National Strategy for Recruitment and Participation in Alzheimer's And Related Dementias Clinical Research RFI
• For this RFI, NIA is specifically interested in diversified insights that will enable us to better understand the challenges and barriers of how community-based research networks could enhance sustainable engagement with a wide variety of participants, including people from underserved groups, which includes rural communities, people of various races and ethnicities, minority health and health disparity groups, and older people of diverse physical and neurological abilities, in AD/ADRD clinical trials.
Comment period closes on April 9, 2002. Responses to the seven topics of interest featured in this RFI must be submitted through the RFI submission website.
Request for Information (RFI): Inviting comments to inform the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the intersection of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic and the health of women
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), in partnership with the NIH Coordinating Committee on Research on Women’s Health (CCRWH), is publishing this request for information (RFI) to seek public comments/input on research gaps, clinical practice needs, and research opportunities to inform research priority setting at the intersection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and/or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), aka long COVID, and the health of women.
Pragmatic Clinical Trials: An Update on NIA-Funded Real-World Research to Improve Patient Care
Pragmatic clinical trials enable researchers to identify and test interventions in real-world situations and settings, such as hospitals, clinics, or physician practices. Because they connect with older adults where they already live and receive care, these types of clinical trials may reach more diverse older adult populations. In this blog post, Marcel Salive provides an update on NIA’s growing support for innovative pragmatic clinical trials on multiple aging-related topics.
Award Recipients
Gerontological Society of America Inaugural
Barbara Berkman Award
The Gerontological Society of America announced on July 2nd 2021, that Susan Lane Hughes, PhD, Director of the UIC Center for Research on Health and Aging, Principal Investigator of the Midwest Roybal Center for Health Promotion and Translation, and designer of the Fit & Strong! program for persons with arthritis has been designated the inaugural winner of the Barbara Berkman Award for Excellence in interdisciplinary research with older adults. This new award that will be bestowed by the Social Research, Policy and Practice Section of the Society at its Annual Meeting on Friday November 12, 2021, in Phoenix AZ. The Award recognizes lifetime contributions to outstanding interdisciplinary research in aging. Under Dr. Hughes’ leadership the UIC Center for Research on Health and Aging has grown to encompass 35 faculty, representing 8 colleges and 18 departments across UIC. Her Roybal Center has been renewed by NIH consecutively for five continuous cycles and has provided more than $2.65 million in pilot funding to early-stage investigators from multiple disciplines who are now tenured faculty with distinguished careers in aging research. This investment has leveraged $128.8 million in research funding in aging at UIC. Finally, Dr. Hughes’ Fit & Strong! program was developed by an interdisciplinary team, has received numerous national awards, served more than 10,000 older adults, and is being provided in 32 states at present.
NIA COVID-19 Supplement Recipients
Principal Investigators: Sarah Berry, MD, MPH, Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew Senior Life; Vince Mor, PhD, Brown University School of Public Health
Drs. Berry and Mor were awarded a supplement to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, the RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program. This initiative will leverage the foundation of the IMPACT Collaboratory to establish IMPACT-COVID-19 (IMPACT-C), a collaborative dedicated to developing and evaluating SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies in highly vulnerable residents and health care workers of skilled nursing facilities. IMPACT-C will assemble the organizational, administrative, and expertise components necessary to swiftly conduct a rigorous vaccine trial, when available.
Principal Investigator: Ellen McCreedy, PhD, MPH, Brown University School of Public Health
Dr. McCreedy and her team will conduct a cluster randomized embedded pragmatic clinical trial (ePCT) by leveraging electronic health records of Bluestone Physician Services to test the effectiveness of a COVID-specific, advance care planning (ACP) intervention on documentation of care preferences among assisted living community (ALC) residents with AD/ADRD from 150 ALCs in 3 states.
Principal Investigator: Lewis Lipsitz, MD, Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife
Dr. Lipsitz and his team will evaluate the efficacy of a Massachusetts state-funded strategy to minimize the spread of COVID-19 among older adults and their care providers within Massachusetts NHs using multiple data sources. Efficacy will be measured over the 2-month intervention period among all residents in nursing homes (NHs) across Massachusetts compared to those in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
Principal Investigator: Joshua Chodosh, MD, MSHS, NYU Langone Health
Dr. Chodosh and his team will design and pilot test an intervention that leverages the COVID-19 antibody and PCR status of residents and staff to inform staff-residents care assignments to minimize COVID-19 transmission rates. The team will conduct the study in two New York City facilities with high minority and AD/ADRD representation and compare intervention units using this strategy with those that do not.
