Search Grants — Free, No Account Required

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

Funds mental health research at $30M/year through NARSAD grants for all career levels.

NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health

PROJECT SUMMARY Pathophysiological studies in first episode psychosis (FEP) have been inconsistent due to the heterogeneity in age of onset, clinical presentation, and neurobiology in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Neuroimaging studies, postmortem investigations, and blood-based biomarker experiments provide intriguing insights into potential abnormalities related to the barriers of the brain of individuals with SSD, but only 1% of existing studies have focused on mid- to late-life FEP. Clinical and biomarker studies in SSD have repeatedly shown three phenomena: First, is blood brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction in neuroimaging, postmortem, blood- and CSF-based studies in individuals with SSD. Second, is the involvement of the blood cerebral spinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) as evidenced by enlargement of the choroid plexus (ChP) in SSD, FEP and in individuals at high risk for psychosis. Third, there is a nascent but growing research area related to the disruption of the glymphatic system (GS) in SSD. Moreover, there is a growing body of evidence in aging, sleep, and neurodegenerative studies suggesting a link between disruptions in the BBB, BCSFB, and GS to clinical outcomes. These barrier systems, regulate trafficking between the blood and the brain through physical, enzymatic, transport, and immunological processes, and they have tightly regulated interrelationships between them to ensure a healthy brain environment. However, despite the complementary roles between the BBB, BCSFB, and GS, the interaction between these systems in mid- to late-life FEP has not been explored. Advances in neuromaging and blood-based techniques have improved upon existing tools to assess BBB, BCSFB, and GS function and they include gadolinium-enhanced MRI methods like dynamic contrast enhanced-MRI (DCE-MRI) and the isolation of circulating brain microvascular endothelial cells (cBMECs) in the blood. Therefore, the critical need and overall objectives for this study are to unite neuroimaging, cBMEC, and clinical phenotypes in the same individuals to mechanistically link barrier disruptions to clinical outcomes in mid- to late-life FEP. Our central hypothesis is that biomarkers of BBB, BSCFB, and GS dysfunction are associated with poorer clinical outcomes in mid- to late-life FEP. Here, we aim to test the hypothesis that: 1) barrier/GS disruptions are associated with mid- to late-life FEP, 2) cBMECs are a proxy of BBB deficits in mid- to late-life FEP, and 3) barrier/GS deficits are associated with worse symptoms, cognition, and functioning in mid- to late-life FEP. Lastly, we will determine the interrelationship between barrier and GS deficits in mid- to late-life FEP. The proposed research is innovative in combining in vivo imaging of the BBB, BCSFB, and GS with clinical measures in the same individuals to better understand the barrier/GS deficits associated with clinical outcomes in mid- to late-life FEP. The proposed research is significant because it will lay the groundwork for a robust non-invasive platform to screen for cBMECs to pathophysiologically stratify patients, a first for SSD, that may lead to the prioritization of novel therapeutic approaches to regulate barrier dysfunction in SSD.

Brain Canada Foundation

Brain Canada catalyzes brain research through the Canada Brain Research Fund, supporting projects on neurological and mental health conditions.

National Institutes of Health

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), with other NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs), intends to publish a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to solicit research applications for the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) Coordinating Unit for Biostatistics, Informatics, and Engagement (CUBIE). In accordance with NIH standard peer-review processes, the application(s) will be peer-reviewed, and only meritorious application(s) will be considered for funding. The overall goals of CUBIE are to (i) enable the exploration of large-scale brain cell atlas data and knowledge, and inspire research in brain function and disorders; and (ii) ensure research rigor and data reproducibility by making the data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), and the process transparent. This is a renewal that will continue the funding for a 2-year period. Applications are not being solicited at this time. Notice is being provided to allow eligible applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. Applications are expected to collaborate with the broader research community to analyze and interpret all existing brain cell census/atlas data to enhance statistical power, ensure research rigor and data reproducibility, and foster the formation of a brain cell atlas ecosystem by leveraging recent Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) advancements.

National Institutes of Health

<p>The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), with other NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs), intends to publish a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to solicit research applications for the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) Coordinating Unit for Biostatistics, Informatics, and Engagement (CUBIE). In accordance with NIH standard peer-review processes, the application(s) will be peer-reviewed, and only meritorious application(s) will be considered for funding. The overall goals of CUBIE are to (i) enable the exploration of large-scale brain cell atlas data and knowledge, and inspire research in brain function and disorders; and (ii) ensure research rigor and data reproducibility by making the data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), and the process transparent. This is a renewal that will continue the funding for a 2-year period. Applications are not being solicited at this time. Notice is being provided to allow eligible applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. Applications are expected to collaborate with the broader research community to analyze and interpret all existing brain cell census/atlas data to enhance statistical power, ensure research rigor and data reproducibility, and foster the formation of a brain cell atlas ecosystem by leveraging recent Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) advancements.</p>

NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health

To take advantage of recent and ongoing advances in intensive and large-scale computational methods and to preserve the scientific data created by publicly funded research projects, archives for sharing data must be created, as well as standards for specifying, identifying, and annotating deposited data. The value of an interest in such archives among researchers can be greatly increased by adding to them an active computational capability and framework of analysis and search tools that support further analysis as well as larger-scale meta-analysis and large-scale data mining. OpenNeuro.org, founded as a repository for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, is such an archive. We have built a web portal, NEMAR, to OpenNeuro data for human electrophysiology data (EEG and MEG) and for intracranial (iEEG) data recorded from clinical patients during planning for brain surgery or other therapies – we here refer to these as neuroelectromagnetic (NEM) data. NEMAR, maintained at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, acts as a portal to NEM data shared publicly via the OpenNeuro data archive. Upon receipt by OpenNeuro, NEM data are copied to NEMAR and made available for processing without charge on the ACCESS high-performance computing resources of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) via the Neuroscience Gateway (NSG) project. NEMAR offers a search engine for NEM data whose results can be inspected in detail from a web browser, including visualizations of data from each subject plus a number of data activity measures and quality estimates. A forum for each dataset records visitors’ comments and lists papers citing the data. Next, we will build large, multimodal foundational deep neural network models allowing users to explore relationships between NEM signal brain dynamics, experience, and behavior.

National Institutes of Health

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), with other NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs), intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to solicit applications to develop web-accessible data archives to capture, store, and curate data related to the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative activities. The data archives teams will work with the research community to incorporate software tools that enable users to analyze and visualize the data, and to use appropriate standards to describe the data. A goal of this program is to advance research by creating a data archive that meets appropriate standards and provides summary information which is broadly available and accessible to the scientific community furthering research. Applications are not being solicited at this time. Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. This NOFO will utilize the R24 activity code. Applications to this NOFO must propose the development of archives that support rigorous data sharing, analysis, and collaboration across sub-domains while enabling future linkage into a broader data ecosystem.

National Institutes of Health

<p>The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), with other NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs), intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to solicit applications to develop web-accessible data archives to capture, store, and curate data related to the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative activities. The data archives teams will work with the research community to incorporate software tools that enable users to analyze and visualize the data, and to use appropriate standards to describe the data. A goal of this program is to advance research by creating a data archive that meets appropriate standards and provides summary information which is broadly available and accessible to the scientific community furthering research. Applications are not being solicited at this time. Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. This NOFO will utilize the R24 activity code. Applications to this NOFO must propose the development of archives that support rigorous data sharing, analysis, and collaboration across sub-domains while enabling future linkage into a broader data ecosystem.</p>

NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health

The brain’s reward system comprises a set of interconnected regions that jointly direct goal-oriented behavior and underlie numerous pathologies. In order to understand how this system promotes behavioral outcomes, it is essential to characterize how neural information propagates among multiple brain structures and cell populations in the reward network, and how this leads ultimately to actions. Here we propose to use cutting-edge functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques to study integrated input/output relationships between brain re- gions involved in reward-related tasks. The centerpiece of our approach is a novel genetically encoded sensor for fMRI, called NOSTIC, that permits noninvasive functional imaging of discrete neural circuit components at a population level; the NOSTIC probe can be applied using a retrogradely transported virus to enable selective functional imaging of afferent input to any targeted region of the brain. We will use NOSTIC-based circuit-specific fMRI, in combination with complementary anatomical and physiological measurements, to dissect the propaga- tion of neural information during rewarding stimulation, reward-based classical conditioning, and closed-loop rewarding self-stimulation. Experimental data will be used to construct network-based models of reward system function and address fundamental hypotheses about information flow between brain regions, the origin of reward prediction signals, the basis of reward-induced plasticity, and the relationship between individual behavior and defined neural circuit components. Our agenda consists of three aims: In Aim 1 we will use the NOSTIC tech- nology to examine how functional inputs from across the brain converge on three key structures, the nucleus accumbens (NAc), ventral tegmental area (VTA), and prefrontal cortex (PFC), during rewarding stimulation in rats. Results will define for the first time the broad topographies of information flow among multiple brain regions during rewarding stimulation, dissecting inputs from functionally and neurochemically distinct brain regions and testing the hypothesis that these inputs combine in approximately linear fashion to produce regional activity. In Aim 2, we will apply NOSTIC to examine circuit-level bases of brain-wide plasticity during paradigmatic classical conditioning paradigms, addressing key questions about the origins of reward prediction error signals in the brain at a comprehensive spatial scale. These studies will be performed in complementary awake rat and mouse preparations implemented in two laboratories, serving to disseminate NOSTIC technology as well as apply it. Then in Aim 3, we will introduce a cell type-specific application of NOSTIC that enables separate excitatory and inhibitory contributions to reward circuit dynamics to be measured and interpreted in the experimental paradigms of Aims 1 and 2. Collectively, these experiments will provide a first-of-their-kind spatially comprehensive dissec- tion of neural circuit mechanisms involved in diverse reward-related brain functions.

NIH

Ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are major causes of mortality and long-term functional deficits in veterans and service personnel. Dr. Vemuganti’s current research is to identify new molecular targets to develop therapies for protecting the brain and promote the functional recovery following stroke and TBI. Although stroke is #1 cause of disability in adults, there is no efficacious therapy to prevent post- stroke brain damage and functional deficits. Several classes of noncoding RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs are known to modulate the post-stroke brain damage. Dr. Vemuganti’s currently funded Merit Review Grant is evaluating if a miRNA known as miR-21 upregulated after stroke can potentially target the mRNAs that promote inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. The project is specifically evaluating if treatment with a miR-21 mimic protects the brain and promotes better motor, neuropsychiatric and cognitive functional recovery after stroke induced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice of both sexes. The proposal is comprehensively testing the efficacy of miR-21 mimic in modulating long-term outcomes as a function of sex, age and comorbid conditions. Recent studies showed that gut microbiome influences neuroinflammation and other pathologic events after stroke. Hence, the project is also testing if miR- 21 mediated post-stroke neuroprotection is due to prevention of gut microbiome dysbiosis leading to better outcomes. The overall goal is to test the therapeutic potential of miR-21 to translate further to human studies. If successful, these studies lead to establishment of miR-21 as a new therapy to help service personnel and veterans who suffer a stroke. TBI promotes significant motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric dysfunction. The effects of TBI in surviving veterans can often be seen for decades after the initial injury. Vitamin C (ascorbate) is highly concentrated in brain and known to promote neuroprotection after acute and chronic CNS insults. However, its efficacy in TBI was not yet tested comprehensively. In a VA funded Merit Review Grant, Dr. Vemuganti’s lab is testing the efficacy of ascorbate treatment in reducing the secondary brain damage and promoting better motor and cognitive functional outcome in adult mice subjected to controlled cortical impact-induced TBI. Epigenetic changes are known to significantly influence the gene expression and outcome after TBI. Of particular interest, hydroxymethylation of cytosine in DNA catalyzed by TET hydroxylases forms 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), which is a transcriptional de- repression mark that increases cell survival under adverse conditions. As brain contains ~10-fold higher 5hmC levels than other organs of the body, we are testing if ascorbate treatment enhances cerebral TET activity and 5hmC levels after TBI and if this epigenetic modification is a major mechanism of ascorbate-induced neuroprotection after TBI. The long-term goal is to provide a therapy to help service personnel and veterans who suffer a TBI.

