E-Newsletter: March 27, 2009

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding Opportunities

New Recovery Act Funding Opportunities Available
NIH has announced several funding opportunities that will be supported with funds made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  For additional details, see the NIH website on ARRA funding opportunities:
http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/


Also see NIDCR's ARRA website:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Recovery/

Specifically, ARRA funds will be allocated for:

Challenge Grants
NIH has designated at least $200 million in FYs 2009-2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research. The grants will support research on topics that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds.  The application due date for these grants is April 27, 2009.  NIH anticipates funding 200 or more grants, each of up to $1 million in total costs, pending the number and quality of applications and availability of funds. In addition, Recovery Act funds allocated to NIH specifically for comparative effectiveness research (CER) may be available to support additional grants.  

See NIDCR-specific Challenge Topics: 
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Recovery/ChallengeGrants/

Grand Opportunities ("GO") Grants
NIH has established a new program, Research and Research Infrastructure "Grand Opportunities" (known as the "GO" program), to support projects that address large, specific biomedical and biobehavioral research endeavors that will benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds.  The research should have high short-term impact, and a high likelihood of enabling growth and investment in biomedical research and development, public health, and health care delivery.  Applications are due May 27, 2009. 

See NIDCR's areas of scientific priority for the "GO" initiative:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Recovery/GOGrants.htm

Biomedical Research Core Centers to Enhance Research Resources 
This NIH initiative is designed to provide the necessary resources for U.S. academic institutions to enhance their biomedical research efforts through the development of Biomedical Research Core Centers.   Core Center Grants are institutional awards that provide support for shared resources for categorical research by investigators from different disciplines who provide a multidisciplinary approach to a joint research effort, or from the same discipline who focus on a common research problem.  For this announcement, awards will be directed towards hiring investigators and providing appropriate start-up research resources that will help strengthen or expand the scientific capacity of the Research Core Center.

Construction Grants to Build New or Improve Existing Research Facilities
$1 billion of the funds provided to NIH under the Recovery Act will be allocated for federal awards to institutions seeking to construct, renovate, or repair biomedical or behavioral research facilities.  The National Center for Research Resources, a part of NIH, will administer these grants.  Funding will be awarded using two categories of facility construction and improvement grants:

Core Facility, Renovation, Repair and Improvement 
Extramural Research Facilities Improvement Program

Shared Instrumentation Grants
$300 million will be allocated to shared instrumentation grants to facilitate the purchase of research equipment that will enable scientists and researchers to complete their critical work.  

Administrative Supplements
On March 18, NIH announced that Recovery Act funds for administrative supplements will be made available to investigators and U.S. institutions/organizations with active NIH research grants for the purpose of accelerating the tempo of scientific research on active grants.  Applications are due June 1, 2009.

See NIDCR Guidelines for Administrative Supplements Using Recovery Act Funds:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Recovery/AdministrativeSupplements.htm

Competitive Revision Applications
Recovery Act Funds also will be made available to investigators and U.S. institutions/organizations with active NIH-supported research project grants (including SBIR and STTR) to submit revision applications (formerly termed competitive supplements).  The purpose of a Competitive Revision is to add scientifically-related components that significantly expand the scope of the project.  In addition, Recovery Act funds allocated to NIH specifically for comparative effectiveness research (CER) may be available to support supplements.  Applications are due April 21, 2009.

See NIDCR Guidelines for Competitive Revision Applications Using Recovery Act Funds: 
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Recovery/CompetitiveRevisions.htm

Administrative Supplements Providing Summer Research Experiences for Students and Science Educators
Investigators and U.S. institutions/organizations with active NIH research grants may request administrative supplements for the purpose of providing summer research experiences.  The aim of these supplements is to encourage students to seriously pursue research careers in the health related sciences, as well as provide elementary, middle school, and high school teachers, community college faculty, and faculty from non-research intensive institutions with short term research experiences in NIH-funded laboratories.  Applications to NIDCR for these supplements are due April 15, 2009.

See NIDCR Guidelines for Administrative Supplements Providing Summer Research Experiences for Students and Science Educators:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Recovery/SummerResearchExperiences.htm


See all of the ARRA Funding Opportunity Announcements:

OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

NIH Roadmap

NIH/HHS NEWS

NIH Public Access Policy is Now Permanent
NIH issued a Notice on March 19 stating that the NIH Public Access Policy remains a legislative mandate for FY 2009 and beyond.  All investigators funded by the NIH must submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication. 
The Notice is available at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-071.html
Also see the NIH Public Access Policy website:
http://publicaccess.nih.gov/ 

Stem Cell Research Barrier Removed
On March 9, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order (EO) entitled "Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells" that  changes the way NIH can support and conduct human stem cell research. The HHS Secretary, through the NIH Director, is required to review existing NIH and other widely-recognized guidelines on human stem cell research and issue new NIH guidance within 120 days. For additional details, see:
http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/

Report Available from Workshop on Salivary Gland Tumor Research
A report from the November 17-18, 2008 workshop on "Salivary Gland Tumor Research: Current Status and Future Directions," is now available.  Jointly sponsored by the NIH Office of Rare Diseases and the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose main mission is to find a cure for adenoid cystic carcinoma, this workshop was the second sponsored by NIH on salivary gland tumors.  NIDCR staff members served on the scientific planning committee.  To view the report, see "Workshop on Salivary Gland Tumor Research: Current Status and Future Directions" in the "Related Links" box at the bottom of this page:  
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/ 

Governor Kathleen Sebelius Nominated to be HHS Secretary
President Barack Obama has nominated Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Time magazine named her one of the nation’s top five governors in 2005. Sebelius has served as Governor of Kansas since 2003.  In addition she is a member of the National Governors Association’s Executive Committee and is co-chair of the National Governors Association’s initiative, Securing a Clean Energy Future. She also is the immediate past chair of the Education Commission of the States and past chair of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). 
 

SCIENCE ADVANCES

Science News in Brief
See the following summaries of recent oral health research findings:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/ResearchResults/ScienceBriefs/

Researchers Discover Why Teeth Form in a Single Row
Likely Early Biomarker for LAP Identified
Assay Shows Promise for Rapid and Accurate HSV Detection

A Look at Oral Health Disparities in Appalachia
In many parts of Appalachia, tooth decay remains an unfortunate rite of childhood that too often leads to a lifetime of poor oral health.  Researchers are now attempting to more clearly define the causes of poor oral health in the region and develop practical, low-cost solutions.  Prominent in this effort is the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA).


Read more about this NIDCR-supported project: 
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/ResearchResults/InterviewsOHR/

Scientists Report Gene Network in Early Tooth Development
Scientists report they have deduced a network of dental genes in fish that likely was present to build the first tooth some half a billion years ago. The researchers say their finding lays out a core evolutionary list of molecules needed to make a tooth.



Read the news release at:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/ResearchResults/NewsReleases/
Also see the accompanying interview, entitled "Evolutionary Biology: Cichlids, Gene Networks, and Teeth":  
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/ResearchResults/InterviewsOHR/