Related Announcements

NOT-NS-22-051 Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) in Migraine and Headache Research

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

PA-20-183 Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required)

PA-20-184 Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

PA-21-219 Joint NINDS/NIMH Exploratory Neuroscience Research Grant (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)

PAR-19-315 Discovery of Biomarkers and Biomarker Signatures for Neurological and Neuromuscular Disorders (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)

RFA-NS-22-011 BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-20-097 Biomedical Knowledgebase (U24 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)

PAR-20-089 Biomedical Data Repository (U24 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)

PAR-19-158 Bioengineering Research Grants (BRG) (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-19-159 Bioengineering Research Grants (BRG) (R01 Clinical Trial Required)

PAR-21-315 Blueprint MedTech Translator (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional)

RFA-NS-21-021 Translational Neural Devices (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional)

PAR-21-236 NINDS Exploratory Clinical Trials (U01 - Clinical Trial Required)

PA-21-050 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions Without NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (Parent F30)

PA-21-051 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31)

PA-21-052 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Parent F31-Diversity)

PAR-21-032 NINDS Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Training of Postdoctoral Fellows (F32 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-187 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Required)

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

PA-20-189 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

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-21-272 Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Required)

PAR-21-273 Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required (BESH))

PA-20-201 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

PA-20-202 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08 Independent Clinical Trial Required)

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

PA-20-204 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

PA-20-205 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-206 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Clinical Trial Required)

PAR-21-153 NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Clinical Trial Required)

PAR-21-234 NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed

PAR-20-049 NINDS Postdoctoral Mentored Career Development Award (K01 - No Independent Clinical Trial Allowed)

PAR-20-050 NINDS Postdoctoral Mentored Career Development Award (K01 - Clinical Trial Required)

PA-20-174 Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-173 Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

PA-20-171 Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02 - Independent Clinical Trial Required)

PAR-21-327 Career Transition Award for NINDS Intramural Clinician-Scientists (K22 Clinical Trial Required)

PAR-21-328 Career Transition Award for NINDS Intramural Clinician-Scientists (K22 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Issued by

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to outline NINDS priorities for applications in the field of pain research in Fiscal Year 2022. Recognizing the urgent need to understand the basic science aspect of pathological pain to improve its management, Fiscal Year 2022 draft budgets from the President, House, and Senate each include proposals to increase funding for pain research within NINDS mission. With this NOSI, NINDS wishes to inform the science community of the pain research opportunities that will present themselves, if funds become available. To be considered for funding through this initiative in Fiscal Year 2022, applications will need to be submitted to corresponding due dates starting in January or February 2022 so they can undergo Scientific Merit and NINDS Advisory Council review for the September 2022 Council round.

For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-NS-22-050 (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 deemed nonresponsive to the terms of this notice will not be considered for this initiative.

Background:

Although there is still some uncertainty about the final availability of funds, we are excited by the potential to accelerate discovery and therapy development in this critical area, and we hope to encourage investigators to consider submitting applications that can advance our knowledge of the nature of pain and its treatment. Specific areas of scientific need identified by NINDS are described below.

Pain is a critical national health problem. New and innovative advances are needed in nearly every area of pain research. This NOSI is specific for pain conditions within NINDS mission, which includes but is not limited to cellular and molecular pain research, neuropathic pain not associated with cancer treatments or diabetes, pain due to damage to nerves or other parts of the nervous system, and pain associated with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Please reach out to the research contacts listed in the NOSI to confirm the NINDS mission relevance of your project prior to submission.

The following topic areas are not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive. Synergistic studies that reach across two or more of these areas are encouraged. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research is especially encouraged, as is research that involves specific cooperation between basic, translational, and clinical scientists.

Research areas of interest include:

• Research on Mechanisms of Pain: Improved treatments of acute and chronic pain conditions require an understanding of the processes underlying the transmission and perception of acute and chronic pain. Discovery of the molecules, cells, and neuronal pathways involved in nociception/pain perception and affective aspects of pain are critical. NINDS aims to support research on pain and the neural pathways in basic research.
  
