Federal Food and Nutrition Grants

The intended outcome of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to advance efforts for a nationally Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) by supporting Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS), Food Protection Task Force (FPTF) programs, Dietary Supplement (DS) programs, and special projects. For the purposes of this NOFO, the term state encompasses all eligible organizations as defined in Section 3. MFRPS Development or Maintenance: The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) section is to advance efforts for a nationally Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) by assisting state manufactured food regulatory programs to achieve and maintain conformance with the most current version of the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS). The MFRPS are intended to ensure that state manufactured food regulatory programs implement a high-quality regulatory program through the development and maintenance of a regulatory framework that builds on and emphasizes mutual reliance with all programs. Also, the program standards are intended to enhance food safety by establishing a uniform basis for measuring and improving the performance of manufactured food regulatory programs in the United States. Conformance with these program standards will help federal and state programs better direct their regulatory activities at reducing foodborne illness hazards in plants that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods. Food Protection Task Force (FPTF): The purpose of this funding option is to establish and/or support a Food Protection Task Force (FPTF) with diverse membership representative of stakeholders across the state that is responsible for promoting the integration of an efficient statewide human and animal food (HAF) protection system that addresses state and region-specific needs and that maximize the protection of the public health. These efforts include: establishing a food safety/protection network of subject matter experts, fostering educational opportunities, developing replicable resources and systematically fostering communication, education, outreach, cooperation and collaboration within the states among federal, state, local, tribal and territorial HAF protection, public health, agriculture, and regulatory agencies, industry, academia, and consumers to initiate and/or support HAF protection activities to improve public health. A strong FPTF can also help improve human and animal food emergency surveillance, response, and post-response systems by focusing on preparedness, building strong communication channels, and establishing relationships with key players before food-related incidents occur. Dietary Supplements: The goal of this funding option is to facilitate the development of state driven dietary supplement regulatory framework and programs. The overall objective of this funding opportunity is to advance the adoption and implementation of the cGMPs for Dietary Supplements Rule codified at 21 CFR Part 111. Specifically, this track will provide funding support for dietary supplement training and program development activities. Special Projects: The purpose of this funding option is to develop and implement special projects that support innovation and integration in a IFSS using the MFRPS framework. This track will support other emerging food safety priorities that develop over the lifespan of the project. State programs will be expected to share project deliverables and resources developed with other programs.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Office of New Drugs (OND), is announcing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a Cooperative Agreement. The proposed work directly supports the U.S. FDAs stated goal of protecting public health from unacceptable risks from nitrosamine impurities in human drugs. Although significant experimental and policy/regulatory initiatives have been undertaken in this area, there remains a need for further research into and development and refinement of translational and implementable practices that will protect the public against nitrosamine risks while ensuring continued safe access to critical therapeutic drugs. The aim is to improve the safety of human drugs with potential nitrosamine impurity liabilities. In addition to the work outlined above, the award recipient will assess how best to ensure that this research and practices development continues among industry members, non-profits, and/or academic institutions once the FDA funding for this cooperative agreement ends.

The purpose of this research is to systematically evaluate the diastereomeric composition of LEQVIO (Inclisiran), an FDA-approved, N-acetyl galactosamine (GalNAc)-conjugated siRNA drug, and to understand the biological/pharmacological activity of each diastereomer in LEQVIO through stereo chemically controlled synthesis and biological activity assessment using in vitro and animal models. The proposed studies will focus on 1) synthesis of each diastereomer of LEQVIO (Inclisiran) in stereo chemically pure form; 2) assessment of the biological activity of each stereo chemically pure diastereomer in inhibiting PCSK9 activity using in vitro assays and in a transgenic mouse model; 3) development of analytical methods to identify and characterize the stereochemical structure of each diastereomer in LEQVIO; and 4) assessment of the individual contribution of each diastereomer to the overall pharmacological activity of LEQVIO. Tools developed in this research can also be applied to other similar GalNAc-conjugated siRNAs specifically, and other siRNAs in general. Knowledge gained from this research will also contribute to the sameness evaluation of generic siRNAs, and to the quality control of oligonucleotide drugs.

Modified release (MR) oral drug products are considered to have a high risk for alcohol dose dumping (ADD) because they contain large quantities of drug(s), designed to release over a prolonged period of time. Accidental exposure of these products to alcohol can result in the relatively rapid release of large quantities of drug with severe side effects, including death. To mitigate this risk, the FDA recommends conducting an in vitro alcohol dose dumping assessment in 0%, 5%, 20%, and 40% alcoholic dissolution media for all prospective generic versions of MR oral drug products. To date, ADD assessments have not been harmonized globally. For instance, the U.S. FDA recommends testing up to 40% alcoholic media while the European Medicines Agency recommends testing up to 20% alcoholic media. This type of difference can present a challenge for formulators designing products for multiple markets, as historical data has shown release from MR oral products do not always follow a linear response (either increasing or decreasing) to increasing alcohol concentrations. In addition, interpretation of an ADD assessment may be limited by the inability of the test to predict in vivo behavior. The purpose of this research is to develop tools that 1) facilitate the development of MR generic drug products that have a low potential for ADD, 2) support regulatory decision making during the assessment of such products, and 3) provide evidence that enables FDA to develop more specific recommendations for efficiently demonstrating a low or comparative potential of alcohol dose dumping for MR oral drug products containing high risk drugs.

