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Link to Broad Challenge Areas and Specific Challenge Topics
NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research (RFA-OD-09-003)
ORWH
Introduction
The Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), established in September 1990 within the Office of the Director, NIH, (a) advises the NIH Director and staff on matters relating to research on women’s health; (b) strengthens and enhances research related to diseases, disorders, and conditions that affect women; (c) ensures that research conducted and supported by NIH adequately addresses issues regarding women’s health; (d) ensures that women are appropriately represented in biomedical and biobehavioral research studies supported by NIH; (e) develops opportunities for and supports recruitment, retention, re-entry, and advancement of women in biomedical careers; and (f) supports research on women’s health issues.
ORWH works in partnership with the NIH institutes and centers (ICs) to ensure that women’s health research is part of the scientific framework at NIH and throughout the scientific community. ORWH works collaboratively with the Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH), comprised of non-Federal physicians, scientists, and other health professionals; and the Coordinating Committee on Research on Women’s Health (CCRWH), composed of the NIH IC directors or their designees.
Overview of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.
NIH has received new funds for Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 as part of the Recovery Act, Pub. L. No. 111-5. The 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. This new program will support research on topic areas that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds.
The NIH has identified a range of Challenge Areas that focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. Each NIH Institute, Center, and Office has selected specific Challenge Topics within the broad Challenge Areas related to its mission. The research in these Challenge Areas should have a high impact in biomedical or behavioral science and/or public health.
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. Projects receiving these funds will need to meet this definition of CER: “a rigorous evaluation of the impact of different options that are available for treating a given medical condition for a particular set of patients. Such a study may compare similar treatments, such as competing drugs, or it may analyze very different approaches, such as surgery and drug therapy.” Such research may include the development and use of clinical registries, clinical data networks, and other forms of electronic health data that can be used to generate or obtain outcomes data as they apply to CER.
The application due date is April 27, 2009.
For ORWH, the Challenge Topics are:
Broad Challenge Area |
Specific Challenge Topic |
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(01) Behavior, Behavioral Change, and Prevention |
For this RFA, there is no OD(ORWH)-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(02) Bioethics |
For this RFA, there is no OD(ORWH)-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(03) Biomarker Discovery and Validation |
03-AR-101* Biomarkers Of Persistent Damage After Acute Joint Injury. Define early biochemical and structural changes that arise after joint injury, such as trauma or anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, which would serve as indicators that could be analyzed in subsequent longitudinal studies to seek biomarkers for progression to early osteoarthritis (OA). These could be used for both preventive intervention, and as preliminary indications for pathways of disease pathogenesis to guide therapeutic development. NIAMS Contact: Dr. Joan McGowan, 301-594-5055, |
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03-DA-101* Biomarkers for Pain. Pain research has been greatly hampered by the unreliable nature of self-report based instruments. The establishment of objective, affordable and reliable pain biomarkers and measurements would advance our understanding of pain mechanisms, provide a basis for improved clinical management of pain, help assess an individual's risk for becoming addicted to opiate analgesics, and establish much needed objective measures of treatment success or failure. |
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03-AR-102* Develop Novel Imaging, Proteomic, Or Genomic Approaches To Identify Risk For Fragility Fractures. Projects may use existing data sets to define and validate measures of bone quality that are more predictive than bone mineral density measurements. NIAMS Contact: Dr. Joan McGowan, 301-594-5055, |
(04) Clinical Research |
04-AR-101* Autoimmunity For Diseases Of The Skin, Joints, Muscle And Other Tissues. Develop reagents and analytic methods to identify, characterize, track, and inhibit human B and T cells specific for defined self-antigens, and antigen-presenting cells in diseases of the skin, joints, and other tissues. Define mechanisms by which autoreactive lymphocytes contribute to tissue damage. NIAMS Contact: Dr. Susana Serrate-Sztein, 301-594-5032, |
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04-HD-101* Identify the Factors that Place Women at Risk for Preterm Birth. Over 12 percent of births happen prematurely, and the rate is rising--increasing the risk of adverse outcomes for babies and mothers. However, most of these births occur in women who do not have any of the few known risk factors for preterm birth. New approaches and technologies (such as fetal imaging, fetal EKG, blood or urine tests, or response to maternal position or exercise) are urgently needed to improve physicians’ ability to identify women at increased risk for preterm birth, so that preventive interventions can be developed. NICHD Contact: Dr. Catherine Spong, 301-435-6894, spongc@mail.nih.go; |
(05) Comparative Effectiveness Research |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(06) Enabling Technologies |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(07) Enhancing Clinical Trials |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(08)Genomics |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(09) Health Disparities |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(10) Information Technology for Processing Health Care Data |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(11)Regenerative Medicine |
11-AR-101* Musculoskeletal And Skin Tissue Regeneration. Define the molecular pathways that regulate the integration of muscle, tendon, and bone into functional units. Develop applicable animal models for regeneration of musculoskeletal or skin tissues. Define outcome measures, such as non-invasive analysis of disease, injury, and repair. NIAMS Contact: Dr. Joan McGowan, 301-594-5055 |
(12) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education (STEM) |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(13) Smart Biomaterials - Theranostics |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(14) Stem Cells |
For this RFA, there is no ORWH-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area. |
(15) Translational Science |
15-AA-101* Determining If and How Adolescent Behaviors Affect Connections in the Developing Brain. The brain develops throughout adolescence and into early adulthood, and there is accumulating evidence that behaviors exhibited during this period can influence lifetime health and well-being. Research is needed to address the critical question – do these behaviors actually rewire the developing brain thereby creating vulnerability for a number of persistent health problems including mental health disorders, eating disorders and addiction? NIAAA Contact: Dr. Antonio Noronha, 301-443-7722, anoronha@mail.nih.gov; |
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15-DE-102* New Models and Measures in Pre-clinical Chronic Pain Research: Existing animal models of temporomandibular or orofacial pain conditions inadequately reflect the pathology or the phenotypes of the human state. Goal: Development of new animal models to study the transition from acute to chronic pain in temporomandibular joint disorders or other orofacial pain disorders. Coupled with the development of new functional and behavioral assays of acute and chronic pain, these animals models would be a powerful means to enhance our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying the development of these chronic pain conditions and the responses of patients to therapeutic interventions. NIDCR Contact: Dr. John Kusiak, 301-594-7984, John.Kusiak@nih.gov NIAMS Contact: Dr. Susana Serrate-Sztein, 301-594-5032, |
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15-HD-102* Pelvic Pain. New animal models and epidemiologic studies are urgently needed to increase understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pelvic pain conditions in women, including but not limited to uterine fibroids, vulvodynia, and endometriosis. Research is needed specifically to identify and measure the biological, clinical, and behavioral factors involved in determining the responses of patients to therapeutic interventions for chronic pelvic pain conditions. NICHD Contact: Dr. Estella Parrott, 301-435-6971, parrotte@mail.nih.gov; |
For general information on ORWH implementation of NIH Challenge Grants, contact:
Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.
Deputy Director
Office of Research on Women’s Health
National Institutes of Health
301-402-1770 Office
301-402-1798 Fax
ORWHChallenge@mail.nih.gov
MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about the implementation of ARRA
http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/index.html
Learn more about programs that issue grants under the ARRA
http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/
Learn about NIH ARRA funding
http://www.nih.gov/about/director/02252009statement_arra.htm