NICHD - Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

PROJECT ABSTRACT Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region dominated by low-resource communities and relatively poor families, is experiencing rising HIV prevalence among adolescents and youth (AY). Household economic hardships heighten the risk for AY’s engaging in health-compromising behaviors and their poor engagement with care. This increases their risk for contracting and transmitting HIV and non-adherence to ART treatment. Economic empowerment (EE) interventions have demonstrated substantial promise in reducing HIV-related risk-taking behaviors, and improving ART treatment adherence and mental health outcomes. Based on 10+ years of research utilizing savings-led EE interventions focused on HIV prevention, care and support for AY affected by HIV [AYaAIDS] (including AY living with HIV [AYLHIV]; and AY orphaned by AIDS [AYoAIDS] in SSA, our group has demonstrated the effectiveness of a multi-component EE intervention, Bridges, in four NIH-funded randomized control trials (RCT) in Uganda (R01 HD070727, R01HD074949, R34MH081763, R01MH113486), and one foundation-funded study in Kenya. Bridges involves: 1) financial literacy training (FLT) and mentorship; 2) family income-generating activities (IGA); and 3) incentivized savings via a matched Youth Development Account (YDA). Bridges has demonstrated robust effects on HIV-related risk-taking behaviors, ART adherence, mental health, psychosocial outcomes, educational achievement, family economics, and family cohesion. Yet, scaling EE interventions has been a challenge, signaling the need to identify and test scale-up strategies and examine determinants of implementation and sustainment. In Bridges2Scale, we will compare two multifaceted strategies (standard vs enhanced) for scaling Bridges in a two-arm Hybrid III effectiveness-implementation cluster RCT. The standard implementation strategy has been applied in our prior RCTs and involves educational meetings that prepare staff to deliver Bridges with minimal disruption to site workflow. This will be compared to an enhanced strategy that will be developed using Implementation Mapping. We will use the public school system to recruit 1440 AYaAIDS (ages 13-17 years) from 48 schools in the Greater Masaka region of Uganda, a region with 11.7% HIV prevalence. Schools will be the unit of randomization (n=24 schools per arm; n=720 students per arm). Four specific aims guide our study: Aim 1. Compare the implementation effectiveness of the standard implementation strategy vs. an enhanced implementation strategy; Aim 2. Determine the clinical effectiveness of Bridges implemented via a standard vs. enhanced implementation strategy; Aim 3. Explore implementation processes, mechanisms, and determinants; and Aim 4. Compare the cost and cost-effectiveness of the two implementation strategies. The study will address a critical challenge: how to best support the implementation, scale-up, and sustainment of EE interventions, which have been proven to be highly efficacious in improving youth-focused HIV prevention, care, and support outcomes, but are yet to be widely scaled up.

NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health

SUMMARY Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major public health problem, as it causes significant disability and suicide risk. There is a great clinical need to improve the treatment for the depressed phase of BD. The pathophysiology of BD is largely unknown, and understanding its pathophysiology could help to advance treatment. Previous neuroimaging and post mortem brain studies have provided indirect evidence that mitochondrial pathology may be occurring as part of BD’s pathophysiology. Recent animal model studies indicate that mitochondrial pathology can induce behavioral symptoms of BD. This study will use broadband Near Infrared Spectroscopy (bNIRS), a novel optical neuroimaging research tool, to directly measure cytochrome c oxidase (oxCOX) signal as an index of mitochondrial activity in the brain. Our preliminary data with the technique suggests that participants with BD may have lower oxCOX signal than healthy volunteers (HV’s), and that oxCOX signal had an inverse association with depression severity. Previous studies of BD have indicated differences in blood indices of mitochondrial pathology, including lower Mitochondrial Health Index (MHI). MHI is a composite measure of both mitochondrial enzymatic activities and mitochondrial DNA copy number within peripheral blood monocyte cells, and it was developed by a co-investigator on the project, Martin Picard. This project will test whether MHI is associated with brain oxCOX signal to assess whether a brain mitochondrial pathology may be caused by or part of a broader systemic mitochondrial abnormality. Other aspects of BD’s pathophysiology, including levels of life stress and past course of mood episodes may be related to mitochondrial pathology based on previous data, and will be measured here. bNIRS is low cost and non-invasive, and it does not require specialized facilities or operational training. It therefore has broad potential for clinical research and treatment use. A tool to track the clinical course of BD would allow for clinical decisions to be based on an objective measure, improving cost and delivery of care. This study aims to advance the bNIRS technique towards this purpose. 30 participants with BD in a major depressive episode and 20 HVs will be recruited. Participants will receive bNIRS using hypocapnia and hypercapnia challenges, the Bipolar Depression Rating Scale (BDRS), the STRAIN, venipuncture and a thorough clinical history. BD participants will then receive a structured clinical treatment with a medication that is FDA approved for depression in BD. bNIRS, MHI and BDRS will be repeated at weeks 3 and 6 of treatment. Aim 1 will be to determine whether brain mitochondrial function in the prefrontal cortex, measured by bNIRS, is lower in BD than HVs. Aim 2 will be to assess whether bNIRS can be used to track mood symptoms during an acute treatment course of depression in BD, and whether it is associated with depression severity. Aim 3 will be to determine if the MHI is associated with brain oxCOX signal in BD. The Exploratory Aim will assess whether bNIRS oxCOX activity is associated with either measures of life stressors on STRAIN, or duration and severity of past mood episodes.

NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling illness that significantly impairs quality of life and functioning. First-line treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy consisting of exposure and response prevention (EX/RP) and pharmacotherapy with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown that EX/RP alone or combined with SRIs helps up to two-thirds of patients attain minimal symptoms. EX/RP (alone or combined with medication) is also the treatment patients typically prefer compared to medications alone. However, despite its proven efficacy and this patient preference, EX/RP is greatly underused in community settings. This R34 will begin to address this treatment gap by testing scalable implementation strategies to train community clinicians to deliver EX/RP. In response to PAR-21-131 (Pilot Effectiveness Trials for Treatment, Preventive, and Services Interventions) and NIMH NOT-MH-22-170 (Research Using Implementation Science to Support the Delivery of Evidence- Based Practices in Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), this R34 will develop and evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a fully remote EX/RP learning collaborative, called SCALE-EX/RP, developed with and for CCBHC clinicians. First, we will use behavior change theory to guide a mixed-method evaluation consisting of surveys and interviews with clinicians, and interviews with supervisors and clinic leaders from six CCBHC clinics to identify barriers and facilitators to EX/RP use. We will use these data to refine our initial plan for SCALE-EX/RP that includes self-paced online EXRP training courses, remote 1:1 consultations with experiential training, and a virtual learning community comprised of CCBHC clinicians and an implementation specialist where clinicians will engage in case-based learning, self-audit and receive feedback while delivering EX/RP (Aim 1). Next, we will conduct a pilot cluster RCT in adults with OCD to test our hypotheses that SCALE-EX/RP will lead to superior clinician fidelity to EX/RP compared to online EX/RP training courses alone and to greater improvement in hypothesized mechanisms of action: clinician knowledge, attitudes, and confidence (Aim 2). Acceptability and feasibility will be evaluated with clinician surveys, time spent in training and training completion rates. Qualitative interviews with clinic members in SCALE-EX/RP will be used to identify barriers and facilitators to future implementation. We will also explore how clinician EX/RP fidelity influences patient EX/RP adherence, and improvement in OCD symptoms and quality of life (Exploratory Aim). Results will inform the design of a larger scale cluster RCT powered to test the hypothesis that training CCBHC clinicians with SCALE-EX/RP will lead to better patient outcomes. Our long-term goal is to increase access to EX/RP (our most effective, patient-preferred OCD treatment) while advancing knowledge of how learning collaboratives can be used to implement evidence-based treatments for severe mental illness (like EX/RP) in behavioral health.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis

The purpose of this program is to support organizations in mobilizing and connecting community resources to increase access to long-term recovery support for people with substance use disorders (SUD) and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders (COD). IMPORTANT NOTE: SAMHSA will accept and review only the first 70 complete, successfully submitted, and high-quality applications received via eRA. Once this threshold is met, the submission portal will close, and no further applications will be considered.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis

Building Communities of Recovery

National Institutes of Health

-Purpose. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is intended to encourage the development of collaborative partnerships between scientists who study basic behavioral processes and those who study the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders (including drug abuse and addiction) and the delivery of services to those suffering from those disorders. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), are issuing this FOA as part of a major, long-term commitment to (a) encourage the systematic translation of basic behavioral theory, methods, and findings into research designed to reduce the burden of mental illness and behavioral disorders (including drug abuse and addiction) and (b) encourage basic behavioral scientists to seek a further understanding of behavioral processes through an exploration of how those processes are altered by mental and behavioral disorders. This FOA was developed in response to a report written by the National Advisory Mental Health Council's Behavioral Science Workgroup, entitled "Translating Behavioral Science into Action," http://www.nimh.nih.gov/tbsia/tbsiatoc.cfm. -Mechanism of Support. This FOA will use the NIH Research Project Grant (R01) award mechanism and runs in parallel with FOAs of identical scientific scope, PAR-06-355 and PAR-06-357, that solicit applications under the Exploratory/Developmental (R21) and the Resource-Related Research Projects (R24) grant mechanisms, respectively. Collaborative R01 grant applications are also solicited (See FOA PA-07-092, Collaborative R01s for Clinical and Services Studies of Mental Disorders, AIDS, and Alcohol Use Disorders (R01) for additional information on the Collaborative R01 grant mechanism.