Open Positions
Robert L. Kane Postdoctoral Fellowship
ROBERT L. KANE POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN AGING, DEMENTIA, AND LONG-TERM CARE will nurture scholars with strong substantive expertise/interests in long-term care, healthcare systems and delivery, prevention and management of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs), intervention design/ development, systems innovation, health equity, and/or quality of care/quality of life among older adults and their family/professional caregivers. Methodological skills in one or more of the following areas are preferred:
(1) intervention research;
(2) quantitative/longitudinal methods;
(3) qualitative or mixed-methods;
(4) community-engaged research methodologies;
(5) program or policy evaluation; and/or
(6) implementation and dissemination
Please email applications or direct further queries to: Ashley Millenbah, MPH, Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair Coordinator, email: mill8913@umn.edu; phone: 612-424-1894
Associate or Senior Doctorate-level Faculty Investigator Position
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle WA
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) is seeking a mid-career or senior doctoral-level investigator (equivalent in rank to Associate or Full Professor) with nationally recognized research expertise in aging/geriatrics, brain health, and/or Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) research to join our faculty. This recruitment is part of the Institute’s succession planning and includes taking a visible leadership role within a well-established and successful aging research program, the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) cohort study. ACT is a unique ‘living-laboratory’ of aging focused on finding ways to delay or prevent ADRD. Launched in 1994, ACT enrolls Kaiser Permanente Washington members who are free of ADRD and follows them biannually with in-depth assessments; extensive electronic health record data supplement patient-generated data from surveys and biometric devices. ACT recently received a 5-year NIH U19 grant from the National Institute on Aging to extend this unparalleled long-running cohort study of brain health and dementia. The ACT U19 involves close collaboration with researchers at the University of Washington and across the country, and includes 3 projects, 6 cores, and several ancillary studies. Collectively, ACT research focuses on a wide range of aging topics, including vision, traumatic brain injury, physical activity, sleep, and other health behaviors; life course risk factors, including social determinants of health; pharmacoepidemiology; subtypes of ADRD; neuropathology; and neuroimaging and has provided rich insights to support improved understanding of aging. In addition to serving as a lead investigator for ACT, the successful candidate will maintain an independent program of extramurally funded research.
Questions about the position can be directed to Jessica.Chubak@kp.org, Search Committee Co-Chair, or Stacey.D.Adams@kp.org, Talent Acquisition Consultant. Additional application procedures may be required. For full consideration, submit materials by April 15, 2022; however, review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications.
Webinars & Workshops
TRIPLL Webinar Series 2022
"Research on Social Relationships and Pain: Updates and Innovations"
The TRIPLL webinar series is a web based training resource for professionals, researchers and community practitioners interested in various and research topics related to pain in later life. Webinars are interactive and feature diverse investigators and highly trained practitioners who present their expertise on various topics. Please email ers4004@med.cornell.edu for information on the 2022 Social Relationships and Pain Webinar Series.
Award Opportunities
NIA IMPACT Funding Opportunities
Pilot Grants RFA
Total Direct Costs
up to $175,000
Award Duration
12 months
Informational Webinar
August 30, 2022 @ 3pm ET.
Register here.
Letters of Intent Due
September 15, 2022 @ 5pm ET
Full Proposals Due
January 20, 2023 @ 5pm ET
Pilot Grants RFA
Total Direct Costs
up to $175,000
Award Duration
12 months
Informational Webinar
August 30, 2022 @ 3pm ET.
Register here.
Letters of Intent Due
September 15, 2022 @ 5pm ET
Full Proposals Due
January 20, 2023 @ 5pm ET
IMPACT will fund up to five 1-year awards for pilot pragmatic clinical trials (ePCTs) that test non-pharmacological interventions embedded in health care system(s) for people living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) and their care partners. The goal of these pilot studies is to generate the preliminary data necessary to design and conduct a future full-scale Stage IV effectiveness ePCT (based on the NIH Stage Model) funded through other grant mechanisms.
This grant cycle will prioritize applications for non-pharmacological interventions that aim to:
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Reduce inequities in health care
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Reduce potentially inappropriate medications through de-prescribing
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Improve care in the emergency department
Learn more about previous Pilot Grant Awardees here. If you have questions about the Pilot Grant Program please visit the Frequently Asked Questions webpage or email IMPACTcollaboratory@hsl.harvard.edu.
