NOT-NS-17-030: Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Innovative Approaches or Technologies to Investigate Regional, Structural and Functional Heterogeneity of Small Blood and Lymphatic Vessels in the CNS and Retina (R01)

Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Innovative Approaches or Technologies to Investigate Regional, Structural and Functional Heterogeneity of Small Blood and Lymphatic Vessels in the CNS and Retina (R01)

Notice Number: NOT-NS-17-030

Key Dates
Release Date: June 20, 2017

Estimated Publication Date of Announcement: October 2017
First Estimated Application Due Date: December 2017
Earliest Estimated Award Date: July 2018
Earliest Estimated Start Date: July 2018

Related Announcements
RFA-NS-18-003

Issued by
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research (http://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/)
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)

Purpose

The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research intends to promote a new initiative by publishing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for research on CNS small blood and lymphatic vessels to facilitate:

development of tools and technology to image, profile and map CNS small blood and lymphatic vessels;
elucidate the mechanisms underlying their development and differentiation;
elucidate the mechanisms underlying their structural and functional heterogeneity and differential susceptibility to injury;
role in CNS physiology (including sleep, development, aging), disease and repair processes;
responses to therapy.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects.

The FOA is expected to be published in October 2017 with an expected application due date in December 2017.

This FOA will utilize the R01 activity code.
Details of the planned FOA are provided below.

Research Initiative Details

This Notice encourages investigators with expertise and insights into this area of mechanistic, technology development, and clinical studies focused on small blood and lymphatic vessels in the Central Nervous System (CNS, including retina) to begin to consider applying for this new FOA.

Multidisciplinary teams with complementary expertise in CNS cutting-edge imaging, neurovascular biology, immunology, biomarker development will be encouraged and these investigators are encouraged to apply for this application.
Studies focused on biomarker development for small vessel vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) and mechanistic basis of diffuse white matter disease in VCID will be not in scope for the new announcement, as they were covered by earlier FOAs (RFA-NS-16-019, https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-16-019.html; RFA-NS-16-020, https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-16-020.html; RFA-NS-16-021, https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-16-021.html). However, these topics are still of high interest to the NINDS and applicants can apply under the Parent R01 or R21 mechanisms.

This FOA aims to encourage technology and tools development or innovative approaches to address the mechanisms that drive CNS small blood and lymphatic vessels complex local specialization and structural and functional heterogeneity, their interactions with their micro- and macro-environment, and their response to physiological or pathological challenges, or therapies, by using novel approaches or tools. This scientific area cuts across several CNS diseases within the NIH Blueprint Institutes mission, such as lacunar stroke, CNS microbleeds, traumatic brain injury, brain edema, CNS infection, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, stress, and other psychiatric diseases, drug and alcohol abuse, retinal vasculopathy, periodontal disease and nerve damage, childhood small vessel CNS vasculitis, CNS complications of preeclampsia, chronic pain, spinal cord disorders, and many other disorders, and includes complementary and integrative health approaches.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with NINDS program staff as plans for an application are being developed.APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Francesca Bosetti, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1431
Email: frances@mail.nih.gov