Notice Number: NOT-HL-18-655

Key Dates

Issued by
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice is to inform potential applicants that the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) intend to publish a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that will support clinical research to elucidate mechanistic interactions between sleep and circadian activity and opioid use that impact on vulnerability to opioid use disorder.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants time to develop necessary collaborations and appropriate applications. The FOA is expected to be published in November 2018, with an expected application due date in February 2019.

This FOA will utilize the U01 (Clinical Trial Optional) activity code and will be an RFA. Details of the planned FOA are provided below.

Research Initiative Details

The intended FOA will invite applications using clinical research approaches to elucidate the role of sleep and circadian mechanisms in opioid use disorder (OUD), particularly mechanisms that determine the severity of physical dependence, addiction, propensity to relapse and mechanisms that modify responses to medication-assisted therapy (MAT). Identifying mechanisms by which sleep, and circadian activity contributes to these aspects of OUD and conversely how sleep and circadian rhythm are affected during the trajectory of opioid use and recovery addresses a knowledge gap and presents new opportunities to improve therapy and outcome. Multi-disciplinary, multiple-investigator teams of researchers combining expertise in clinical research, mechanisms of sleep and circadian rhythms, the neurobiology of OUD and neuropharmacology of MAT are strongly encouraged.

This FOA is only open to the study of OUD relevant mechanisms and pathobiology. Only NIH-defined clinical trials designed to elucidate mechanisms of action closely-coupled to well-recognized OUD/MAT outcomes will be supported. Highly responsive applications will identify critical mechanistic questions in understanding the role of sleep and circadian mechanisms in OUD and MAT and propose the clinical studies needed to discover answers. Evaluating the efficacy of one or more interventions without a rigorous mechanistic study design should not be proposed. Projects developed for this program must contribute significantly to the NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative, an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis. The study of other drugs of abuse will not be responsive.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Funding The NHLBI intends to commit total costs up to $4,000,000 in fiscal year 2019.
Expected Number of Awards The NHLBI intends to support up to 3 awards in fiscal year 2019.
Estimated Award Ceiling Application budget direct costs may not exceed $750,000 per year.
Primary CFDA Numbers 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.279

Anticipated Eligible Organizations

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to: