Key Dates

Related Announcements

PA-20-185 - NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
PA-20-184 - NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
PA-20-200 - NIH Small Research Grant Program (Parent R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
PA-20-195 - NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
PAR-18-437 - Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21-Clinical Trial Optional)
PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Optional)

RFA-DA-22-006 - High-throughput Discovery and Validation of Novel Signal Transducers or Small Molecules that Modulate Opioid or other Substance Use Disorder Relevant Pathways (R01 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)

Issued by

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Purpose

The purpose of this notice is to encourage research project submissionsthat leverage whole-brain or large connectome resources in genetically tractable model organisms to investigate the role of distributed neuronal circuits in behaviors relevant to substance use disorders (SUD).

Background

In 2018 the BRAIN 2.0 Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) recommended that NIH should “consider applying methods developed in model systems towards understanding neuropsychiatric disease states at the circuit level – as well as seeking to understand ancestral principles governing circuit operation shared across phylogeny and evolution.” This NOSI intends to direct this recommendation towards NIDA-related basic research.

Historically, animal research in the substance use field has relied mainly on rats and non-human primates to “model” the effects of drugs on human behavior. Expansion into the use of mice, because they are genetically tractable, together with the emergence of genetic tools that target cells with specificity, revolutionized the field by allowing for more precise monitoring and manipulation of brain circuits. However, the field has not taken full advantage of the many other genetically tractable non-mammalian organisms, such as drosophila, zebrafish and C.elegans. The modest size of their nervous system and transformative connectome resources generated in recent years have positioned these model systems as unparalleled choices for the systematic investigation of distributed neuronal circuits underlying behavioral repertoires relevant to substance use.

Example of resources relevant to this NOSI:

• fly hemibrain connectome: neuprint.janelia.org
• C. elegans connectomes across development: nemanode.org
• whole-brain EM connectomes and activity maps in larval zebrafish neurodata.io/project/zebromes and fishatlas.neuro.mpg.d

Combining the use of such resources with the unique biological features or specific behaviors of model organisms affords the power of evolutionary biology to reveal conserved fundamental principles within behavioral domains.

Example of behavioral domains relevant to this NOSI:

• Foraging and self-control
• Drug-associated behavioral state modifications such as preference, withdrawal, and tolerance
• Stress responses
• Defensive behaviors
• Affiliative behavior

Example of research topics relevant to this NOSI:

• Computational studies of large-scale neuronal dynamics underlying drug-induced state transition or drug-induced behavioral plasticity of relevance to SUD

• High-throughput assays leveraging scalable behavioral and/or neural readouts and computational approaches for target identification, therapeutic drug discovery or abuse liability prediction

• Large scale connectome mapping at synaptic scale providing quantitative insight into the developmental effects ofabused drugs or structural correlatesof inter-individual differences in response drugs of abuse

Application and Submission Information

This notice applies to due dates on or after June 5, 2021 and subsequent receipt dates through September 8, 2024. 

Submit applications for this initiative using one of the following funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) or any reissues of these announcement through the expiration date of this notice.

• PA-20-185- NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-184.: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-20-200.: NIH Small Research Grant Program (Parent R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-195.: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PAR-18-437:Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards (CEBRA) (R21-Clinical Trial Optional)
• PA-20-272.Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Optional)
• RFA-DA-22-006: High-throughput Discovery and Validation of Novel Signal Transducers or Small Molecules that Modulate Opioid or other Substance Use Disorder Relevant Pathways (R01 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the funding opportunity announcement used for submission must be followed, with the following additions:

• For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-DA-21-006” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.

Applications nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will not be considered for the NOSI initiative.

Inquiries

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Olivier Berton, Ph.D.
National Institute on Drug Abuse(NIDA)
Telephone: (301) 827-7771
Email:olivier.berton@nih.gov