NIH posted a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on September 21, 2011 seeking Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) ideas from small business concerns to develop new methods and technologies to identify individuals at risk of developing Type 1 diabetes.
Current technology used today to identify at risk individuals is costly, requires participation of research laboratories, and is not always suitable for public health screening. More efficient methods are needed to identify individuals that are at risk of developing Type 1 diabetes to participate in prevention techniques provided via low cost, high-throughput, accurate, and predictive assays/devices to be used at the point-of-care.
Some of the topics relevant to the research include:
• Developing tests to not only identify patients at risk but also methods that could be used to monitor the disease progression
• Developing point-of-care low cost portable devices for pre-diabetes and diabetes diagnosis
• Development of non-invasive imaging as well as other methods and biomarkers for the in-vivo measurement and evaluation of pancreatic beta cell mass, function, or inflammation for the prognosis of a pre-diabetic stage and subsequent follow-up
The estimated total program funding for FOA (RFA-DK-11-024) is estimated at $1,200,000 with a $300,000 award ceiling. It is anticipated that three to six awards will be made. Current closing date for applications is December 22, 2011.
Go to www.grants.gov or to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-11-024.html for more information.
