14th Edition: November 30, 2005

Requests for Applications
Prescription Opioid Use and Abuse in the Treatment of Pain (R01, R03, R21, R25)

Development of Recombinase-Expressing (“Driver”) Mouse Lines for Studying the Nervous System (U01)

International Clinical, Operational and Health Services Research Training Award (ICOHRTA) [D43]

Training in Translational Research in Neurobiology of Disease (T32)

Course Development in the Neurobiology of Disease (R25)

Assay Development for High Throughput Molecular Screening (R03/R21)

Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award

Planning Grants for Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Awards

International Research Ethics Education and Curriculum Development Award

Technological Enhancements and Archiving for Surveys of the Elderly: STTR (R41/R42) Initiative

Program Announcements 
Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R03)

Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R21)

Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R01) 

Small Business Innovation Research to Improve the Chemistry and Targeted Delivery of RNAi Molecules (SBIR [R43/R44])

Small Business Technology Transfer to Improve the Chemistry and Targeted Delivery of RNAi Molecules (STTR [R41/R42])
 
Small Business Innovation Research Program Parent Announcement (SBIR [R43/R44]):
Electronic Submission of Grant Applications Through Grants.gov

Small Business Innovation Research Program Parent Announcement (SBIR [R41/R42]): Electronic Submission of Grant Applications Through Grants.gov

Bioengineering Nanotechnology Initiative (STTR [R41/R42])

Bioengineering Nanotechnology Initiative (STTR [R43/R44])

Manufacturing Processes of Medical, Dental, and Biological Technologies (STTR [R41/42])
 
Manufacturing Processes of Medical, Dental, and Biological Technologies (STTR [R43/44])

NIDCR Clinical Pilot Data Grant

NIDCR Clinical Trial Planning Grant 

Collaborative Research for Molecular and Genomic Studies of Basic Behavior in Animal Models

Development of Diagnostic Screening Test for Salt Sensitivity (SBIR [R43/R44])

Development of Diagnostic Screening Test for Salt Sensitivity (STTR [R41/R42])

International Research Collaboration on Drug Addiction (R01)

NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (R13/U13)

TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT NEWS

2006 NIDCR Summer Dental Student Award
To expose future dentists to research careers, NIDCR offers an outstanding research training opportunity for dental students.  The NIDCR Summer Dental Student Award is designed to promote the professional careers of talented dental students through exposure to the latest advances in oral health research. Selected candidates will be assigned to mentors who conduct research in the students’ areas of interest.  Students will gain hands-on experience in basic or clinical research.  Participation in the program may result in presentation of research findings at a scientific meeting or co-authorship of scientific publications.

The NIDCR provides a competitive stipend for a minimum of eight weeks during the summer.   Student nomination and application began on November 15, 2005.  The application deadline is January 17, 2006. 

2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program
NIH has now opened its 2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award program. The award, a key component of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, supports exceptionally creative scientists who take innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical research.  The program is open to scientists at all career levels. The scientists may currently be engaged in any field of research provided they are interested in exploring biomedically relevant topics and willing to commit at least 51 percent of their research effort to the Pioneer Award project.  In September 2006, NIH expects to make five to ten new Pioneer Awards of up to $2.5 million in direct costs over a 5-year period.  The streamlined, electronic application process includes a three- to five-page essay, a biographical sketch, identification of the applicant's most significant publication or achievement, and three letters of reference. Applications may be submitted between January 15 and February 27, 2006.  See application instructions for the Director's Pioneer Award Program.  Also see the Pioneer Award Web site.

Electronic Receipt of Applications
Beginning December 1, 2005, all SBIR/STTR applications must be received electronically.  As of December 15, the same will apply to R13 grant applications.  One by one, all competing grant mechanisms will gradually transition from being received on paper to being received electronically. The goal is for all NIH competing grant applications to be submitted electronically by May 2007. 

NIH Launches Major Program to Transform Clinical and Translational Science
On October 12, NIH announced a new Roadmap Program called the Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs).  The CTSAs are designed to spur the transformation of clinical and translational research in the U.S. so that new treatments can be developed more efficiently and delivered more quickly to patients.  The new program also is intended to energize the discipline of clinical and translational science at academic health centers around the country.  

