Funding News - Applications for Gene Therapy for Neurological Disorders Requested

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) request applications for research on gene therapy for neurological disorders.* Gene therapy holds tremendous promise for the treatment of neurological disorders. Despite recent advances in this area, however, certain scientific, technological, and safety goals must be achieved before gene transfer becomes a viable therapeutic alternative. The objective of this request for applications (RFA) is to accelerate the translation of gene transfer methodologies into clinical practice. Examples of potential areas of research include: development of improved inducible vectors that permit effective temporal control over transgene expression; design of vectors with regulatory elements that permit gene expression to be targeted to specific brain regions, peripheral neural tissues, or other cell types of therapeutic interest; development of methods that achieve higher transduction efficiencies and high-level, stable transgene expression in the nervous system; development of techniques that permit improved focal or global delivery of vectors into the brain or peripheral neural tissues; and development of improved methods for monitoring transgene expression in the brain. APPLICATION RECEIPT DATE: November 16, 2001. For more information, potential applicants should contact Dr. Robert Finkelstein, Program Director, Neurogenetics Cluster, NINDS, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 2143, Bethesda, MD 20892; telephone: (301) 496-5745; fax: (301) 402-1501; e-mail: finkelsr@ninds.nih.gov.

*For a more detailed description of this RFA, please visit the NIH web site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-02-007.html.