Funding News - NINDS Notes - May 2005

Applications for Institutional Center Core Grants to Support Neuroscience Research Sought

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invites applications for institutional center core grants to support neuroscience research.*
These grants will support centralized resources and facilities shared by investigators with existing NINDS-funded research projects. Each center will be composed of one or more research cores—each of which will enrich the effectiveness of ongoing research and promote new research directions. In addition, the grants will support individual neuroscience research projects by providing necessary resources and performing required services that would be difficult or impractical to provide in individual labs. The center core grants will promote a cooperative and interactive research environment through which multidisciplinary approaches to neuroscience problems and joint research efforts will be stimulated.
Areas of research interest include, but are not limited to: animal models (general, phenotyping, and transgenic); animal surgery; assay development; cell culture; electrophysiology; gene vector development and production; microarrays; molecular biology; protein analysis; radiochemistry; neuropathology; and neurotoxicology.
For more information, potential applicants should contact Dr. Thomas Miller, Program Director, Technology Development Group, NINDS, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 2139, Bethesda, MD 20892; telephone:
301-496-1779; fax: 301-402-1501; e-mail: tm208y@nih.gov.

*For a more detailed description of this program announcement, please visit the NIH web site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-05-070.html.

Applications Sought for Career Development Awards to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) invites applications for career development awards to promote diversity in neuroscience research.*
The objective of these awards is to increase the representation of racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in the neuroscience research workforce. To achieve this objective, the awards will support intensive, supervised research career development experiences for underrepresented career neuroscientists that will provide them with the skills necessary to develop competitively funded and independent research programs.
Eligible organizations include domestic for-profit or non-profit organizations, public or private institutions such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and medical, dental, or nursing schools or other institutions of higher education involved in neurological research. Eligible principal investigators include those individuals making the transition to an independent scientific career at the senior postdoctoral and junior faculty stages and who come from groups that are underrepresented in neuroscience research. Such candidates include individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. There is no limit to the number of applications that an institution may submit.
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 program announcement, please visit the NIH web site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-05-071.html.

Research to Understand and Treat Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Sought

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), and the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance invite grant applications for research aimed at understanding and treating tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). *
TSC is a multi-system, genetic disease that causes benign tumors (hamartomas) to form at multiple sites throughout the body—primarily the brain, lungs, heart, kidney, skin, and eyes. The genes that cause TSC—TSC1 and TSC2—are known, an understanding of the pathways in which they act is increasing, and animal models that mimic certain features of the disease now exist. Thus, there is a remarkable opportunity to increase knowledge about the mechanisms that cause TSC, and to translate this knowledge into therapies for the disorder.
Potential areas of research interest include, but are not limited to: studies of the role of hamartin and tuberin in basic cellular processes and development; development of cell culture models of TSC and more sophisticated animal models for TSC; identification of the downstream targets of tuberin and hamartin, with particular emphasis on potential molecular targets for drug therapy; developmental, neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, and imaging studies intended to identify specific abnormalities in TSC patients or in animal models of TSC; elucidation of the molecular events that cause lesions to develop in specific tissues; investigation of the pathogenesis of TSC-associated skin lesions and testing of potential therapeutic compounds to treat these lesions; studies aimed at understanding and developing treatments for TSC-associated infantile spasms and epilepsies; assessment and treatment of TSC-associated cognitive and behavioral problems; investigation of the role of the TSC1 and TSC2 gene products in other disorders; pre-clinical screening of potential small-molecule or gene-based therapies in cellular or animal models of TSC; and neurodevelopmental and longitudinal studies of TSC patients that investigate the progression and inherent variability of the disease.
For more information, potential applicants should contact Dr. Robert Finkelstein, Associate Director for Extramural Research, NINDS, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 3307, Bethesda, MD 20892; telephone: 301-496-9248; fax: 301-402-4370; e-mail: rf45c@nih.gov.

*For a more detailed description of this program announcement, please visit the NIH web site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAS-05-085.html.