• Team-based Integrated Clinical and Basic Research on the Neurobiology of Pain: Questions in pain science require challenging, ambitious, and innovative projects that cannot be achieved by a single individual, either basic scientist or clinical investigator. To overcome the shortcomings of the translation of pain discoveries in the past, this initiative will support team-based pain research as a collaboration between basic scientists and clinician researchers.
  
• Role of the Gut Microbiome in Chronic Neuropathic Pain: There is increasing interest in the function of the gut microbiome in human health and disease, particularly the role of gut microbes in disorders of the nervous system such as neuropathic pain. Evidence points to a correlation between the gut and the brain, which may include the inflammatory aspects of the neuroimmune system. The microbiome may play a role in pathogenesis of chronic pain and could potentially be used as a therapeutic target for pain management. Projects to investigate the correlations between the gut microbiome and chronic neuropathic pain are responsive to this focus area.
  
• Pain Research using Medium and Large Animal Models: Medium and large animal models for pathophysiology studies and analgesic therapeutics discovery should represent a significant advance over those that currently exist for pain research. These animal models should be relevant to clinical pain processes and types in both preclinical and clinical settings. This includes the development and validation of animal models of pain through investigating naturally occurring pain, such as the pain in companion animals.
  
• Initial Identification of Pain Biomarkers or Biomarker Signatures that Predict or Monitor Response to a Therapeutic or Therapeutic Mechanism: The goal of this focus area is to conduct mechanistic studies directed toward the initial identification of pain biomarkers or biomarker signatures that would have utility for monitoring or predicting the response to a pain therapeutic in clinical trials or clinical practice. At the end of this project, the preliminary candidate biomarker would then be ready to enter more advanced biomarker discovery activities, such as detection technology development.
  
• Resource Grants for the Integration and Dissemination of Technologies for the Assessment or Treatment of Pain: The goal of this focus area is to facilitate rapid dissemination of developed and validated technologies and resources broadly to the pain research community, thereby accelerating the pace of discovery. Proposed techniques, resources or approaches must be at a stage wherein the potential value for pain research is well established, through publications or other demonstration methods. Projects should engage in one or more of the following activities: distribution of technologies or resources; user training on the usage of new technologies or techniques; providing access to existing technology platforms and specialized facilities; minor improvements to increase the scale/efficiency of resource production and delivery; minor adaptations to meet the needs of a user community.Applications strictly focused on technology/resource or software development, rather than dissemination of an existing resource, are not responsive.
  
• Biomedical Data Repositories or Knowledgebases for Pain Research: Biomedical data repositories accept submission of relevant data from the community to store, organize, validate, archive, preserve, and distribute said data, whereas biomedical knowledgebases extract, accumulate, organize, annotate, and link growing bodies of information related to core datasets. Accessible, well-maintained, and efficiently operated data resources can be critical enablers of research in complex pain conditions such as neuropathic pain. As such, this focus area will support biomedical data repositories or knowledgebases for pain research.
  

• Bioengineering Research Grants to Develop Technologies to Investigate Pain and Pain Circuits: Currently, there is a lack of high-quality research tools to accurately assess pain, to evaluate physiological markers of pain, and to analyze pain circuits. To address this limitation, NINDS seeks to support the development and validation of invasive and non-invasive devices, diagnostic/monitoring tools, advanced imaging techniques, computational models, tissue engineering, and other technologies that can be used to characterize the physiology of pain and pain conditions in the NINDS mission.
  
• Development of Translational Neural Devices to Treat Pain: Innovators developing groundbreaking medical device technologies to diagnose and treat pain face several challenges along the translational path from bench to bedside. Through the Translational Neural Devices program and the Blueprint MedTech program, NINDS aims to address such challenges and support the innovators by accelerating the development of cutting-edge medical devices to diagnose and treat pain. The mission of the program is to catalyze the translation of novel neurotechnologies from early-stage development to first-in-human clinical studies.
  
• Pain in Parkinson’s Disease: Pain is a common non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). Pain in PD can be musculoskeletal, visceral, neuropathic etc. Projects to investigate pain in Parkinson’s Disease are responsive to this focus area.
  
