The National Institutes of Health (NIH) solicits applications to plan and develop collaborative research and capacity building projects on brain disorders throughout life relevant to low- and middle-income nations.

Purpose:

To develop collaborative research and capacity building projects on brain disorders throughout life, relevant to low- and middle-income nations.

Applicants are expected to develop innovative, collaborative research programs that would contribute to the long-term goal of building sustainable research capacity in neurological (including sensory, motor, cognitive and behavioral) impairment throughout life.

This first phase of the "Brain Disorders in The Developing World: Research Across the Lifespan" program, beginning in fiscal year 2003, will consist of two-year planning/development grants using the R21 grant mechanism. The R21 grant will provide support to organize, plan for, prepare, and assemble an application for a more comprehensive R01 grant involving collaboration between developed and developing country investigators and which incorporates both research and capacity building.

During the R21 award period, the applicant should: further define the type and area of research to be developed; conduct pilot studies; develop and solidify collaborative relationships and understandings with the partners in the developed and developing countries involved; assess current resources and needs, such as and including the need for an institutional review board for studies involving human subjects; develop a plan to address these needs to enable the proposed research and capacity building to be successfully carried out; and identify the training and other capacity-building opportunities to be incorporated into the research application in the context of the proposed research.

Suggested areas of research include, but are not limited to:

• Epidemiological studies
• Genetic factors throughout life, beginning in the prenatal period, that result in cognitive, behavioral, motor or sensory impairment or disorders.
• Natural history of common neurological diseases/disorders and the influence of sociocultural or other environmental variables that impact upon this course.
• Research on multiple insults, especially common in the developing world, e.g., neurotoxic or traumatic insult plus infectious disease and/or malnutrition. Studies examining the interactions of neurobiological and environmental/social factors that affect brain development and resulting behavioral outcomes are encouraged (e.g., expression of cognitive impairment, coping, adaptation, response to intervention, etc.).
• Environmental factors across the lifespan, beginning in the prenatal period, that result in cognitive, behavioral, motor or sensory impairment including: Factors affecting cognitive, emotional and physical health and survival in older persons.
• Research on other factors that impact on healthy brain development, such as access to appropriate health care, availability of resources, preventive or screening practices, etc..
• Research on potential interventions and how the success or failure of interventions may be modulated by sociocultural and gender variables.

Receipt and review schedule

Letter of Intent Receipt Date: February 11, 2003
Application Receipt Date: March 11, 2003
Peer Review Date: June/July 2003
Council Review: September 2003
Earliest Anticipated Start Date: September 2003

The letter of intent is to be sent by the date listed at the "Receipt and review schedule" and should be sent to:

Kathleen Michels, Ph.D. Program Director
Division of International Training and Research
Fogarty International Center
National Institutes of Health
Building 31, Room B2C39
Bethesda, MD 20892-2220
Telephone: 301-435-6031
Fax: 301-402-0779
Email: michelsk@nih.gov

Datails and more information available at:

NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts