Funding News - Applications for Specialized Neuroscience Research Programs on Health Disparity in HIV and the Nervous System Requested

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) request applications for specialized neuroscience research programs on health disparity in HIV and the nervous system.

The purpose of this request for applications (RFA) is to augment and strengthen the research capabilities of faculty, students, and fellows at minority institutions by supporting the development of new, and/or the enhancement of ongoing, basic and clinical neuro-AIDS-related research projects and programs. These awards will support individuals at minority institutions who collaborate with one or more established NIH-supported investigators at research intensive organizations.

Examples of potential areas of research include: development of strategies to promote the dissemination and/or transfer of information on the neurological complications of HIV infection from research to service providers; development of strategies to prevent the spread of HIV infections in the central and peripheral nervous systems; establishment of population-based studies to evaluate promising new therapies that could impact the progression of AIDS-associated dementia; studies on mechanisms underlying the neurological and neurobehavioral aspects of HIV infection; identification of surrogate markers which will allow rapid measurement of neuropathogenic damage and treatment success; refinement of brain imaging techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV-associated neurological disease; elucidation of the role of the immune system, intracellular signaling pathways, receptors, and cytokines in HIV neurotropism and pathogenicity in HIV-associated dementia; investigations of signal transduction which may induce recruitment and proliferation of inflammatory cells and further cytokine/chemokine dysfunction; studies of drugs of abuse that result in neuro-AIDS complications; and investigation of possible common links among neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and HIV-dementia, where microglial activation is a common pathway for neural destruction.

APPLICATION RECEIPT DATE: April 13, 2001.

For more information, potential applicants should contact Dr. Alfred Gordon, Associate Director for Minority Health and Research, NINDS, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 2151, Bethesda, MD 20892; telephone: (301) 496-3102; fax: (301) 594-5929; e-mail: ag38x@nih.gov.

For a more detailed description of this RFA, please visit the web site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-01-009.html.