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A RAFT OF RFAs FOR BIOBEHAVIORAL RESEARCHERS
NIH announced several RFAs of special interest to the biobehavioral community this January, including calls for research on links between education and health and the mind-body connection in cancer and other diseases.
Two RFAs related to mind-body interactions and health are sponsored by a number of NIH institutes, including the National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The grants provide infrastructure and support for exploratory and developmental research programs.
The effect of personality and emotions on physical health, the ways that health-related beliefs are developed and changed, and the effects of stress on health are the main areas of emphasis for the RFAs, which encourage cross-disciplinary research.
The association between good health and increasing years of education is the focus of "Pathways Linking Education to Health." The RFA encourages researchers to explore a variety of mechanisms, from social networks to brain remodeling, that may underlie this association. The research must include at least one clearly defined measure of education, one or more risky or beneficial health behavior or disease endpoint and a potential pathway between the two.
A third new RFA is aimed at studies that will test interventions designed to achieve long-term behavior change, from sun exposure to disease screening practices. The RFA also calls for a resource center to provide coordination for behavior change research projects.
The letter of intent deadline for the mind-body RFAs is June 16, 2003; Feb. 28, 2003 for the education RFA; and March 11, 2003 for the behavior RFA. For more information, go to the NIH grant archives at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/2003/03.01.10/index.html.
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