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NIH Highlighted Funding Opportunities | October 2023

Improving Care and Outcomes for Cancer Survivors from Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Through this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) intends  to support the rigorous assessment of barriers to quality cancer treatment and follow-up care for sexual and gender minority (SGM) cancer survivors. This funding opportunity is intended to address a critical need for improved care delivery and outcomes for SGM cancer survivors. The goal is to address the disease burden in an underserved and understudied population that is at higher risk of poorer health outcomes. The NCI solicits proposals for observational and/or interventional studies of SGM survivors designed to understand barriers and/or improve care and outcomes for SGM people with cancer, using interoperable sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data collection in cancer care settings, where appropriate.

HEAL Initiative: Research to Increase Implementation of Substance Use Preventive Services (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

The goal of this initiative is to support research that can improve public health and respond to the opioid crisis by increasing knowledge pertaining to the implementation and sustainability of prevention services. This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) solicits applications to address understudied areas of opportunity that, if researched, could create the foundation needed to inform a prevention infrastructure for ongoing delivery and sustainment of interventions to prevent opioid and other substance misuse and use disorders.

Computational Models of Influenza Immunity (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to support the development of computational models and immunologic studies that will advance our understanding of the requirements for improving anti-influenza immunity, including inducing broad immune protection, and enhancing immune durability that will inform design of universal or improved seasonal flu vaccines. Projects are expected to lead to a better understanding of how pre-existing immunity and repeat exposures (natural infection and/or vaccines) shape an individual’s immune “landscape.” Predictive modeling of adjuvants/vaccine formulations and experimental validation supported through this program also can enhance host immune responses and provide foundational information for further development of universal and improved seasonal influenza vaccines.

NIAID and NIDDK Research Opportunities for New and "At-Risk" Investigators to Promote Workforce Diversity (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Research shows that having a diverse scientific and public health workforce benefits research on issues such as COVID-19, HIV, asthma, diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease, which disproportionately impact minority health and NIH-designated populations that experience health disparities.  Scientists from diverse backgrounds have the potential to engage with populations experiencing health disparities more effectively, and the knowledge and perspectives they bring from their own communities may help ensure that the research agenda addresses the needs of all who are affected by these diseases, including those most impacted by these diseases. Furthermore, the missions of both NIAID and NIDDK include educational activities that complement the training of future scientists in NIAID- and NIDDK-related research areas. NIAID and NIDDK seek to promote diversity in all its training and research programs and to enhance the diversity of the investigator pool, including participation by investigators from underrepresented groups in order to develop a highly competent and diverse scientific workforce capable of conducting state-of-the-art research in NIAID and NIDDK mission areas.

Center for Exposome Research Coordination to Accelerate Precision Environmental Health (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The study of the exposome has led to a paradigm shift in environmental health research in the past decade that was evidenced by major investments in exposome research around the world. These include the exposome projects funded under the European Union FP7 Exposome Program (HELIX, EXPOsOMICS, HEALS), the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS), the establishment of Children’s Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR) and Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR) by NIEHS, and the formation of the European Human Exposome Network (EHEN) funded under Horizon 2020. Additionally, large NIH-supported initiatives are embracing the exposome concept to capture both environmental and genetic contributions in health and disease. With increased recognition and adoption of the exposome concept by the national and international biomedical research community, there is a critical need for global coordination and cooperation to build off ongoing exposomics efforts and capitalize on technological innovations in various disciplines and existing resources, in a manner similar to the highly collaborative international effort that was critical for achieving success of the Human Genome Project.

NIDA REI: Training a Diverse Data Science Workforce for Addiction Research (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) invites R01 applications that propose human studies to better understand factors underlying response variability to exercise training in older adults through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This NOFO encourages studies that identify systemic modulators, biomarkers, and other potential mechanisms underlying exercise variation in outcomes that are clinically relevant for older adults. Additionally, this NOFO encourages transdisciplinary studies utilizing innovative design methods and analytical approaches combined with clinical phenotyping to disentangle the complicated relationships between endogenous and exogenous factors that drive response variation to exercise. Elucidating factors and mechanisms that underlie variations in exercise response, and the extent to which these factors are modifiable, may enable more precise and efficacious exercise prescriptions to optimize the clinical efficacy of exercise training in older adults.