The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) intends to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for an Exploratory Grant Program in Parkinson's Disease Research. This initiative will request Exploratory Grantapplications for the planning and initiation of collaborative efforts to advance Parkinson's Disease (PD) research. The goal of this program is to formalize new interdisciplinary teams to address critical gaps in PD research and establish a foundation of research discovery leading directly to an NINDS Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for PD Research (P50) application.

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 Summer 2020 with an expected application due date in Autumn 2020.

This FOA will utilize the Exploratory Grant (P20) activity code. Details of the planned FOA are provided below.

Ressearch Initiative Details

This Notice encourages investigators with expertise and insights into Parkinson's Disease (PD) research to begin to consider applying for this new FOA.

This initiative encourages PD research examining the mechanisms that underlie the effects of PD, as well as research designed to improve the translation of existing knowledge of strategies for the prevention and treatment of PD.

The purpose of this FOA for Exploratory Grant (P20) applications is to support the formation of new interdisciplinary research teams and innovative approaches to address current challenges in PD research. Through this mechanism, the NINDS seeks to develop synergistic, proof-of-concept research efforts around investigator-defined thematic areas. The overall goal is to encourage the formation of new collaborative teams to develop a novel research plan, construct an effective administrative organization, create standardized policies/procedures, and gather rigorous preliminary data in support of novel ideas to address urgent gaps and emergent issues in PD research. Successful Exploratory Grant activities should lead directly to the submission of a competitive NINDS Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence (P50) application.?

A P20 application will include an Overall section, an Administrative Core and a minimum of three research feasibility projects, one of which will be led by an Early Stage Investigator (ESI). Research Cores are not within scope. The Exploratory Grant will provide up to two years of support.

NINDS funding decisions will focus primarily on scientific merit, i.e., on those applications that are most likely to make innovative contributions to PD research and that demonstrate potential to submit a Udall Center application at the end of the Exploratory Grant project period.