Notice Number: NOT-NS-18-077

Key Dates

Issued by
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Purpose

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke intends to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for institutional training programs in translational research. These programs will support advanced predoctoral students (years 3-4 of graduate school), postdoctoral fellows and fellowship-stage clinicians.

Advancing basic discoveries to clinical application (“bench to bedside”) requires a close collaboration between basic scientists and clinical investigators as well as an understanding of the experimental and regulatory issues that arise in moving from basic discovery to clinical applicability. The goal of this FOA is to stimulate the creation of translational training programs in neuroscience that will equip trainees with research expertise and an understanding of the principles and practices involved in translating basic research findings to clinical therapies, technologies and devices. The program is intended to help expand the community of basic and clinical researchers working in teams to conduct basic, disease-relevant research with an understanding of the requirements to achieve clinical applicability.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop and design programmatic content that will form a cohesive approach to translational research training. This notice is intended to support a limited number of exceptional training programs and will therefore be available for only a limited period of time. Under a different FOA (See NOT-NS-18-085), NINDS will continue to accept applications that address basic, clinical, translational or a combination of approaches in any area of research across the NINDS mission.

Both of these FOAs are expected to be published in the Fall of 2018. Applications to both FOAs will be accepted once per year, with an expected first application due date of May 25, 2019.

This FOA will utilize the T32 activity code.

Research Initiative Details

This Notice encourages established investigators who have 1) experience working along the continuum from basic discovery to clinical applicability, 2) expertise in translational research, and 3) the ability to provide both administrative and scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed training program, to begin to consider applying for this new FOA.

Programs supported under this FOA will be expected to include the following:

?1) a focus on basic disease-related research projects that will be informed by, and conducted with reference to, clinical applicability

2) training designed to facilitate a) an in-depth understanding of the clinical relevance of the basic mechanistic studies, b) an understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms that contribute to diseases/disorders being studied and c) an understanding of the experimental and regulatory requirements for translation of basic discovery to clinical applicability

3) creation of team-based research mentorship for each trainee that includes basic scientists, clinician and experts in various aspects of translational research

4) an emphasis, supported by formal activities, on sound experimental design, the proper use of statistical methodology and theoretical understanding by each trainee of the quantitative capabilities of his or her experimental system

6) activities for trainees to develop oral and written skills for communicating their science to a wide variety of audiences

7) access to an appropriate diversity of role models, both within the institution and through activities such as invited seminars.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Funding TBD
Expected Number of Awards TBD
Estimated Award Ceiling TBD
Primary CFDA Numbers 93.853

Anticipated Eligible Organizations

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to: