NIH New Innovator Awards

NIH is calling for applications for 2008 NIH Director's New Innovator Awards. This program is part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and supports exceptionally creative scientists who take highly innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical or behavioral research.

New Innovator Awards provide $1.5 million in direct costs over the same period and are for new investigators who have not received an NIH regular research (R01) or similar grant.

NIH expects to make up to 24 New Innovator Awards in September 2008.

Women and members of groups that are underrepresented in NIH research areas are encouraged to apply. Submit New Innovator Award applications between March 3 and 31, 2008. Application instructions are at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-08-014.html and additional information is at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/
new_investigators/innovator_award. Send questions to newinnovator@nih.gov.

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Biology and Medicine (R01 and R21)

This funding opportunity (FOA) is aimed at enhancing nanoscience and nanotechnology research focused on problems in biology and medicine. Nanoscience and nanotechnology refer to research and development on the understanding and control of matter at a length scale of approximately 1 - 100 nanometers, where novel properties and functions occur because of the size. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will utilize the R01 grant mechanism and runs in parallel with a FOA of identical scientific scope PA-08-053, that solicits applications under the R21 mechanism. The earliest an R01 application may be submitted is February 5th and the earliest an R21 application may be submitted is January 16th. Standard dates apply for application submission. The R01 announcement can be found here: http://www.grants.nih.gov/
grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-052.html. The R21 announcement can be found here: http://www.grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-053.html.

Administrative Supplements for High-Quality Low-Cost Monoclonal Antibodies for Studies of the Nervous System

This announcement details an administrative supplement program of $600,000 in Fiscal Year 2008 to provide funds to NINDS, NIMH, NIDCD or NIAAA-funded research projects for collaboration with the UC Davis NeuroMab Facility (www.neuromab.org). The purpose of this program is to facilitate production of new monoclonal antibodies (NeuroMabs) to targets with high relevance to nervous system studies. The NeuroMab Facility was established to provide inexpensive, carefully verified monoclonal antibodies to proteins of the mammalian nervous system. For investigator-initiated antibody requests, the facility enters into a collaborative partnership in which the requesting investigator can provide expertise and reagents necessary for the project. The current announcement is for supplements to NINDS, NIMH, NIDCD or NIAAA-funded projects ($5K-$50K per project) for design and generation of reagents for antibody production and validation, such as immunogens (e.g., fusion protein cDNA constructs and purified fusion proteins), and/or tagged cDNA expression vectors for antibody screening. A request may include providing reagents for multiple targets and can include minor personnel costs. No requests for equipment will be considered. Investigators with Mentored Career Development (K01, K08, K23, K25 or K99/R00), Research Scientist (K02 or K24), Research Project (R01 or U01), Academic Research Enhancement (R15), Exploratory/ Developmental (R21), Phase II SBIR (R44 or U44), Program Project (P01), Developing Center (P20), Institutional Center Core (P30), Research Resource (U24), or Specialized Center (P50 or U54) grants are eligible to apply. To be eligible, projects must be actively funded in fiscal year 2008. Review criteria are provided in the complete announcement (click here: http://www.grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-NS-08-009.html).

Investigators are strongly encouraged to contact the NeuroMab Facility (neuromab@ucdavis.edu) in advance of submitting a supplement request for preliminary discussions on immunogens and other reagents needed for screening and specificity testing. Applications must be received on or before March 21, 2008.

Human Microbiome Demonstration Projects (UH2/UH3)

This FOA invites applications for projects that will examine, through molecular approaches, the relationship between changes in the human microbiome and human health and disease. This FOA will use the UH2/UH3 cooperative agreement mechanisms to support the demonstration project awards. The program will be funded in two phases, as allowed by this mechanism. The initial one-year pilot phase (UH2) will allow investigators to procure samples and generate data that will be used to support the scale-up phase (UH3), which will be awarded after administrative review to those projects that have the most promise to demonstrate whether or not the human microbiome plays an important role in human health and disease. The total amount of funds available for these awards is approximately $4 million total costs for the UH2 in FY 09 and $24.3 million for the UH3 in FY 10-12. Up to 10 UH2 and 5 UH3 awards are anticipated from this solicitation. Letters of intent must be submmitted by April 22, 2008 and the application deadline is May 22, 2008. To view the complete announcement, click here: http://www.grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-08-012.html

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowships for Science and Engineering 2008

RESPONSE NEEDED BY Friday, February 15, 2008

The David and Lucille Packard Foundation Fellowships for Science and Engineering provide research support for unusually creative faculty early in their careers. Disciplines considered by the Foundation include physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering. Fellowships are in the amount of $875,000 for a period of five (5) years. Candidates should be within three years of their first faculty appointment, beginning no earlier than May 31, 2005, and no later than May 31, 2008.

Complete program guidelines are attached and can be found at the Packard Foundation website: http://www.packard.org/genericDetails.aspx?RootCatID=
3&CategoryID=152

Once again this year, Johns Hopkins will be invited to submit two nominees for this program. Therefore, an internal peer review to select the nominees will be managed through the Provost's Office.

Required materials for internal review:

1. JHU Internal Submission Cover Sheet (email graceb@jhu.edu for a copy)
   
2. Research plan (3-4 single spaced pages, not including figures and references)
3. Curriculum Vitae (2-4 pages, including other support)
4. A letter of recommendation from the candidate's department head
5. Letters of recommendation from three (3) people outside of the nominees university who are personally familiar with the nominee's work.

Interested candidates should submit a complete packet of materials for internal review no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2008, via email, to graceb@jhu.edu. This ensures that the internal selection can be completed in a timely fashion and the final nominations can be submitted to the Packard Foundation by the April 21, 2008 deadline.

If you have any questions, please contact Grace Bigelow (graceb@jhu.edu; 410-516-5256) or visit: http://jhuresearch.jhu.edu/funding.htm#jhu-coordinated

The James S. McDonnell Scholar Awards

Application Deadline: 3:59 PM Central Daylight Time on Monday, April 7, 2008

The James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF) announces updated program descriptions and application guidelines for the JSMF Scholar Awards, the award category for its 21st Century Science Initiative to support investigator-initiated research in the topical area of Understanding Human Cognition. Full program information and application guidelines are available at: http://www.jsmf.org/apply/scholar.

The long-standing interest of the James S. McDonnell Foundation on human mind/brain is reflected in changes made to the 2008 RFA, including the explicit emphasis on understanding human cognition. The program is intended to help investigators pursue experiments designed to answer well-articulated questions.

NOTE: There are no restrictions on the number of submissions that may be sponsored by a particular institution. However, considering the small number of grants awarded each year, the Foundation asks that institutions limit their sponsorships to applications meeting both the letter and the spirit of the Foundation's guidelines.

Lance Armstrong Foundation Releases Request for Proposals for Cancer Research

Deadline: March 14

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (http://www.livestrong.org/ ) offers research grants to empower the cancer community to address the unmet needs of cancer survivors.

Through its research grants program, the foundation seeks to facilitate the development of significant improvements in cancer survivors' quality of life.

General research grants are intended to support the early stages of survivorship research projects in order to facilitate subsequent funding from other sources. LAF will offer General Research Grants of up to $75,000 a year for up to three years to support research projects initiated by established investigators, and will award Young Investigator research grants of up to $50,000 a year for up to two years to support career development in the field of cancer survivorship research.

Applicants' primary affiliation must be with a nonprofit institution. Proposed research must focus on physical, emotional, and/or practical issues that cancer survivors experience due to cancer and/or cancer treatment. Please note that LAF does not fund clinical trials of cancer treatment therapies. Access to the online Letter of Intent Process will be available beginning February 4, 2008. Letters of Intent must be submitted by March 14, 2008.

The complete Request for Proposals for the Community Grants and Research Grants are available at the LAF Web site (http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.khLXK1PxHmF/
b.2662747/).

Michael J. Fox Foundation Launches Second Year of Rapid Response Innovation Awards

Deadline: Rolling

Having funded $2 million in total awards to support twenty-seven high-risk, high-reward approaches to Parkinson's disease research in the first year of its Rapid Response Innovation Awards initative (RRIA), the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (http://www.michaeljfox.org/) has announced that it will commit a total of $2 million to a second round of funding in 2008.

RRIA is designed to ensure that researchers can pursue good ideas without delay. Under this program the foundation accepts proposals on a rolling basis with no deadline, makes funding decisions within six weeks of application, and speeds up to $75,000 to one-year basic, pre-clinical, or clinical research projects in any Parkinson's-relevant arena.

The program is designed to provide funding for strong ideas being tested for the first time. RRIA allows for the submission of applications at any time of year. There is no pre-proposal stage, and the standard application has been shortened to three pages. Additionally, postdoctoral researchers are permitted to apply as principal investigators under this initiative, provided the head of their lab serves as Administrative PI to assist with the provision of institutional documents and sign the award contract.

Applications may be submitted by U.S. and non-U.S. entities, public and private nonprofit entities such as universities, colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of state and local governments, and eligible agencies of the federal government and for-profit entities. Collaborative efforts are welcome.

See the foundation's Web site for complete program guidelines and application procedures (http://www.michaeljfox.org/research_openFundingPrograms_
rapidResponse.cfm).

Return to top of Funding Opportunities