Mission Possible to Fight High Blood Pressure

The Institute’s National High Blood Pressure Education Program is offering a new online resource, Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure: Mission Possible. It provides materials that you can use to help combat high blood pressure in your community. The Web site also includes information to help you build new partnerships to reach broader audiences with your high blood pressure awareness messages. Visit Mission Possible to learn more.

Office of Rare Diseases Supports Scientific Conferences

The Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) collaborates with the NHLBI to stimulate rare diseases research by cosponsoring scientific conferences. This year, the ORD is co-sponsoring:

• Molecular Aspects of Myeloid Stem Cell Development and Leukemia
• Host Response to Persistent Airway Bacterial Load in Cystic Fibrosis and Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia
• Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Research Conference
• The World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders 8th Annual Meeting.

NHLBI Research Initiatives

From time to time, the NHLBI invites investigators to submit grant applications or contract proposals for specific research programs. We are currently soliciting applications for the programs described below. Unless a due date is mentioned, applications are accepted for February 1, June 1, and October 1 deadlines each year. For a full details of these and other research initiatives, visit www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/inits/index.htm or the Web page that is linked each initiative number.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Pathophysiology and Treatment

• Initiative Number: PA-05-030
• Objective: To support research on the epidemiology, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome in diverse groups and across the life span.

Clinical Outcomes of Live Organ Donors

• Initiative Number: RFA-AI-05-015
• Applications due: July 13, 2005
• Objective: To conduct epidemiologic research on the medical and functional outcomes and health needs of live organ donors.

Community Participation in Research

• Initiative Number: PAR-05-026
• Applications due: May 17, 2006 and 2007
• Objective: To support research on health promotion, disease prevention, and health disparities that is jointly conducted by communities and researchers.

Directed Stem Cell Differentiation for Cell-Based Therapies for Heart, Lung, Blood and Aging Diseases (R-21 and SBIR/STTR)

• Initiative Number: PA-05-043 and PA-05-044
• Objective: To develop methods to direct the differentiation or development of stem cells along specific cell lineages to yield replacement cells for clinical use.

Heart Failure Clinical Research Network

• Initiative Number: RFA-HL-05-003
• Applications due: August 16, 2005
• Objective: To expedite clinical research to evaluate the diagnosis, management, and treatment of heart failure.

Lung Response to Inhaled highly Toxic Chemicals

• Initiative Number: PA-05-058
• Objectives: To stimulate research on airborne chemical threats that affect the upper and lower respiratory tract, and identify potential therapies to prevent or limit development of pulmonary edema, a major complication of chemical irritation

Pediatric Heart Network

• Initiative Number: RFA-HL-05-10
• Applications due: September 23, 2005
• Objective: To evaluate new treatments and management strategies for children and adults with congenital heart defects and for children with inflammatory heart disease, heart muscle disease, and arrhythmias.

Research on Sleep and Sleep Disorders

• Initiative Number: PA-05-046
• Objectives: To advance biomedical knowledge related to sleep or sleep disorders, to improve understanding of the functions of sleep, to enhance timely diagnosis and effective treatment of sleep-related disorders, and to implement and evaluate innovative community-based public health education and intervention programs.

Restless Legs Syndrome and Periodic Limb Movement Disorder

• Initiative Number: PA-05-032
• Objective: To enhance understanding of and develop treatments for restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder.
  

SCCOR in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

• Initiative Number: RFA-HL-05-008
• Applications due: August 17, 2005
• Objective: To support multidisciplinary research related to COPD and speed progress in its diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.

SCCOR in Host Factors in Chronic Lung Diseases

• Initiative Number: RFA-HL-05-009
• Applications due: August 17, 2005
• Objective: To facilitate multidisciplinary basic and clinical research that identifies alterations in host responses and lung homeostasis and their contribution to the development or progression of chronic lung disease.

SCCOR in Pulmonary Vascular Disease

• Initiative Number: RFA-HL-05-007
• Applications due: August 17, 2005
• Objective: To accelerate understanding of the contribution of inappropriate vascular proliferative responses to injury in pulmonary hypertension, including evaluation of anti-proliferative agents as possible treatment.

Need More Information?

We are always interested in receiving comments and suggestions from the community. If you or your organizations have questions for me or for the Institute, please contact me at nabele@nhlbi.nih.gov or Dr. Carl Roth at rothc@nhlbi.nih.gov.

For information on specific issues, the following contacts may be helpful:

For health related questions and publications, please contact the trained information specialists at the NHLBI Information Center (NHLBIinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov) or write to the Information Center at P.O. Box 30105, Bethesda, MD 20824-0105.

For communications pertaining to NHLBI policies and priorities, contact the NHLBI Office of Public Liaison, (nhlbi.listens@nih.gov).

For additional information regarding NHLBI events, consult the references provided or NHLBI Calendar. Most other NIH Institutes and Centers also maintain calendars on their Web sites. Links to their Web pages are at NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices.

For Web related matters pertaining to the online version of the FYI from the NHLBI, contact the FYI from the NHLBI's Web Editor.