The NICHD mission is to ensure that every person is born healthy and wanted, that women suffer no harmful effects from reproductive processes, and that all children have the chance to achieve their full potential for healthy and productive lives. This FOA Funding Opportunity Announcement is responsive to that mission in addressing injuries, the leading cause of death in childhood.
In the United States, after the age of 1 year, injuries are the leading cause of death in children. In 2014 over 12,400 children, ages 0-19 years, died from an unintentional or intentional injury. Deaths represent the tip of the iceberg with an estimated 8,395,000 injury-related emergency department visits, 321,000 of which result in hospitalization or transfer to another hospital. Many children suffering serious non-fatal injuries are left with lifelong sequelae.
Leading causes of injury-related death vary by age. For the five-year period from 2010-2014, the leading causes of injury death were suffocation for infants under 1 year, drowning in the 1-4 year age group, and motor vehicle crashes in 5-19 year olds. In 2014, the most recent year that data is available, suicide surpassed motor vehicle deaths in 10-14 year olds. Firearms also account for a large number of childhood deaths, particularly when combining firearm deaths that are unintentional with those due to suicide and homicide.
Additionally, there are important disparities in injury burden, including disparities by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity. For example homicide rates among black males in the 15-19 year age group are nearly nine times those of white males in the same age group. Rates of death from motor vehicle crashes are highest in Native Americans, in every childhood age group. Rural youth are at increased risk of motor vehicle related death and of suicide compared with youth in more urban settings.
While there is ongoing focused research in the area of injury prevention, this FOA is being used to address gaps in resources that have the potential to stimulate and advance the field. This FOA will support projects that will enhance the capabilities of ongoing epidemiologic and prevention research through development of resources for use by the broader scientific community, thus enhancing and furthering research in this field. A product of the work developed through funded projects must serve as a resource to the research community during and beyond the duration of the grant. A resource is a non-hypothesis-driven activity to provide data, materials, tools, or services that are essential to making timely, high quality, and cost-efficient progress in a field. The resource should be available to any qualified investigator, should be highly quality controlled and should not duplicate resources available commercially or through other sources. Examples of research resources include, but are not limited to, development of multi-center, longitudinal, or linked datasets; development of new methodologies or research tools, including those that take advantage of new technologies; development of data or specimen repositories, and for use to address important research questions.
Purpose and Scope
This FOA invites Resource Related Research Project applications that address select priority areas of the Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch, specifically focusing on the epidemiology and/or prevention of injuries, which may include special consideration of disparities in injury rates. Additional information about Branch Priorities can be found at the following links to the Branch Website and the Branch Strategic Plan.
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/der/branches/ptcib/Pages/overview.aspx
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/Documents/PediatricTrauma_StrategicPlan.pdf
Projects supported through this FOA should:
- Address a critical resource gap and the strategic interests of the PTCIB, specifically focusing on the epidemiology and/or prevention of those injuries most likely to cause death or disability
- Provide a valuable resource to the research community
- Include plans to distribute, share or disseminate research resources
- Where applicable, provide a plan for sustaining the resource beyond the life of the grant
This R24 mechanism is not intended to support more traditional investigator-initiated and highly focused studies best supported through the R01 or P01 mechanisms. It is also not intended to support exploratory/developmental research projects best supported through the R21 mechanism.
To ensure that the proposed aims are consistent with the NICHD program goals and mission, applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with NICHD staff at least 10 weeks prior to the application due date. Program staff will not evaluate the technical and scientific merit of the application; technical and scientific merit will be determined during peer review using the review criteria indicated in this FOA.
Deadlines: June 19, 2017, October 23, 2017, June 19, 2018, October 23, 2018, June 19, 2019, October 23, 2019; letters of intent due 30 days before the deadline
URL: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-17-228.html
Filed Under: Funding Opportunities