Notice Number: NOT-DA-07-033

Key Dates
Release Date: September 27, 2007

Issued by
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), (http://www.nida.nih.gov)

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), intends to publish a Request for Applications (RFA) in the fall of 2007 that will stimulate research to identify how of drugs of abuse interact with host and viral genetic factors in ways that may elucidate individual differences in susceptibility to infection and progression of HIV/AIDS and related complications.  HIV infection and progression to AIDS are affected by a variety of environmental, host and viral factors.  For example, polymorphisms in host genes encoding chemokines and their receptors are associated with both altered susceptibility to infection and altered rates of disease progression after HIV-1 infection.  Discordant viral evolution in different tissue compartments allows HIV to adapt to and persist in specific reservoirs and develop resistance to antiretroviral treatments.  There are data to suggest that drugs of abuse affect immune function and the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS (particularly in the central nervous system), as well as immune control of opportunistic infections.  There is interest, therefore, in understanding how particular genetic factors affect these interactions.  In addition, recently published genome wide association studies have provided insight into genetic factors influencing host control of HIV.  It is important to extend these analyses to drug abusing populations.  Also of interest is research in the area of pharmacogenetics to explore how genetic variations in metabolic pathways for licit and illicit drugs of abuse, pharmacotherapies used in treatment of addiction, and pharmacotherapies used to treat HIV/AIDS, affect drug efficacy.  A variety of genetics approaches would be appropriate for this funding opportunity, including studies with human samples, cell cultures, or animal models, to investigate pharmacogenetics, viral genetics, gene x environment x development interactions, epigenetics, and computational genetics.

Inquiries

For further information regarding this potential RFA, please contact:

Joni Rutter, Ph.D.
Division of Basic Neurosciences and Behavioral Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
6001 Executive Boulevard, MSC 9555
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone:  301-435-0298
E-mail: jrutter@nida.nih.gov  

Diane Lawrence, Ph.D.
Division of Basic Neurosciences and Behavioral Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
6001 Executive Boulevard, MSC 9555
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone:  301-443-1887
E-mail: lawrencedi@nida.nih.gov

Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices

	Office of Extramural Research (OER)			National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892			Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
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