Full Text PA-96-026 MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY OF ANESTHETIC ACTION NIH GUIDE, Volume 25, Number 4, February 16, 1996 PA AVAILABLE: PA-96-026 P.T. 34 Keywords: Pharmacology Anesthesiology 0705048 National Institute of General Medical Sciences PURPOSE The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is reannouncing its interest in receiving applications for the study of the molecular mechanisms of action of general and local anesthetics. This program announcement supersedes and replaces the previous announcement by this title published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Vol. 17, No. 3, January 22, 1988. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-512-1800). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applications may be submitted by foreign and domestic, for-profit and non-profit organizations, public and private, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of State and local governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply as principal investigators. Foreign institutions are not eligible to receive First Independent Research Support and Transition (FIRST) Awards or program project grants (P01). MECHANISM OF SUPPORT Support of this program will be through the individual research project grant (R01), program project grant (P01), and FIRST award (R29). Investigators with ongoing R01, P01 or R37 (MERIT) awards who are expanding the scope of their work and have at least one year of support remaining from the anticipated date of award, may wish to consider applying for a competing supplemental award. Individuals responding to this program announcement should cite this program announcement by the title and number listed above. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the program staff listed under INQUIRIES for guidance in the areas appropriate for program project applications. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Since the introduction of anesthetics into clinical practice over a century ago, the fundamental mechanisms underlying the actions of therapeutic agents capable of ablating pain and of rendering a patient temporarily unconscious have eluded investigators. In part, the lack of progress in elucidating the dynamics of anesthetic action has been due to the formidable nature of the scientific problem, as it has been difficult to assign a direct correlation between molecular events that are influenced by anesthetics and the physiological effects that subsequently occur. Recent developments in the biological sciences now offer the opportunity to address problems fundamental to our understanding of anesthetic action in a manner that was extremely difficult even a decade ago. Advances in recombinant DNA technology and molecular biology, in biophysics and structural biology, in the neurosciences, and in pharmacology and biochemistry now provide an opportunity for investigators in varied fields of research to channel their expertise and knowledge toward elucidating the actions of compounds that exhibit anesthetic properties. Coupled to what is perceived as an increasing number of investigators who are interested in basic research problems related to anesthetic action, the ability to incorporate recent methodological and conceptual developments into anesthesia research offers the possibility of gaining new insights about anesthetic action that were hardly possible in the recent past. Presumably, a wide variety of approaches and model systems could be employed to study anesthetic action at the molecular level. These model systems would include but are not limited to artificial membranes; ion channels, receptors, and other macromolecules in reconstituted membranes; electrophysiological measurements and biochemical determinations in isolated whole membrane systems; studies of whole cell responses to anesthetics; and actions of anesthetics on integrated systems such as brain slices and spinal cord. Additionally, experimental designs utilizing recombinant DNA and molecular biological techniques, immunological approaches and biophysical procedures whose aims are to elucidate structural features of anesthetic interactions with components of biological systems would also be of interest. Hence, there are no limiting features to the types of approaches that may be proposed to answer questions relevant to anesthetic action, so long as those approaches emphasize clarification of molecular aspects of anesthetic pharmacodynamics. Ideally, the ultimate goal of this research would be to develop hypotheses that might explain the relationship between molecular actions and physiological effects of general and local anesthetics. INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This new policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43) and supersedes and strengthens the previous policies (Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study Populations, and Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations), which have been in effect since 1990. The new policy contains some provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 20, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and reprinted in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23, Number 11, March 18, 1994. Investigators also may obtain copies of the policy from the program staff listed under INQUIRIES. Program staff may also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 5/95) and will be accepted at the standard application deadlines as indicated in the application kit. Applications kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from the Grants Information Office, Office of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone 301/710-0267, email: girg@drgpo.drg.nih.gov. On the face page of the application, item 2, the "YES" box must be checked and the title and number of this program announcement must be typed in the space provided (i.e., Molecular Pharmacology of Anesthetic Action, PA-96-026). Applications for the FIRST Award (R29) must include at least three sealed letters of reference attached to the face page of the original application; applications submitted without the required number of reference letters will be considered incomplete and will be returned to the applicant without review. The completed original application and five legible copies must be sent or delivered to: DIVISION OF RESEARCH GRANTS NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040 - MSC 7710 BETHESDA, MD 20892-7710 BETHESDA, MD 20817 (for express/courier service) REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Applications that are complete will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures. As part of the initial merit review, all applications will receive a written critique and undergo a process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific merit, generally the top half of applications under review, will be discussed, assigned a priority score, and receive a second level review by the appropriate national advisory council or board. Review Criteria o scientific, technical, or medical significance and originality of proposed research; o appropriateness and adequacy of the experimental approach and methodology proposed to carry out the research; o qualifications and research experience of the Principal Investigator and staff, particularly, but not exclusively, in the area of the proposed research; o availability of the resources necessary to perform the research; o appropriateness of the proposed budget and duration in relation to the proposed research; o Adequacy of plans to include both genders and their subgroups as appropriate for the scientific goals of the research. Plans for the recruitment and retention of subjects will also be evaluated. The initial review group will also examine the provisions for the protection of human and animal subjects, the safety of the research environment. AWARD CRITERIA Applications will compete for available funds with all other approved applications assigned to NIGMS. The following will be considered in making funding decisions: o quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review o availability of funds o priority of research in the area of this program announcement relative to other areas of interest to NIGMS INQUIRIES Inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Alison E. Cole, Ph.D. Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry National Institute of General Medical Sciences 45 Center Drive, MSC 6200 Bethesda, MD 20892-6200 Telephone: (301) 594-1826 FAX: (301) 480-2802 Email: colea@gm1.nigms.nih.gov Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Ms. Toni Holland National Institute of General Medical Sciences 45 Center Drive, MSC 6200 Bethesda, MD 20892-6200 Telephone: (301) 594-5132 FAX: (301) 480-3423 Email: hollanda@gm1.nigms.nih.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.859. Awards are made under authority of the Public Health Service Act, sections 301 and 405, and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 45 CFR Part 74. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people. .
Return to NIH Guide Main Index
Office of Extramural Research (OER) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) |
||||||||
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files. |