Applications are being accepted until Tuesday, February 16, 2021, for the American Heart Association’s Career Development Award. The awards will begin on July 1.

The award supports highly promising healthcare and academic professionals, in the early years of one’s first professional appointment, to explore innovative questions or pilot studies that will provide preliminary data and training necessary to assure the applicant’s future success as a research scientist. The award’s purpose is to develop research skills to enhance an awardee’s chance to obtain and retain a high-quality career position.

The award requires a mentoring team of two to five members who will provide counsel, direction, and scholarship oversight. Mentors should have prior history of successfully mentoring early career investigators to independence, track records of high-quality investigation, academic accomplishment, and should be invested in the career progress of the early career scientist applying for this award.

Who Can Apply to the AHA?

• The AHA funds basic, clinical, behavioral, translational and population research, bioengineering/ biotechnology and public health problems broadly related to fulfilling our mission to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.
• AHA awards are open to the array of academic and health professionals. This includes but is not limited to all academic disciplines (biology, chemistry, mathematics, technology, physics, etc.) and all health-related professions (physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dentists, physical and occupational therapists, statisticians, nutritionists, etc.).
• AHA strongly encourages applications by women, underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the sciences, and those who have experienced varied and non-traditional career trajectories.
• Applicants must be AHA Professional Members –- application submission is a member benefit.

Visit the AHA Application Information web page for program details and application instructions.

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program (PHTBIRP). PHTBIRP was established by Congress in FY07 in response to the devastating impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health (PH) issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, on deployed Service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The PH/TBIRP mission is to establish, fund, and integrate both individual and multi-agency research efforts that will lead to improved prevention, detection, and treatment of PH issues and TBI.  The vision of the PH/TBIRP is to prevent, mitigate, and treat the effects of traumatic stress and TBI on function, wellness, and overall quality of life for Service members as well as their caregivers and families. 

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation.  The U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) provides execution management support for DHP core research program areas, including the Joint Program Committee 6/Combat Casualty Care Research Program (JPC-6/CCCRP).  This anticipated Program Announcement will be managed and executed by the CDMRP on behalf of the JPC-6/CCCRP.

FY20 PHTBIRP Program Announcement and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanism will be posted on the Grants.gov website.  Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcement is released. 

Unconventionally-acquired Brain Injury Research Award

Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

This Program Announcement is intended for extramural applicants only.

Submissions from intramural applicants to this Program Announcement will be rejected.

An intramural investigator can be named as a collaborator on a proposal/application submitted through an extramural organization.  If an investigator at an intramural organization is named as a collaborator on an application submitted through an extramural organization, the application must include a letter from the collaborator’s Commander or Commanding Officer at the intramural organization that authorizes the collaborator’s involvement.

To meet the intent of the award mechanism, proposals/applications mustspecifically address at least one sub-Area within the three Unconventionally-acquired Brain Injury Award Focus Areas. All Focus Areas are toward the identification and assessment of technically-feasible Directed Energy (DE) threat source technologies, particularly high-powered pulsed microwave energy.  Submissions proposing classified research or containing classified references or materials will be withdrawn.

• Develop and demonstrate computational model systems that support the characterization of injury mechanism (energy propagation, interaction, absorption/loading and physical response of the body) that can cause UBI effects in humans.
  • Develop and demonstrate CAD model of animal (non-human primate) head, skull, vestibular system and central nervous system to support modeling and simulation.
  • Demonstrate UBI-specific models that predicts RF-induced pressure waves from thermoelastic expansion and multi-physics computational model that accurately predicts mechanical response to pulsed RF exposure.
  • Validate predictive accuracy of thermoelastic computational models with head surrogates, cadavers, and/or animal models to refine computational models.
• Identify and characterize the mechanism of action (the manner of causation producing the pathophysiological response within the body and leading to clinical symptoms) that can cause UBI effects in humans.
  • Develop and characterize highly sensitive and reproducible animal models that are capable of replicating human UBI symptomology and pathologic sequelae; including but not limited to pathological, behavioral, and cognitive impacts of pulsed high powered microwave exposure at varied parameters (e.g., frequencies, pulse widths, intensities, and repetition rates).
  • Determine thresholds, and dose/response characteristics for vasculature, neurons, and other cells/tissues from DE conditions leading to UBI. Establish the causal relationship (etiology) between pulsed high powered microwaves and induced micro-capillary bleeding.
  • Determine mechanisms (etiology) following supra-threshold pulsed high powered microwave exposure (i.e., stress/shear threshold, accumulation of micro-damage, nerve shear, cavitation) in animal models. Characterize the coupling mechanism and the mechanism for potential RF-induced injury to the auditory and vestibular system.
• Identify and validate UBI-specific biomarkers to support diagnosis and differentiation of UBI including distinction from blast and contact TBI, and to inform useful models for attribution.
  • Identify and characterize endogenous fluid-based biomarkers in animal models.
  • Determine advanced noninvasive imaging biomarker modalities in animal models that detect and quantify tissue damage (e.g. brain, vasculature or nerve) and functional disruption following UBI induction specific to acute, subacute, and chronic UBI presentation.
  • Utilize existing human imaging data to develop UBI-specific imaging biomarkers for use in future human and animal studies.
• Maximum funding of $1.5M for total costs (direct plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years

For more information on the program or about eligibility, please visit the program page.

The Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN) is Ohio’s leading program to forge collaborative research partnerships among Ohio’s academic research assets, industry and federal research centers. OFRN was established in 2015 to stimulate Ohio’s innovation economy by building vibrant, statewide, university-based research collaborations that meet
the requirements of Ohio’s federal laboratories, partnering with the commercial sector to create new products and build the technology workforce in Ohio.

Since 2015, OFRN has funded 28 projects in excess of $40 million. These investments have led to nearly $200 million in follow-on funding from federal and private sources resulting in 8 university spinouts and creating or impacting over 900 jobs. OFRN funded projects have brought together 12 universities, 2 community colleges and 90 businesses across Ohio to address needed research determined by the federal labs in Ohio including the Air Force Research Lab, NASA Glenn, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and the Naval Medical Research Unit – Dayton.

OFRN Round 5 is broad in research opportunities. Multiple Areas of Interest (AOI) developed in consultation with federal lab partners in Ohio are published in the solicitation. In addition, an open topic allows for proposal submissions for technology solutions that address a validated federal research need not listed in the other AOIs.

January 20, 2021 Mandatory Training:
Ensure at least one member of your proposal team registers and participates.
Register here.

Team Matchmaking Services:

If you want to pursue the OFRN Round 5 solicitation and need a required partner or you need a subcontractor with particular talents to fill a gap on your proposal, or you want to offer your services as a potential partner or subcontractor, utilize our team matchmaking services on our current solicitation page here.

The Research Section at the Ohio Department of Transportation is now accepting proposals for the following studies:

Please note, this posting includes projects for both ODOT and ORIL research programs. Be sure to read all information carefully and follow the appropriate proposal formatting guidelines based on the sponsor.  Failure to follow proposal formatting guidelines and submission instructions provided on the RFP website is cause for the rejection of proposals.

To be considered, proposals must be received by ODOT Research by the deadline noted in the table.  Clarifications received on specific RFPs are also noted in the table.  General clarifications related to the RFP process, contracting and proposal formatting are available on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.  As a reminder:

• The proposal and budget form will be submitted using an online system, Formstack. You will complete general information on the form, then attach a MS Word of the proposal and the Excel budget form. After you click submit, you will receive a confirmation email. Attachments are limited to 25 MB.

• Emailed submissions will not be accepted.

• Non-Ohio based organizations must include an Ohio based partner within the proposal having at least 20% of the total cost or labor of the proposal.

• Questions regarding a RFP or submission process should be submitted using the RFP Request for Clarification Form located on the RFP site.

Noncompliance with the formatting and submission guidelines is cause for rejection of a submission.  ODOT reserves the right to reject any and all submissions. Submissions must be received by 3:00 PM (ET) on March 1, 2021 in order to be considered.  Absolutely no extensions will be granted to this deadline. Please make your submission in plenty of time to allow for servers to process your submission.  Proposals received after the deadline time, according to the ODOT computer time, will not be considered. Additional information concerning submission requirements is available on the above listed site.   All questions concerning the solicitation and RFPs, including technical clarifications of the project, as well as formatting and submission of proposals, MUST be submitted using the RFP Request for Clarification Form.  While RFPs are posted, communications concerning posted RFPs with any individuals out of ODOT’s Research Section is prohibited.  Failure to adhere to this could result in proposal disqualification.  Clarifications will be posted as they become available, so check the website regularly for updates. Please feel free to forward this message to your colleagues. 

For more information, please visit the ODOT page.

     The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation announces the Thursday, April 8, deadline for the 2021 Dreyfus Program for Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering. The program provides funding for innovative projects in any area of Machine Learning (ML) consistent with the Foundation’s broad objective to advance the chemical sciences and engineering. The Foundation anticipates these projects will contribute fundamental chemical insight and innovation in the field.
  

     The Foundation encourages proposals to significantly stimulate and accelerate the development of the use of ML and other related aspects of data science to the chemical sciences and engineering. Below are some examples of areas this program may support:

• molecular synthesis, including mechanisms, techniques, and applications
• theory, computation, physical properties of molecules or materials
• rates and mechanisms of new chemical processes
• new or improved materials and materials applications
• postdoctoral support for collaborations that combine chemical science research with ML expertise
• collaborative sabbaticals, extended visits, and meetings
• education, e.g., new courses, seminar series, MOOCs, …
• public libraries of chemistry and chemical engineering data for use in ML

For more information, please visit the program page.