without substance use as comparison or control groups will be considered.

The NINDS is interested in a broad range of disorders affecting the brain and nervous system (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/about_ninds/ninds_overview.htm), and has a strong interest in the development of imaging connectomes as biomarkers.  For the NINDS, applications will be expected to 1) use HCP image acquisition protocols; 2) focus on connectomes that have been shown to be reliable and reproducible; and 3) select well-defined patient populations with clearly delineated phenotypes (e.g., defined by genetics, characteristic structural deficits, or unique pathophysiology).  Applicants may focus on neurological populations that are at-risk, prodromal, or affected.  Interested investigators are encouraged to contact program staff listed below to ensure that their application is consistent with the NINDS mission and appropropriate for  this FOA.

The full announcement can be found at the NIH Guide.

Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research

Funding Opportunity: Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (PH/TBI) Research Program (RP) 

Funding Opportunity Number: W81XWH-13-PHTBI-TBIRA 

Application Due Date: Pre-proposals are due February 27, 2013. Invited Full Proposals are due May 21, 2013.

Summary:

The PH/TBI RP TBIRA funding mechanism encourages research efforts focused on knowledge gathering and geared toward solving specific questions. The intent of the FY13 PH/TBI RP TBIRA mechanism is to: 

• Promote new/innovative ideas that have the potential to yield highly impactful data and new avenues of investigation to further the research field of interest; 
• Advance knowledge regarding the theoretical construct surrounding the TBI Research Area of interest to increase scientific understanding of certain phenomena or behaviors; 
• Propose new paradigms or challenging existing paradigms; and 

• Address the technical feasibility of promising new devices, behavioral and rehabilitation interventions, therapeutic techniques, clinical guidance, and/or emerging approaches and technologies. 

Research Area: All applications to the FY13 PH/TBI RP TBIRA mechanism must specifically address the Research Area listed below:

Translation/Clinical Research Area: 

Development of interventions or therapies to protect and/or restore neuronal function following TBI in the acute (first week), subacute (>1 week to 3 months), and chronic (≥ 3 months from time of injury) phases of care. Neuronal function, commonly referred to as “neuroplasticity,” is defined by D.G. Stein in Brain Injury Medicine Principles and Practice (Demos Medical Publishing 2007) as referring to “verifiable examples of functional and adaptive recovery after brain injury.” Additionally, the concept of structural plasticity is included, as studies have shown that functional and adaptive changes occur via structural changes in or between neurons and glia. 

Plasticity-driven solutions should demonstrate maintenance or improvement of function, as applicable, until such point that less or no further intervention is required. Such solutions should be non-invasive, as in not requiring implantation or other invasive procedures to execute. 

Applications should be designed to: 

• Provide objective evidence of induction of structural and functional changes in the brain following TBI that correlate with improved functional outcomes; 

• Maximize functional outcomes, as well as define the mechanisms involved in the structural and functional improvements; and 

• Validate methods to objectively assess structural and functional recovery. It is recognized that in some cases it may not be possible to precisely define mechanisms or to conduct testing in an animal model. In such cases, objective measures of improvement in the human condition are paramount. 

Applications focused on research areas other than the one listed above should NOT be submitted in response to this Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity. If the proposed research is not relevant to the advertised Research Area, the Government will administratively withdraw the application. 

Award Budget Information:
The maximum period of performance is 3 years. The maximum allowable total costs for the entire period of performance are $3M inclusive of indirect costs for clinical studies including clinical trials and $1M inclusive of indirect costs for applied and or mechanistic studies (the government reserves the right to determine if funding is appropriate to type of study) . 

Program Website

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

NEI Research Grant for Secondary Analysis (R21)

Funding Opportunity: NEI Research Grant for Secondary Analysis (R21)

Funding Opportunity Number: PAR-13-035

Application Due Date: February 16, June 16, and October 16 for New Submissions

Summary:

The NEI supports an extensive portfolio of clinical trials and large-scale epidemiologic research projects, wherein numerous data collection activities are required to meet each project's specific aims.  The resultant wealth of data generated by these studies often provides unique, cost-effective opportunities to pursue new questions.  This initiative may be used to develop new statistical methodologies or to test new hypotheses using existing data.  While this initiative actively encourages the use of existing database resources to conduct exploratory/developmental research secondary to a project's originally-intended purpose, it will not support the collection of new data.  Datasets are not limited to those collected under NEI support but these data are of the highest programmatic interest.  Applicants should consider the relevance of their proposed analyses to NEI programs and priorities as described in the National Plan for Eye and Vision Research, which is available at http://www.nei.nih.gov.

This FOA issued by the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), encourages applications from institutions/organizations that propose to conduct secondary data analyses utilizing existing database resources.  Applications may be related to, but must be distinct from, the specific aims of the original data collection.