National Institutes of Health

- This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is intended to encourage the development of translational research partnerships between scientists who study basic behavioral processes and those who study the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders (including alcohol and drug use disorders) and the delivery of services to those suffering from those disorders. NIMH, NIDA, and NIAAA are issuing this FOA as part of a major, long-term commitment to (a) encourage the systematic translation of basic behavioral theory, methods, and findings into research designed to reduce the burden of mental illness and behavioral disorders, and (b) encourage basic behavioral scientists to seek a further understanding of behavioral processes through an exploration of how those processes are altered by mental and behavioral alcohol and drug use disorders. -The total amount awarded and the number of awards will depend upon the number, scientific merit, overall quality, duration, and costs of the applications received, as well as on the funds available at the participating NIH Institutes/Centers.-This FOA will utilize the R21 mechanism, and runs in parallel with a FOA of identical scientific scope that solicits applications under the NIH Resource-Related Research Project Grant (R24) award mechanism.-The total project period for an application submitted in response to this funding opportunity may not exceed two years. Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over an R21 two-year period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year.-Eligible organizations: Domestic, for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories, units of State government, units of local government, eligible agencies of the Federal government, community-based organizations, Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Federally Recognized); Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Other than Federally Recognized); and Indian/Native American Tribally Designated Organization.-Eligible Project Director/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs): Individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research are invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.-Applicants may submit more than one application, provided they are scientifically distinct.-All investigator-initiated exploratory/developmental grant applications described in this announcement will be assigned to Institutes and Centers (ICs) according to standard Public Health Service (PHS) referral guidelines and specific program interests.

National Institutes of Health

- The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage the development of translational research partnerships between scientists who study basic behavioral processes and those who study the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders (including alcohol and drug use disorders) and the delivery of services to those suffering from those disorders. NIMH, NIDA, and NIAAA are issuing this FOA as part of a major, long-term commitment to (a) encourage the systematic translation of basic behavioral theory, methods, and findings into research designed to reduce the burden of mental illness and behavioral disorders, and (b) encourage basic behavioral scientists to seek a further understanding of behavioral processes through an exploration of how those processes are altered by mental and behavioral alcohol and drug use disorders. -The total amount awarded and the number of awards will depend upon the quality, duration, costs, as well as the number of applications received. Funding decisions will reflect the needs, priorities and mission of the funding IC(s).-This funding opportunity will use the R24 mechanism, and will be run in parallel with a funding opportunity announcement of identical scientific scope that will utilize the Exploratory/Developmental (R21) mechanism (PAR-06-355). -Eligible organizations include for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories, units of State government, units of local government, eligible agencies of the Federal government, non-domestic institutions, domestic Institutions, faith-based or community-based organizations, Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Federally Recognized); Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Other than Federally Recognized); and Indian/Native American Tribally Designated Organization..-Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research is invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support.-Applicants may submit more than one application, provided they are scientifically distinct.-See Section IV.1 for application materials.-Telecommunications for the hearing impaired is available at: TTY 301-451-0088.-Initial merit review will be convened by the assigned institute

CA Dept of Veterans Affairs

Grants supporting veteran service organizations providing housing, employment, and mental health services.

NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health

PROJECT ABSTRACT Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents in the U.S., and increasing youth access to effective interventions is a critical aspect of suicide prevention. To address this public health concern, many schools have adopted suicide prevention and intervention policies that include plans for identifying and responding to adolescents with risk, creating high demand for easily accessible evidence-based treatments for diverse youth with suicide risk in school and community settings. However, the limited implementation of evidence-based suicide interventions outside of specialty psychiatric settings is a major barrier to effective adolescent suicide prevention, especially for youth in areas with mental health professional shortages. As a network of publicly funded integrated health care clinics located on K-12 school campuses, school-based health centers (SBHCs) are well positioned to receive and treat youth whose risk of suicide is identified in schools, regardless of their insurance status or their ability to pay. SBHCs can increase youth access to evidence-based treatments for mental health problems and are crucial partners of comprehensive adolescent suicide prevention and care plans in schools. The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality for Teens (CAMS-4Teens, C4T), adapted from CAMS for adults, has reduced suicide risk in adolescents in an open trial conducted in clinical settings. The successful implementation of C4T in SBHCs is important for increasing youth access to evidence-based suicide intervention. Thus, we propose a Hybrid 1 implementation-effectiveness trial that will examine the feasibility and potential effectiveness of implementing C4T in Oregon SBHCs. First, we will engage partner perspectives for deploying C4T training and practices in SBHC settings. We will hold formative interviews with personnel from 11 SBHCs, 5 medical sponsor administrators, and 5 school personnel to assess the barriers and drivers of implementing C4T. We will also invite partners to join a Network Improvement Community to monitor and inform the planning and implementation of C4T. Second, we will conduct a case study with one SBHC site to test the acceptability, feasibility and appropriateness of the implementation strategies and iteratively refine C4T implementation over three patients. Third, we will implement a Hybrid 1 trial of C4T in 10 SBHCs to evaluate its potential effectiveness on patient (ages 12-17) outcomes, while also assessing implementation factors and clinician outcomes, targeting suicidal thoughts and behaviors and possible mechanisms of action: hopelessness and suicide cognitions. This mixed methods study will result in a R01 proposal to conduct a fully powered implementation trial of C4T in Oregon SBHCs. Together, this work will help increase youth access to evidence-based suicide interventions in geographically diverse settings.

NIH

Significance to VA: Providing care to individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) is challenging, requiring ongoing monitoring, treatment adjustments, and coordination of various medical and social services. Rates of emergency service and hospital use are high due to unexpected social, medical, and mental health crises. A variety of stressors and poor adherence with treatment are common and can lead to rapid worsening in symptoms, job loss, homelessness, incarceration, or suicide. Clinician visits can be infrequent. Patient- clinician contact between visits is challenging and often nonexistent. As such, illness exacerbations usually occur with no clinician awareness in real time, leaving limited opportunity to provide services. This project studies, in Veterans with SMI and high risk for acute care, the effectiveness of an enhanced care coordination mobile intervention (CCM) that uses passive mobile data and support from peer coaches. We hypothesize that CCM will reduce the need for acute care services in comparison to usual care. For the large population of Veterans with SMI, we need efficient interventions that are capable of monitoring and quickly detecting worsening behaviors and illness, to inform care coordination, outreach, treatment, and services. This project responds to the VA Health Systems Research priority topics of Data Science and Systems Science, and to Mental and Behavioral Health. Innovation & Impact: The outcomes of this study inform whether and how to improve care with CCM. The use of passive mobile data to support improvements in behavior and care coordination in mental health is highly innovative, as is peer coaching for this purpose. If CCM is effective, it has the potential to improve routine practice and outcomes. Specific Aims: Among Veterans with SMI: 1. Engage Veterans and clinicians in co-design activities that adapt previously tested protocols and tools to guide implementation of enhanced care coordination with mobile (CCM intervention) that includes passive mobile monitoring of Veterans’ mental health status, technology and behavioral supports from peer coaches, and care coordination within a Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP). 2. Determine the effectiveness of CCM on acute care use. Implement CCM using protocols and tools from Aim 1 and randomize high-risk patients with SMI to CCM or usual care for 9 months. 3. Evaluate implementation of CCM. 4. Conduct a budget impact analysis of CCM. Methodology: 1. Population: patients with SMI and high risk for acute care use. Intervention: enhanced care coordination within a VA BHIP program using passive mobile monitoring and supports from peer coaches Comparison: effectiveness trial with patient-level randomization to CCM or usual care for 9 months Outcome: reduction in use of urgent care services (emergency visits, hospitalization, or death) 2. Qualitative and quantitative methods Path to Translation/Implementation: The Office of Mental Health, and the Office of Connected Care are partners on this study and oversee issues addressed here for VA: mental health and virtual care. Both offices have provided their strong support and plan to use results from this study to inform delivery of services.

Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland

Supports social services, housing, mental health, and family stability programs in the eight-county Cleveland diocese.

NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health

Project Summary Neuropsychiatric disorders frequently fail to respond to first-line treatments, highlighting the urgent need for innovative therapeutic approaches targeting underlying neural mechanisms. A common feature across neuropsychiatric disorders is pathological expectation states, including both pathologically negative expectations (e.g., major depression: pessimistic future outlook, social anxiety: anticipated rejection, generalized anxiety: catastrophic forecasting) and positive expectations (e.g., gambling disorder: anticipation of unlikely wins, substance use disorder: overvaluation of drug rewards, bipolar mania: unrealistic optimism about risky behaviors). The proposed project will examine the causal role of frontal cortical circuits in generating and updating affective expectations. Leveraging cutting-edge neuromodulatory and high-density recording techniques, this research will determine how non-human primate orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) influences behavior through outcome expectation signals and how these signals can be modulated with precisely targeted electrical stimulation. The experimental approach centers on a novel behavioral paradigm that captures the dynamic nature of expectation-guided behavior in macaque monkeys. By monitoring continuous behavior following expectation violations, this paradigm provides unprecedented sensitivity to detect both the persistence of expectation bias and the temporal dynamics of behavioral updating. This investigation will: (1) Establish the causal relationship between OFC activity and expectation-driven behavior through temporally specific microstimulation; and (2) Elucidate the functional network dynamics between three interconnected cortical regions integral to expectation bias and error signaling—OFC, anterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex— during expectation generation, violation detection, and behavioral adjustment processes. By simultaneously recording from multiple cortical regions with high-density electrode arrays while delivering targeted neuromodulation, this work will reveal how expectation and error signals propagate through frontal cortical networks and how this propagation can be influenced by exogenous stimulation. The basic and translational implications of this work are significant. From a basic science perspective, the proposed work will elucidate the network effects of targeted microstimulation and the causal contributions of OFC activity to motivated behavior. Translational significance lies in identifying specific neural circuit mechanisms that could be targeted to disrupt pathological expectation patterns in clinical populations. These findings will inform the development of next generation neuromodulatory therapies with enhanced spatial, temporal, and computational specificity for treating conditions characterized by persistent maladaptive expectations.

NCIPC - National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA)-funded Promising Futures initiative strengthens organizational capacity among community agencies to support families impacted by intimate partner violence (IPV). This proposed study will evaluate the impact of adding training and technical assistance (TTA) in healing- centered systems integration (All In For Kids model, AIFK) on reducing child abuse and neglect (CAN), IPV, and parental mental health conditions. This proposal responds to the call for rigorous evaluation of community- level primary prevention approaches to prevent adverse childhood experiences (RFA-CE-25-025), specifically, existing primary prevention approaches that address community-level conditions and strengthen economic supports to families (Research Objective 3). Since 2016, Promising Futures, a project of Futures Without Violence (FUTURES, national non-profit violence prevention organization), has provided support to a network of IPV state coalitions, local community-based programs, and other child-serving systems on enhancing services for families impacted by IPV. Opportunity to drive systemic change is hampered by siloing of systems, few incentives for cross-sector collaboration, limited involvement of community members in designing solutions, and challenges in collating and using shared data and metrics to monitor progress. To address these challenges, All In For Kids (AIFK), also a project of FUTURES, focuses on healing-centered systems integration to design responsive healing and caring early childhood ecosystems across health, education, and community sectors. AIFK promotes systems-level changes to sustain services, policies, and practices that result in holistic well-being across generations including strengthening economic supports to families. The proposed study will evaluate addition of AIFK healing-centered systems-transformation TTA with existing Promising Futures sites as a primary prevention approach to prevent ACEs. The research team has expertise in cross-sector collaboration, implementation science, community-partnered evaluation, healing-centered engagement, and science of thriving. This team will lead evaluation of the effectiveness of adding systems integration training via the AIFK model with Promising Futures grantees compared to matched grantees receiving usual support on CAN, IPV, parent mental health conditions, child thriving, and connectivity of early childhood ecosystems (Aim 1). The team will document implementation processes using qualitative and quantitative methods (Aim 2). With site leads and community partners, the team will disseminate lessons learned about use of community-led systems design to envision ideal structures, implement cross-sector solutions with measurable results, and improve prevention of ACEs (Aim 3).