The challenge is to integrate mental health at the same time when chronic disease care is being administered. To meet the need, NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) posted a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) February 3, 2012. The FOA seeks research project grant applications to provide cost-effective integrated care interventions for the treatment of patients with co-morbid mental and chronic physical illnesses in low and middle income countries (LMIC).
Researchers will use innovative technologies such as mobile phones and telehealth interventions, along with information systems to help manage people with co-morbid mental and chronic health conditions living in LMICs. Researchers will also test models to be used for resource sharing, communication, case referral, and service planning.
Institutions of higher learning, non-profits, for-profits, state, county local governments, are invited to apply. Funds for the FOA titled “Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health: Integrating Mental Health into Chronic Disease Care Provision in Low and Middle Income Countries” (RFA-MH-13-040) are anticipated to be approximately $2,000,000 in FY 2012 and provide funding for up to four awards.
Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MH-13-040.html for more information.
NIH, CDC, FDA, and ACF on January 31st released an FOA seeking SBIR/STTR grant applications from small businesses. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) goals are to improve health by accelerating the application of biomedical technologies.
These are just a few of the specific needs that NIBIB is requesting through their SBIR/STTR FOA:
• Develop software and hardware for telehealth studies with broad applications as well as do early stage development of telehealth technologies, along with research to address usability and implementation issues in remote settings
• Research is needed to develop technology to standardize and incorporate state-of-the-art security protocols for verifying user identities and to preserve patient confidentiality across remote access
• Develop new technologies to collect, store, retrieve, and integrate quantitative data along with large-scale data-driven methods to support data mining, statistical analysis, systems biology, and modeling efforts
• Develop medical devices and implants to enable exploratory research on next generation concepts for diagnostic and therapeutic devices, develop tools for assessing host-implant interactions, perform studies to prevent adverse events, and develop predictive models and methods to assess the useful life of devices
For the SBIR program total funding for awardees may not exceed $150,000 for Phase I awards and $1,000,000 for Phase II awards.
For more information on research topics from NIBIB and other agencies, go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-088.html. Go to page 4 and click on “PHS 2012-2 SBIR/STTR Program Descriptions and Research Topics for NIH, CDC, FDA, and ACF” For addition information, email Todd Merchak at merchakt@mail.nih.gov or call (301) 496-8592.
