Novel NeuroAIDS Therapies: Integrative Preclinical/Clinical Program (IPCP)
NAMHC Concept Clearance — January 11, 2008
Presenter
Dianne Rausch, Ph.D.
Deputy Director, AIDS Centers Program
Center for Mental Health Research on AIDS (CMHRA)
Division of AIDS and Health Behavior Research
Goal
This initiative will support novel bench-to-bedside research in NeuroAIDS treatment development. We propose to foster the Novel NeuroAIDS Therapies: IPCP to support new treatment concepts that can be integrated into clinical practice and open new research directions.
Rationale
The CMHRA plans to issue a Program Announcement to support an Integrative Preclinical/Clinical Program (IPCP) for NeuroAIDS Research. For the past decade, the NIMH has co-sponsored the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) IPCP Program Announcement. This approach has been very successful in soliciting applications and bringing new investigators into the NIMH CMHRA therapeutics arena. Because of this success, the NIMH applicant pool has outgrown the ability of NIAID to review all the applications in an appropriate period and to cover the distinct research expertise and breadth needed for the respective reviews. Therefore, NIMH will continue this initiative independently of NIAID.
The solicitation encourages multidisciplinary bench-to-bedside research with the goal of identifying novel targets and approaches for the treatment of HIV infection and its consequences. While highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) have reduced the incidence of severe HIV-associated dementia, the prevalence of milder forms of HIV-related CNS complications is reportedly increasing; as individuals live longer, they experience multiple insults on the brain, from normal brain-related aging processes to inflammation associated with viral proteins, as well as associated medical conditions such as depression.
Applications may address the following: preclinical research exclusively; preclinical research that transitions to clinical research during the award period; or, a supplement to perform a basic or clinical study based on an earlier IPCP pre-clinical award. For applications containing a clinical component, a multi-project Cooperative Agreement (U19) mechanism is being utilized; a U01 mechanism is employed for non-clinical projects. Each application will be composed of a minimum of three research projects. To facilitate the translation of new treatment concepts to the clinic, applications are required to include at least one component (a research project or scientific core) from the private sector.