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Demonstration Projects Program
IMPACT will fund up to two 18-month Demonstration Projects designed as full-scale, Stage IV effectiveness ePCTs (based on the NIH Stage Model) that test, measure and evaluate the effect of a care delivery intervention program in health care systems for people living with AD/ADRD and their care partners. The goal of these Demonstration Projects is to generate evidence on effective care delivery practices that can be expanded and/or implemented in other systems.
Under this mechanism, the interventions must be linked to the needs of the health care system. Suitable intervention typically encompass relatively simple system changes or direct patient outreach, or successfully piloted programs ready for testing at scale. Demonstration Projects allow health care systems and investigators to gain real-world experience integrating pragmatic non-pharmacological interventions into usual clinical workflow and health care delivery practices in a controlled manner that provides clear information on the impact of the intervention program.
Learn more about previous Demonstration Project Awardees here. If you have questions about the Demonstration Project Program, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions webpage or email IMPACTcollaboratory@hsl.harvard.edu.
Requesting Applications for Career Development Awards
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) Imbedded Pragmatic Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Collaboratory is now accepting applications for the Career Development Award (CDA). These CDAs support the development of MD, PhD, or equivalent researchers who seek careers conducting embedded pragmatic clinical trials (ePCTs) for people living with AD/ADRD and their care partners.
The IMPACT Collaboratory will fund up to two 2-year CDAs, prioritizing applications that address dementia care for people of all backgrounds and promote health equity. Each award will provide up to $220,000 in direct costs over two years with an indirect cost rate capped at 8%. Awardees are required to devote a minimum of 75% effort toward the goals of the award.
Eligible applicants include MD, PhD, or equivalent researchers who seek careers conducting ePCTs for people living with AD/ADRD and their care partners. Applicants are typically within 7 years of their post-doctoral training program at the time of application. Exceptions will be made in this round of funding for investigators with more than 7 years who can demonstrate evidence of changing their career path to pursue research on ePCTs among PLWD. Such applicants must request prior approval.
Applications are due Thursday, September 15, 2022 by 5pm ET. An informational webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 2:00 PM ET to provide investigators with an overview of application details. Investigators will have the opportunity to ask questions. Use this link for required pre-registration.
Alzheimer's Association Special RFA:
Advancing Research on Care and Outcome Measures
The Advancing Research on Care & Outcome Measurement (ARCOM) program aims to address significant gaps in care and outcome measurement and provide an opportunity to advance research so that care providers can ensure they are implementing evidence-based practices and achieving desired outcomes. Work funded through ARCOM must directly advance research projects focused on development of new (and/or validations of previously developed) measures of care and evaluate the use of such measures in improving care and outcomes across diverse and underrepresented populations at different stages of dementia.
The Alzheimer's Association anticipates awarding up to 8 ARCOM grants with a maximum funding of USD $250,000 each over a period of one to two years. For more information about the program, funding, and eligibility, see the ARCOM RFA and webpage.
McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards in Cognitive Aging and Memory Loss
The McKnight Brain Research Foundation (MBRF) and the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) will provide up to two 3-year awards of $750,000 (USD) each to advanced Assistant Professors and recently appointed Associate Professors (MDs and PhDs.) One award will be made to support studies focusing on clinical translational research and another award toward understanding basic biological mechanisms underlying cognitive aging and age-related memory loss.
The application deadline is August 1, 2022.
NIA Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI): Entrepreneurship Enhancement Award (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs.
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To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:
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Research Experiences
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Courses for Skills Development
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Mentoring Activities
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Curriculum or Methods Development
The purpose of the Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI): NIA Entrepreneurship Enhancement Award (R25) is to promote the development of entrepreneurial education programs that are designed to broaden the skillset of graduate students and postdocs, as well as early career master's, Ph.D., and Dr.P.H. scientists, in fields relevant to the mission of NIA, including aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. The goal of this program is to prepare trainees for a wide range of career paths, including those that are outside the normal research environment.
NIA Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI): Mentored Entrepreneurial Career Development Award (K01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
The purpose of the NIA Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI): Mentored Entrepreneurial Career Development Award is to provide support and protected time (three to five years) for an intensive, supervised career development experience in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences leading to research independence. This specific K01 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) includes entrepreneurial training and career development opportunities for early-career academic scientists as part of its translational research and supervised career development activities. This program will provide support and protected time for a broad set of supervised career development activities to prepare awardees for a multitude of career options including research and teaching faculty, as well as entrepreneurial, industry, science policy, and research administration positions. Entrepreneurship training and the research activities proposed would both be considered major components of the award. NIA invites K01 applications from experienced postdoctoral (two years minimum) and/or recently appointed junior faculty (usually with a Ph.D. degree) in biomedical, social, or behavioral sciences who are interested in entrepreneurial training and are pursuing careers in research areas supported by NIA.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for candidates proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. Under this FOA, candidates are permitted to propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor.