Award Budget Information:

The combined budget for direct costs for the two-year project period may not exceed $275,000.  No more than $200,000 may be requested in any single year.  Applicants may request direct costs in $25,000 modules, up to the total direct costs limitation of $275,000 for the combined two-year award period.

Program Website

Basic Behavioral Research on Multisensory Processing

Agency: NIH

Deadline: October 31, 2012

Summary:

Scope and Specific Requirements

Applications submitted in response to this FOA are expected to propose projects that will further our understanding of how multisensory input influences basic perceptual and behavioral processes. Successful applications will examine two or more senses (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, non-pain somatosensory, vestibular). This FOA encourages innovative studies that examine the influence of interactions among multisensory inputs on perception and behavior, or identify individual and lifespan differences in and moderators of multisensory perception and basic behavioral outcomes. The initiative encourages the use of diverse methodologies, including experimental psychophysics, “real world” settings, immersive virtual technology, and animal models.

This initiative will target projects that examine how causal interplay among the senses influences integrated perceptual behavior, rather than projects that aim to understand neural circuits and activity within the human brain itself (which are targeted in existing investments such as the Human Connectome Project within the Neuroscience Blueprint). Basic behavioral multisensory science projects will be considered if the primary questions and outcomes of the research emphasize perception or behavior. Projects will be deemed non-responsive if the primary thrusts of the questions and outcomes are limited to neural circuits or neural mechanisms that underlie behavioral responses to sensory input. Neurobiological approaches may be included if they will augment our knowledge of multisensory influences on perceptual or behavioral outcomes.

Applications for research focused on the perception of pain or applied research are outside the scope of this FOA and will be deemed non-responsive. Pain-related research is targeted in existing investments such as the NIH Pain Consortium and the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research Grand Challenge on Pain. As defined by NIH, applied research in the behavioral and social sciences is designed to predict or influence health outcomes, risks, or protective factors. It is also concerned with the impact of illness or risk for illness on behavioral or social functioning. Applied research on multisensory processing as it relates to specific diseases, health conditions, intervention, or treatment outcomes will be deemed non-responsive.

Applications submitted under this mechanism should break new ground or extend previous discoveries toward new directions or applications. These studies may involve considerable scientific risk but may lead to a breakthrough in a particular area, or to the development of novel techniques, methodologies, models, or applications that could have a major impact on basic behavioral and/or social sciences research.  By using the R21 mechanism, the NIH seeks to foster the introduction of novel scientific ideas, model systems, tools, targets, and technologies that have the potential to substantially advance bBSSR.

Specific Areas of Research Interest

Below are examples of projects that would examine how multisensory input influences perception and behavior. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but only to provide examples of appropriate topics. For feedback on specific topics, please consult the program staff listed in the program announcement.

• In what ways are perceptions affected by multisensory input? What is the role of cognitive and/or affective processing in multisensory integration (i.e., bottom-up/top-down processing)?
• How do affective experiences or other psychological and volitional states modify the ways in which multisensory input are integrated with cognitive expectations to produce perceptions?
• What is the role of multiple sensory system integration in dynamic activities such as navigation (where multi-sensory and sensorimotor processing change sensory input, and vice versa) or social interactions/communication (where sensorimotor feedback loops affect the perceptions of the sender and receiver in a communication encounter)?
• Can individual differences of normal multisensory integration be identified? Are there physical features (in sensory organs), biomarkers (genetic or non-genetic), or brain features (e.g., structural differences/ activation patterns) that underlie these variations?
• Are there developmental differences in multisensory mechanisms and influence on perception and behavior across the lifespan?

Because this FOA targets basic behavioral and social science research approaches to understanding the influence of multisensory integration on perception and behavior, examples of research projects that will NOT be considered responsive to the FOA include, but are not limited to:

• Research examining only one sensory modality
• Research on pain
• Research with the primary or singular objective of identifying neural circuits or neural mechanisms that underlie behavioral responses to sensory input.
• Studies with a primary focus on prospective or descriptive epidemiology (e.g., observational studies with no focus on understanding underlying mechanistic processes).
• Descriptive research documenting individual or group differences without investigating the mechanisms and processes explaining these differences
• Clinical interventions or treatment studies, effectiveness trial, or implementation/ dissemination of interventions
• Research designed to predict or influence health outcomes, risks, or protective factors
• Research concerned with the impact of illness or risk for illness on behavioral or social functioning

Program Website

NIH Director's Early Independence Awards

Agency: NIH
Deadline: January 30, 2013


Summary:

The NIH Director's Early Independence Awards initiative is funded through the NIH Common Fund, which supports cross-cutting programs that are expected to have exceptionally high impact. All Common Fund initiatives invite investigators to develop bold, innovative, and often risky approaches to address problems that may seem intractable or to seize new opportunities that offer the potential for rapid progress.


The NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards provide an opportunity for exceptional junior scientists to accelerate their entry into an independent research career by forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period. Though most newly graduated doctoral-level researchers would benefit by post-doctoral training, a small pool of outstanding junior investigators would benefit instead by launching directly into an independent research career. For these select investigators, who have established a record of scientific innovation and research productivity and who have demonstrated unusual leadership, drive, and maturity, post-doctoral training would unnecessarily delay their entry into performing independent research. The NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards also provide an opportunity for institutions to invigorate their research programs by bringing in the fresh perspectives of the awardee scientists that they host.


At the time of application, the Early Independence Award candidate must be within twelve months before or after the completion of their PhD (or equivalent) or for clinicians within twelve months before or after the completion of their medical residency (or equivalent) training. The medical fellowship period is NOT included as part of the medical residence or equivalent training. The date of degree receipt is that which appears on the official transcript for the degree. The time of application is the date when the application is submitted electronically to NIH through Grants.gov. In addition, at the time of application, the Early Independence investigator must not have served as a post-doctoral fellow following a previous doctoral degree for more than one year. By the end of the award period, the Early Independence investigator is expected to be competitive for continued funding of his/her research program and for a permanent research position.


Each institution (as defined by having a unique DUNS identifier) may submit only up to two applications. Prospective candidates should contact appropriate Institutional leaders to seek an appointment in an independent research position (For a listing of eligible degrees for Early Independence Investigators, please refer to Section III.1. Eligible Applicants). Alternatively, Institutions may actively recruit eligible junior scientists to apply for support through this program. In either event, the Institution will be expected to provide substantial support for the junior scientist as detailed below. To foster independence, it may behoove candidates to be hosted by institutions other than the ones at which they trained. To facilitate the “matching” of institutions and candidates, the NIH Common Fund is hosting a website (http://commonfund.nih.gov/earlyindepdence/matchingportal/) in which institutions interested in hosting candidates may choose to provide pertinent information such as particular areas of research being targeted, supporting documents to be submitted, and institution contact information.


In the application, the prospective Early Independence investigator and the prospective Grantee Institution will be required to provide:


Early Independence PD(s)/PI(s):


Statement of how an Early Independence Award would accelerate entry into an independent research position and why this would be of benefit to the PD(s)/PI(s) career;
Evidence of exceptional scientific creativity and productivity;
A research plan in a scientific area relevant to the NIH mission for which the investigator has demonstrated expertise;
Strong letters of recommendation from mentors and other scientists familiar with the investigator offering a detailed assessment of the prospects for a successful early transition to research independence; achievements as a graduate student; and the potential for future scientific contributions.


Grantee Institution:


Plans for full integration of the Early Independence investigator into the scientific community at the institution and evidence that the institution and existing faculty are committed to his/her success;
Evidence that the proposed research project will complement existing scholarly activities at the institution and will enhance the research capabilities of the institution;
Evidence that the Early Independence investigator will be appointed into an independent research position during the term of the award;
A detailed description of the laboratory space to be provided to the Early Independence investigator and the availability of research support staff;
A detailed description of the availability of the equipment, supplies and shared resources required by the Early Independence investigator, and a plan for guaranteeing access to those resources;
Description of career enhancement opportunities available to the Early Independence investigator, equivalent to those offered to assistant professors;
Evidence that the Early Independence investigator will have the necessary Institutional commitment to conduct full-time, independent research, excepting the minimal clinical commitments required for clinician researchers and minimal, optional teaching commitments;
Description of opportunities for the Early Independence investigator to apply for additional research funding without being required to do so.


The NIH recognizes a unique and compelling need to promote diversity in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social sciences research workforce. The NIH expects all of its efforts to diversify the workforce to lead to the recruitment of the most talented researchers from all groups; to improve the quality of the educational and training environment; to balance and broaden the perspective in setting research priorities; to improve the ability to recruit subjects from diverse backgrounds into clinical research protocols; and to improve the Nation's capacity to address and eliminate health disparities.  Grantee institutions are always encouraged to consider talented researchers from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, persons with disabilities and women for participation in all NIH-funded research opportunities.


Program Website

2012 Prevent Blindness America Investigator Award

Agency: Prevent Blindness America
Deadline: March 30, 2012

Summary:
The 2012 Prevent Blindness America Investigator Award provides funding for research investigating public health related to eye health and safety. Applications will be accepted in the following priority areas in adult vision, children’s vision, or eye injury: (1) burden/economic aspects of eye disease/vision loss on society, (2) best practices to integrate vision screening/follow up care to system care access, and (3) vision program effectiveness/evaluation. All research grants need to promote the core mission of Prevent Blindness America – preventing blindness and preserving sight. Basic laboratory science research will not be supported under this program. The deadline for the ninth annual Prevent Blindness America Investigator Award is March 30, 2012. Grants are for a one-year period, up to $30,000, reviewed by ARVO, and commence on July 1, 2012.


Program Website