Key Dates

Related Announcements

PA-20-185 - NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-195 - NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-21-084 - NIDCR Small Grant Program for New Investigators (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-21-155 - Academic Research Enhancement Award for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-22-060 - Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools (R15 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-21-169 - Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) Award (R16 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-21-173 - Support for Research Excellence First Independent Research (SuRE-First) Award (R16 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-188 - NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-21-271 - Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-22-041 - NIDCR Dual Degree Dentist Scientist Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-190 - Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-22-050 - NIDCR Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Diversity (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-203 - Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-22-121 - Short-term Mentored Career Enhancement Award in Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research for Mid-Career and Senior Investigators (K18 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-22-044 - NIDCR Dentist Scientist Career Transition Award for Intramural Investigators (K22 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-199 - Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award (Parent K25 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Issued by

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

Purpose

GOAL

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is issuing this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) to encourage research that applies cutting edge imaging and high-throughput omics approaches at the single-cell level to understand the complex spatiotemporal context of the developing dental and craniofacial tissues in the embryo.

BACKGROUND

Over the last several years, single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and other single-cell technologies have become routine tools for obtaining a snapshot of genomic-level events occurring in dissociated cells. While these studies have led to impressive gains in characterizing the diverse cell populations in the developing embryo, there is a marked lack of information about how these cells are placed in space, in relation to other cells or cell types, and how spatial relationships unfold over developmental time. Pursuit of knowledge in this area will provide insight into the lifetime trajectory of a given cell, cell-cell interactions, and how gene expression and fate might be regulated through these interactions. New technologies to establish the link between cell identity and location are growing, including several approaches within the emerging field of spatial transcriptomics. These technologies complement cell labeling approaches that enable real-time assessment of cellular movement and together can generate a more complete picture of development. Achievement of the objectives of this NOSI will lead to the definition of new cell types, maps of cell movement and differentiation, and identification of loci of important cell-cell interactions.

RESEARCH SCOPE

Responsive applications should propose a hypothesis-driven research project that addresses a fundamental process in dental and/or craniofacial developmental biology. Research plans should include at least one objective that incorporates imaging and high-throughput single-cell technologies to link omics data to spatial information. Single-cell omics datatypes include scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, methylome-seq, proteomics, and more. Projects may incorporate existing genome-wide data. Developmental events and embryonic structures that have direct relevance to dental and/ or craniofacial biology are within scope of this NOSI. Projects should propose to utilize models with relevance to human biology.

Projects may address, but are not limited to, the following research themes.

• Investigation of spatial transcriptomic profiles of embryos with disruptions in development as a result of manipulation in coding or non-coding genomic regions, pharmacologic treatment, or other perturbations
• Analysis of constitutively- or inducibly-labelled cells to reveal spatial profile in conjunction with omic changes
• Characterization of cells composing a specific subregion to generate an atlas
• Comparison across in vivo, ex vivo, or in vitro settings to assess model fidelity
• Assessment of how cell-cell, cell-extracellular matrix, or tissue-tissue interactions impact cellular trajectories

Projects may include computational and machine learning approaches to integrate generated and available data over space and across one or more stages of development. Interdisciplinary collaboration within or across institutions is encouraged.

DATA SHARING AND MANAGEMENT

With the implementation of the upcoming Data Sharing and Management Policy (NOT-OD-21-013), sharing of all data types according to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles will be required as of the implementation date of January 25, 2023. Applicants are encouraged to consider the NIDCR-supported FaceBase repository (www.facebase.org) or other NIH-funded repositories for data deposition and reuse by the scientific community.

Application and Submission Information

This notice applies to due dates on or after September 28, 2022 and subsequent receipt dates through September 8, 2025.

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.

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-DE-22-003 (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)

Zubaida Saifudeen, PhD
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: 827-3334
Email: zubaida.saifudeen@nih.gov

Peer Review Contact(s)

Examine your eRA Commons account for review assignment and contact information (information appears two weeks after the submission due date).

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Diana Rutberg, MBA
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: 301-594-4798
Email: rutbergd@nih.gov