NIH INITIATIVE ON CENTERS FOR MIND/BODY RESEARCH

Release Date:  December 15, 1998

P.T.

Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is implementing an initiative to foster
mind/body approaches to health.  The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Research, Office of the Director, NIH (OBSSR), and several NIH Institutes are
developing a Request for Applications (RFA) to foster multidisciplinary research
on the interactions among the mind/body and health.  This research is intended
to include basic research as well as clinical applications.  Three areas of
Mind/Body Research are emphasized.  The first emphasis is research on the
influence of beliefs, attitudes, and values on physical health, including
research on social, psychological, behavioral, affective, and biological factors
mediating these effects.  The second area of emphasis is on determinants or
antecedents of health-related beliefs, attitudes, or values.  That is, given that
some beliefs and attitudes have been shown to affect health, how are these
beliefs, attitudes, and values developed, maintained, or changed? The third area
of emphasis is on how psychological stress influences physical health, including:
(a) basic research investigating how attitudes, beliefs, and values influence
perceived stress, individual differences in the biology of stress, and
interactions between stress and behavioral risk factors for disease; and (b) the
evaluation of behavioral, psychological, or social stress-management
interventions for physical illness and/or biological functioning.  The funding
mechanism will be Specialized Centers (P50), and the NIH anticipates making up
to five awards at a maximum total cost of $2 million per award.

The anticipated release date for the RFA is in late January 1999, with
applications being due April 23, 1999.  The announcement will be published in the
NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts in the usual manner.  You may also be informed
of the publication of the RFA and receive subsequent information by subscribing
to the OBSSR's automated e-mail service.

To subscribe, send an email message addressed to:  listserv@list.nih.gov.  The
text of the message should read ONLY:  SUBscribe Mind-Body-L [your full name].
The message is case sensitive; capitalize only as indicated.  Don't include the
brackets.  For example, for Robin Smith to subscribe, the message would read:

SUBscribe Mind-Body-L Robin Smith 

The subject line should be blank.  You will receive a confirmation of your
subscription along with instructions on how to use the LISTSERV and how to
unsubscribe.

INQUIRIES

General inquiries in regarding this notice may be directed to:

Ronald P. Abeles, Ph.D.
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
National Institutes of Health
7201 Wisconsin Avenue, Room 2C234, MSC 9205
Bethesda, MD  20892-9205
Telephone:  (301) 594-5943
FAX:  (301) 402-0051
Email:  Ronald_Abeles@nih.gov

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