New York Regional Center for Diabetes Translation Research Pilot and Feasibility Program Funding Announcement
The New York Regional Center for Diabetes Translation Research (NY-CDTR) announces the availability of Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) funding for preliminary studies to support planned extramural funding applications (NIH preferred) for diabetes-related translational research. Secondary analyses of existing, pertinent large data sets, which can lead to external funding, are a priority.
Budget requests can be up to $50,000/year for one-year grant proposals, or up to $25,000/year for 2 years.
For 2021-2022, meritorious proposals for $50,000/year for 2 years will also be considered, with a maximum of one award being granted. A 2nd year of funding is always contingent on progress and available program funding.
Proposals should use translational research methods such as: implementation or dissemination science, natural experiment methods, as well as quantitative or qualitative methods to investigate how to improve diabetes prevention or care and outcomes at the individual, group, health system or population level.
Applications involving research in diabetes/obesity across the life span, population health, health systems, or natural experiments are strongly encouraged. Translation research focused on Latinos/Hispanics, health disparities, and social determinants of health is of particular interest. P&F funds may supplement ongoing funded research projects (e.g., K awards), but non-overlap must be clearly demonstrated in the proposal. The NY-CDTR website (www.nycdtr.org) provides information re: core resources and services available to awardees to support their pilot study.
ELIGIBILITY:
Must hold the rank of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) or higher at the time of the award.
This program is designed to support (in order of priority):
1) New investigators, early stage investigators (ESIs), and under-represented minority investigators (URMiR) with interests in diabetes and/or obesity. In this category are investigators shifting from mentor-based research to an independent career. Meritorious proposals from these investigators receive the highest priority for funding.
2) Established investigators, in other research areas or cross-disciplinary research, who wish to apply their expertise to diabetes or obesity. High-risk, high-reward proposals receive priority.
3) NY-CDTR members who wish to explore a new area of innovative research that constitutes a substantive departure from their previous or ongoing externally funded diabetes research.
Two Supplement Awards to IMPACT Collaboratory Will Link Big Data and the Impact of COVID-19 on People Living with Dementia
The NIA IMPACT Collaboratory has been awarded two COVID-19 Supplements partnering with major retail pharmacies to create a massive monitoring system of the long-term safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination on people with AD/ADRD.
These two studies are:
Monitoring Medicare Beneficiaries' Response to COVID vaccines (CVS Project)
This project established an active post-vaccination surveillance system of a large population to track and report safety and outcomes related to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine(s). Working jointly with CVS Health and the Medicare & Medicaid Resource Information Center (MedRIC) at Acumen, LLC, the project established a data infrastructure to monitor the effects of COVID-19 vaccines administered to Medicare beneficiaries by CVS across the country. Data transfers from the national retail pharmacy chain are merged with Medicare data. The resulting data base is analyzed to identify demographic, race/ethnicity, clinical (e.g., ADRD), and health care system factors associated with being vaccinated, estimate the rate of adverse events attributable to the vaccine and estimate breakthrough COVID illness among vaccinated Medicare beneficiaries. This program provides the basis for assessing mid- to long-term safety and efficacy of the different vaccines being distributed for use in the elderly population in the country.
Medicare Match for post-vaccination monitoring (Walgreens)
This project builds on the researchers’ partnership with CVS to establish a data infrastructure to monitor the effects of COVID-19 vaccines administered to Medicare beneficiaries by CVS across the country. The goal of this project is to add data from Walgreen’s 13,231,175 million Medicare beneficiary pharmacy customers to the existing infrastructure which will increase the research team’s capacity to track immediate and long term effects of vaccination on nearly half the population of Medicare beneficiaries.
The need for a larger study population is particularly important because those with ADRD already suffering from neurodegenerative diseases may be at greater risk of serious neurological adverse events of vaccines. In addition, the unknown potential for adverse events may result in high rates of incomplete vaccination (both shots) among older adults. Such uncertainty contributes to vaccine hesitancy and may result in large disparities in SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among racial/ethnic groups, for which disparities in seasonal influenza vaccination already exist.
To learn more about these studies, visit this page on Building Infrastructure Supplement Awards, and the press release from Brown University at this link.