The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) will air a technical grant writing videocast/videoconference for the NIH Roadmap Clinical and Translational Science Award program from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on December 7, 2005. The workshop will answer CTSA-related questions, which viewers will be able to submit by e-mail or videoconference link.  If you wish to participate via videoconference, please e-mail John Heckler at:
hecklerj@mail.nih.gov
Those who wish to view the workshop via webcast may access the workshop on December 7.
 
Also see the press release about the CTSA Awards.
The "Sounding Board” article by NIH Director Elias Zerhouni in the October 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

New NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives
NIH has established an Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI) within the Office of the Director.  OPASI will address the need for better methods and information for managing large and complex scientific portfolios and will coordinate trans-NIH scientific initiatives such as the NIH Roadmap.  The office also is intended to provide NIH with transparent decision-making related to trans-NIH and Institute-specific strategic planning, priority setting, and portfolio management and improve NIH’s ability to integrate and balance public health needs and burden of illness with scientific opportunities.

Funds Awarded for National Stem Cell Bank and New Centers of Excellence in Translational Human Stem Cell Research
NIH has awarded $16.1 million over four years to fund a National Stem Cell Bank and $9.6 million to fund two new Centers of Excellence in Translational Human Stem Cell Research for four years.  The National Stem Cell Bank, awarded to the WiCell Research Institute in Wisconsin, will consolidate many of the federally funded eligible human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines in one location, reduce the costs that researchers have to pay for the cells, and maintain quality control over the cells.  It will provide scientists affordable and timely access to federally approved human embryonic stem cells and other technical support that will make it easier for scientists to obtain the cell lines currently listed on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry.

The two Centers of Excellence, awarded to the University of California, Davis and Northwestern University, will bring together stem cell experts, disease experts, and other scientists to explore ways human stem cells may be used in the future to treat a wide range of diseases such as blood cancers and blood disorders, kidney disease, and neurological disorders.  See additional details about the Centers of Excellence in stem cell research.

Researchers to Gain Wider Access to Knockout Mice
NIH has announced contracts that will give researchers unprecedented access to two private collections of knockout mice, providing valuable models for the study of human disease and laying the groundwork for a public, genome-wide library of knockout mice. Under terms of three-year contracts jointly funded by 19 NIH institutes, centers and offices--including the NIDCR--Deltagen Inc. of San Carlos, CA, and Lexicon Genetics Incorporated of The Woodlands, TX, will provide NIH and its scientific partners with access to extensively characterized lines of mice in which a specific gene has been disrupted, or "knocked out." In the first year of the contract, NIH will expend about $10 million to acquire about 250 lines of knockout mice.

For each mouse line, the contractors will provide not only the mouse line itself, but also detailed, objective data on the impact of the specific gene deletion on the mouse's phenotype, which includes appearance, health, fitness, behavior, ability to reproduce, and radiological and microscopic data. Such comprehensive information on such a large group of mice has never been available to public sector researchers, and is expected to greatly accelerate efforts to explore gene functions in health and disease. 

Information about the following topics is available at Science News in Brief:
*Findings Suggest Fluoride Supplements During Pregnancy Provide Little or Not Benefit
*Study Find Possible Association Between Amoxicillin and Enamel Malformation
*New Comparison of Commonly Consumed Fluids and Risk of Early Childhood Caries

PERSONNEL NEWS

Dr. Dushanka V. Kleinman has returned to NIDCR to resume her duties as deputy director of the Institute.  For the past two years, she coordinated NIH Roadmap activities for the NIH Director.  In addition to her role as deputy director, Dr. Kleinman now serves as acting director of the newly created Center for Health Promotion and Behavioral Research in NIDCR’s extramural program.

With Dr. Kleinman’s return, Dr. Henning Birkedal-Hansen, who served as acting deputy director, has assumed a new role within the Institute as associate director for program development.  He will retain oversight of the Institute’s training activities and work directly with the NIDCR Director to help identify future scientific opportunities for the NIDCR.