The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) will provide grant support for planning and protocol development of biomedical, epidemiological, and behavioral studies in priority international research areas as identified in the institute’s strategic plan and facilitated by the Office of International Health (OIH), in consultation with the international research community. The purpose of this initiative is to bring together international researchers through collaborative partnerships that conduct research according to common protocols.

The planning grant is intended to provide support for the development of a refined study design, organizational plan, detailed protocol criteria, and budget, for implementation of cross-national studies whose rationale and basic design are considered scientifically meritorious, and which cannot be accomplished solely within the United States. (For the purposes of this program announcement [PA], “cross- national” means that at least three countries are involved.) After these are completed, planning grant awardees may submit applications to conduct the full-scale study, in collaboration with international funding partners.

Funding: Applicants may request up to $100,000 in direct costs per year for each of two years.
Letter of Intent: Unspecified
Date of Submission Proposal: February 01, 2004

The research supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is aimed at understanding and preventing disease caused by environmental agents. Areas of focus include biological response to environmental agents, applied toxicological research and testing, biometry and risk assessment, and resource and manpower development.

The purpose of this program announcement (PA) is to encourage grant applications for the support of research designed to elucidate the diagnosis, epidemiology, etiology, genetics, treatment, and optimal means of service delivery in relation to autism and autism spectrum disorders (Rett’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger’s disorder, pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified, or atypical autism).

Areas of interest include, but need not be limited to, epidemiology, early identification and diagnosis, genetic studies, brain mechanisms, communication skills, cognitive science, psychosocial interventions, and pharmacological or biological intervention.

This PA will use the National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 award mechanism.

Funding: Unspecified
Letter of Intent: Unspecified
Date of Submission Proposal: February 01, 2004

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) seeks to reduce the burden of illness and disability by understanding and easing the effects of acute and chronic illness; to improve health-related quality of life by preventing or delaying the onset of disease or slowing its progression; to establish better approaches to promoting health and preventing disease; and to improve clinical environments by testing interventions that influence patient health outcomes and reduce the costs and the demand for care. Areas of special interest include the neurobiology of pain; management of symptoms associated with specific diseases; effects of cancer diagnosis and treatments, especially breast cancer; prevention of risk factors, particularly in young children; interactions among genetic factors, environment, and life style; issues related to life-stage transitions; ameliorating effects of chronic illnesses, such as metabolic and musculoskeletal disorders; and the health of minorities and other at-risk populations.

The participating institutes and centers invite qualified researchers to submit research grant applications on methodology and measurement in the behavioral and social sciences. Methodology and measurement issues include the processes that underlie research design, data collection techniques, measurement, and data analysis techniques in the social and behavioral sciences. The goal of this program announcement (PA) is to encourage research that will improve the quality and scientific power of data collected in the behavioral and social sciences, relevant to the missions of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and centers. Research that addresses methodology and measurement issues in diverse populations, issues in studying sensitive behaviors, issues of ethics in research, issues related to confidential data and the protection of research subjects, and issues in developing multidisciplinary, multimethod, and multilevel approaches to behavioral and social science research is particularly encouraged.

The primary mechanism of support will be the investigator-initiated research project grant (R01).

Funding: The award amount is unspecified. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this PA may not exceed five years.
Letter of Intent: Unspecified
Date of Submission Proposal: February 01, 2004

The research supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is aimed at understanding and preventing disease caused by environmental agents. Areas of focus include biological response to environmental agents, applied toxicological research and testing, biometry and risk assessment, and resource and manpower development.

The NIEHS invites applications for research to promote the design, development, and testing of hypothesis-driven innovative approaches to eliminating health disparities in rheumatic, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases. Attention is to be focused on potentially modifiable environmental, social, and behavioral factors, and on gene-environment interactions, that may underlie ethnic or racial disparities in disease prevalence and outcome. In addition, descriptive and analytic epidemiologic studies are needed to characterize further the health disparities in rheumatic, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases.

This program announcement (PA) will use the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research project grant (R01) award mechanism.

Funding: The award amount is unspecified. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this PA may not exceed five years.
Letter of Intent: Unspecified
Date of Submission Proposal: February 01, 2004

The Magnetospheric Physics program supports research on the magnetized plasma envelope of the outer atmosphere, including energization by the solar wind; the origin of geomagnetic storms and substorms; the population by solar and ionospheric sources; the origin of electric fields; the coupling among the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere; and waves and instabilities in the natural plasma. Also supported are ground-based observational programs at high latitudes. Theoretical research programs may include numerical simulations using nonlinear, three-dimensional plasma physics models. The analysis of data from all sources, whether ground-based or from spacecraft, is also supported.

Funding: Unspecified
Letter of Intent: Unspecified
Date of Submission Proposal: Continuous