• Exploratory Clinical Trials in Pain: To encourage grant applications for investigator-initiated exploratory pain clinical trials in NINDS mission. The trials may include Phase 1 and 2 studies of drugs and biologics, feasibility studies of devices, and early studies of surgical, behavioral or rehabilitation therapies. All exploratory trials must contribute to the justification for and provide some of the data required to inform a future trial to establish efficacy (such as a Phase 3, Phase 4, or Pivotal trial)
  
• Fellowships and Career development/transition awards: NINDS proposes to support pain scientists at various stages in their careers, from predoctoral students on research training grants to investigators (basic science and clinical researchers) with extensive experience. This includes the following grant mechanisms: F30, F31, F32, K99/R00, K01, K22, K02, K23, K08.
  

For information regarding NINDS priorities for applications in the field of headache and migraine research, see NOT-NS-22-051: Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) in Migraine and Headache Research

Program Directors/Principal Investigators planning to submit applications are strongly encouraged to contact NINDS scientific program staff when developing their projects.

Application and Submission Information

This notice applies to due dates on or after January 25, 2022 and subsequent receipt dates through May 8, 2022.

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

• PA-20-185: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-183: Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required)
• PA-20-184: Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-21-219: Joint NINDS/NIMH Exploratory Neuroscience Research Grant (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)
• PAR-19-315: Discovery of Biomarkers and Biomarker Signatures for Neurological and Neuromuscular Disorders (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)
• RFA-NS-22-011: BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

• PAR-20-097 Biomedical Knowledgebase (U24 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
• PAR-20-089 Biomedical Data Repository (U24 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
• PAR-19-158: Bioengineering Research Grants (BRG) (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PAR-19-159: Bioengineering Research Grants (BRG) (R01 Clinical Trial Required)
• PAR-21-315: Blueprint MedTech Translator (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional)
• RFA-NS-21-021: Translational Neural Devices (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional)
• PAR-21-236: NINDS Exploratory Clinical Trials (U01 - Clinical Trial Required)
• PA-21-050: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions Without NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (Parent F30)
• PA-21-051: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31)
• PA-21-052: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Parent F31-Diversity)
• PAR-21-032: NINDS Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Training of Postdoctoral Fellows (F32 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-187: NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Required)
• PA-20-188: NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-189: NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• 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-21-272: Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Required)
• PAR-21-273: Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required (BESH))
• PA-20-201: Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-20-202: Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08 Independent Clinical Trial Required)
• PA-20-203: Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-204: Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-20-205: Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-206: Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Clinical Trial Required)
• PAR-21-153: NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Clinical Trial Required)
• PAR-21-234: NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PAR-20-049: NINDS Postdoctoral Mentored Career Development Award (K01 - No Independent Clinical Trial Allowed)
• PAR-20-050: NINDS Postdoctoral Mentored Career Development Award (K01 - Clinical Trial Required)
• PA-20-174: Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-173: Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-20-171 Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02 - Independent Clinical Trial Required)
• PAR-21-327: Career Transition Award for NINDS Intramural Clinician-Scientists (K22 Clinical Trial Required)
• PAR-21-328: Career Transition Award for NINDS Intramural Clinician-Scientists (K22 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

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-NS-22-050 (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)
Michael Oshinsky, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Email: michael.oshinsky@nih.gov

D.P. Mohapatra, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-9964
Email: dp.mohapatra@nih.gov

For inquiries related to clinical research, contact:
Rebecca Hommer, MD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-827-2257
E-mail: rebecca.hommer@nih.gov

For inquiries related to the pain biomarkers focus area, contact:
Ram Arudchandran, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1779
E-mail: ramachandran.arudchandran@nih.gov

For inquiries related to devices, technology, or dissemination contact:
Eric Hudak, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1779
Email: NINDS-Devices@nih.gov

For inquiries related to the gut microbiome focus area, contact:
David A. Jett, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-6035
Email: jettd@ninds.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)

Chief Grants Management Officer
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Email: ChiefGrantsManagementOfficer@ninds.nih.gov