GRANT OPPORTUNITIES (2014 Archive)

These grants are also posted on “as found basis” in the general blog.

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POSTED 13 JANUARY 2014

Research on Alcohol-Related Public Policies such as Those Detailed in the Alcohol Policy Information System  R21  —R03  — R01 

CLOSING DATE: 05/07/2014

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications to conduct research on the effects of alcohol-related public policies on health, economic, and social behaviors and outcomes. The purpose of the FOA is to advance understanding of public policy pertaining to alcohol as a tool for improving public health and welfare.

The NIAAA has developed the Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) as a resource for researchers conducting studies in this area; studies that make use of the information available through APIS are particularly encouraged. Research supported by this FOA includes, but is not necessarily limited to, studies examining the effects of alcohol-related public policies on health-related behaviors and outcomes, evaluations of public policies as tools for improving public health, and research to advance methods and measurement used in studying relationships between alcohol-related public policies and health-related behaviors and outcomes.

Economics of Retirement– R21  —R03  —R01

CLOSING DATE: 05/07/2014

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages research on the economic and health-related factors that influence older persons’ choices on labor force participation as they near typical retirement age and throughout the later stages of life.  The interaction of health, work, family status, and economic wellbeing is enormously complex, and the direction of causal effects among those factors is often unclear.  Because of those complexities, the FOA especially encourages innovative approaches to (1) modeling the dynamic processes underlying labor force decisions over the life-cycle, and (2) enabling valid causal inference regarding the effects of economic and health factors on work decisions as well as the effects of work on health status.

The FOA calls for analysis of secondary datasets, development of new datasets, observational and experimental analysis, cross-national comparisons; and quasi-experiments enabled by changes in public policy.  Research that identifies disparities between population segments or emphasizes at-risk groups is encouraged.

Areas of Potential Research Interest:

  • Determinants of Retirement, Consumption and Quality of Life During Retirement
  • Alternatives to Full-Time Paid Employment
  • The Interaction of Retirement, Health, Cognition, and Functioning
  • Time Use and Life Satisfaction in Retirement
  • Macroeconomic Effects of Changes in Retirement Behavior
  • Labor Force Behavior of Women at Older Ages
  • Retirement Expectations, Information, and Decision-making
  • Cross-national Comparisons of Retirement Behavior
  • Family and Household Decision-Making
  • The Effects of Financial Disruption on Retirement Preparedness and Planning
  • Impact of Public Programs on Retirement

Translational Research for the Development of Novel Interventions for Mental Disorders R21/R33

CLOSING DATE: 05/07/2014

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) encourages Exploratory/Developmental Phased Innovation (R21/R33) grant applications to speed the translation of emerging findings on the neuroscience of mental disorders into novel intervention approaches that will ultimately reduce symptoms and/or restore function.

Applications submitted in response to this FOA will propose a biologically-informed, novel approach to engage and alter a functional treatment target at the level of behaviors (e.g., skills training), patterns of thinking (e.g., cognitive reappraisal), cognitive/affective processes (e.g., cognitive control, stress regulation), or clinical elements of psychopathology (e.g., anhedonia, impulsivity).  These applications may involve novel treatment targets, or novel and highly innovative approaches to engage and modify known treatment targets.

A range of intervention approaches will be accepted, including those based on cognitive and/or social neuroscience models, basic behavioral science, neurophysiology, and neurodevelopmental models.  Brain stimulation protocols that utilize Investigational Device Exemption (IDE)-approved devices (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation or transcranial direct current stimulation) will be accepted, alone or in combination with cognitive or behavioral interventions. Interventions utilizing dietary supplements or other bioactive ingredients (biologically active components or constituents of foods) will be accepted if the application aims to demonstrate an effect on a novel treatment target, or if the intervention is a novel approach to altering a known treatment target.   For combination treatment approaches, at least one component must be a novel application that requires proof-of-principle and preliminary development compatible with the R21 phase of the R21/R33 mechanism.

BACKGROUND READING:

Systems Science and Health in the Behavioral and Social Sciences — R01 — R21

CLOSING DATE: 09/07/2014

This FOA (PAR-11-314, “Systems Science and Health in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (R01)”) is intended to increase the breadth and scope of topics that can be addressed with systems science methodologies beyond those encouraged by existing open FOAs. This FOA calls for research projects that are applied and/or basic in nature (including methodological and measurement development), have a human behavioral and/or social science focus, and feature systems science methodologies and across all ages.

Systems science methodologies are specific methodological approaches that have been developed to understand connections between a systems structure and its behavior over time. “Systems science methodologies” is an umbrella term to refer to a variety of such methodologies including (but not limited to), agent-based modeling, microsimulation, system dynamics modeling, network analysis, discrete event analysis, Markov modeling, many operations research and engineering methods, and a variety of other modeling and simulation approaches.

A system, in this context, refers to the particular configuration of all relevant entities, resources, and processes that together adequately characterize the problem space under study (i.e., a system is defined by the boundaries that stakeholders use to determine which acts/observations are relevant for their inquiry as well as the interpretations/judgments that they use to guide decisions or actions) (Ulrich, 2002). Systems science methodologies are valued for their ability to address the complexity inherent in behavioral and social phenomena, for example they excel at identifying non-linear relationships, bi-directional feedback loops, time delayed effects, emergent properties of the system, and oscillating system behavior.

BACKGROUND READING:

Thompson KM, Duintjer Tebbens RJ. Eradication versus control for poliomyelitis: an economic analysis. Lancet. 2007;369:1363–1371  In ScienceDirect

Tobacco Control Regulatory Research —R21 —R03 — R01

CLOSING DATE: 01/16/2015

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage biomedical, behavioral, and social science research that will inform the development and evaluation of regulations on tobacco product manufacturing, distribution, and marketing.  Research projects must address the research priorities related to the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) as mandated by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA), Public Law 111-31.  Only applications proposing research projects/pilots relevant to one or more of these ten areas will be considered for funding.

  1. Nicotine dependence threshold among youth and adults and impact of nicotine reduction on tobacco product use behavior (e.g., topography, compensation, switching, multiple use, initiation, cessation, relapse).
  2. Cigar (small, large, cigarillos) initiation, use (including transitions to other tobacco products and multiple use), perceptions, dependence and toxicity.
  3. Smokeless tobacco initiation, use (including transitions to other tobacco products and multiple use), perceptions, dependence and toxicity.
  4. E-cigarettes initiation, use (including transitions to other tobacco products and multiple use), perceptions, dependence, toxicity.
  5. Other tobacco product (e.g., hookah, pipes, dissolvables) initiation, use (including transitions to other tobacco products and multiple use), perceptions, dependence, toxicity.
  6. The impact of tobacco product characteristics, (e.g., ingredients, constituents, components, additives such as flavors, and labeling and marketing) on initiation, especially among youth and other vulnerable populations.
  7. Toxicity thresholds for each of the 20 harmful and potentially harmful constituents identified in the March 2012 Guidance for Industry.
  8. Computational/mathematical modeling and simulation and/or statistical modeling of the public health impact of FDA/CTP regulation of potential modified risk tobacco products, e.g., product standards, communications regarding risks of tobacco products.
  9. Consumer perceptions of tobacco products including the impact of labeling and marketing.
  10. Effective communication strategies regarding harmful and potentially harmful constituents and risks of tobacco products.

BACKGROUND READING: “ENDING THE TOBACCO EPIDEMIC: A Tobacco Control Strategic Action Plan for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”

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Obesity Policy Evaluation Research

CLOSING DATE: 05/07/2016

The obesity program or policy to be evaluated should reasonably be expected to affect behaviors relevant to obesity such as energy intake, sedentary behavior, or physical activity in the target population.  Further, research proposed in response to this FOA should demonstrate that measures collected and evaluated will allow for meaningful and scientifically valid conclusions to be made about the effects of the policy or program on the target behaviors and/or weight.  The focus of this FOA is on research in humans, not animals.   Institute Specific Interests:

  • NIDDK: The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases is particularly interested in the evaluation of large scale weight related programs or policy that are targeted to obesity and/or diabetes prevention.
  • NHLBI: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is especially interested in research on programs and policies that target cardiovascular disease risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, and adverse health behaviors (physical inactivity, poor dietary behaviors, sleep disorders).
  • NICHD: The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is interested in applications that propose to evaluate the impact of weight related policies or programs on children, families, pregnant women, or children with disabilities.
  • NCI: The National Cancer Institute is particularly interested in the evaluation of programs or policies that may affect dietary or physical activity behavior and/or weight, and studies incorporating economic research.
  • NIA: The National Institute on Aging is especially interested in research on programs and policies affecting sedentary behavior and physical activity among older adults, including programs and policies based on research in behavioral economics.

Examples of appropriate studies include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Introduction of food or beverage taxes/subsidies/price changes/other incentives;
  • Infrastructure initiatives such as retailers offering healthier food options in underserved areas;
  • Changes to workplace food and/or physical activity environment;
  • Polices expected to influence available options and purchasing, such as calorie labeling in restaurants, menu or food product reformulation, and supermarket layout or pricing strategies;
  • Significant changes in policy or practice in large healthcare organizations that are expected to improve weight outcomes; such as changes in reimbursement, incentives, or wide scale implementation of prevention or treatment services;
  • Modifications to the built environment to encourage active transportation or leisure physical activity, such as the implementation of bike lanes in urban areas, multi-use trails, subsidies for public transit, upgrades of sidewalks, or improved access to parks and recreation facilities.

BACKGROUND READING: Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention: A Framework to Inform Decision Making

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Public Health Impact of the Changing Policy/Legal Environment for Marijuana  

CLOSING DATE: 05/07/2017

This initiative seeks to delineate a broad range of outcomes of marijuana both direct and indirect exposure among children, adolescents, and adults.  Population-based studies could include but are not limited to research in the following areas:

  • social and emotional development and maturity;
  • educational and employment attainment;
  • teen and adult life transitions;
  • physical and mental health;
  • criminal justice involvement (arrests, underage violations, public intoxication, impaired driving);
  • composition/potency of marijuana; mechanisms of risk and causality;
  • impact on polysubstance use, including interactions (substitute/complement) with alcohol, tobacco,  and prescription opioids;
  • impact of taxation and regulatory strategies
  • effect of cultural change on marijuana use and outcomes.

Research directly related to marijuana law/policy is not required; rather the focus of this call for research is to build knowledge on the social, behavioral, physical, and public health impacts of marijuana involvement

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