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support the research and development necessary to advance non-invasive (e.g., quantitative tomography-based) technologies, including the development of apparatus, methods, study designs, and methods of data analysis, to characterize and compare the rate and extent to which a topically applied drug becomes available at or near a site of action within the skin in vivo. The expectation is that the funded work will produce an accurate, sensitive and reproducible approach that rapidly measures the (relative) amount of drug present in the skin at a series of depths below the skin surface, which can be utilized to monitor the cutaneous pharmacokinetics (PK) of the drug at selected depths (e.g., in the epidermis) by repeated, serial measurements over time. The intent is to support the eventual development of an alternative, scientifically valid, in vivo cutaneous PK-based approach that can be used to efficiently demonstrate the bioequivalence (BE) of topical products.

The objective of this research proposal is to develop physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model-based mechanistic in vitro in vivo correlations (IVIVCs) for two major types of long acting injectables (LAIs) such as crystalline suspensions and polymer-based implants by considering their distinct characteristics. The goal of the project is to develop a bottom-up mechanistic PBPK model for these two LAI categories by accounting for the influence of critical formulation attributes of each LAI drug product type to predict its in vivo release mechanism. The model formulation parameters and relevant physiology should be informed with suitable in vitro and in vivo experiments. A suitable preclinical animal model can be used to validate the PBPK model based IVIVCs for both LAI suspensions and polymer based implants. The use of PBPK modelling provides a unique opportunity to understand how the physicochemical properties of drug molecules/polymer, implant specific properties, critical formulation attributes, and physiology, among other things, influence the in vivo release mechanisms of LAI drug products and their disposition characteristics. Moreover, once developed, a mechanistic PBPK model can help to define the 'safe space' for critical formulation attributes relevant to the reference listed drug (RLD) product, explain sources of PK variability and extrapolate predictions to human subjects by leveraging animal model data and by accounting for species-specific physiological differences.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has played a crucial role in providing an alternative bioequivalence (BE) approach for generic orally inhaled drug products (OIDPs), in addition to comparative clinical endpoint or pharmacodynamic BE studies, as a relatively cost- and time-efficient complement to benchtop and clinical experiments that has been widely used in developing and assessing generic inhaler devices. However, despite the advances in the power of modern computers, there are still some bottlenecks in using CFD due to computational time, limited grid resolution, pre- and post-processing of large simulation data sets, model parameter estimations, and uncertainty quantifications. Machine learning (ML) has been gaining more attention as a potential tool to alleviate such limitations that arise in CFD. The purpose of this grant is to develop a methodology to integrate ML with CFD models of OIDPs to promote alternative BE studies to enhance and accelerate the development and approval of generic OIDPs.

This funding opportunity supports U.S.-based researchers and organizations in developing non-addictive pain relief therapies to combat the opioid crisis, with a focus on advancing preclinical candidates toward clinical trials.

The Silvio O. Conte Digestive Diseases Research Core Centers grant, provided by the NIDDK, supports collaborative research on digestive and liver diseases by offering shared resources to enhance productivity and foster new ideas, centered around a theme within the NIDDK's mission.

This funding opportunity provides financial support for new and underrepresented researchers in the health sciences to conduct projects aligned with the missions of NIAID or NIDDK.

This funding opportunity supports postdoctoral researchers in biomedical and behavioral fields, providing mentorship and resources to help them develop into independent scientists.

This funding opportunity supports predoctoral students in dual-degree programs at institutions without NIH-funded training programs, helping them pursue research and clinical training to become future physician-scientists.

This funding opportunity supports students enrolled in dual-degree medical and research training programs, helping them develop into independent physician-scientists through mentored research and clinical training.

This funding opportunity supports institutions in creating collaborative training networks for early-career researchers focused on advancing studies in kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.

This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings. Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and / or improve essential community facilities, purchase equipment and pay related project expenses. Examples of essential community facilities include: -Health care facilities such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted living facilities -Public facilities such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars or street improvements -Community support services such as child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing -Public safety services such as fire departments, police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment -Educational services such as museums, libraries or private schools -Utility services such as telemedicine or distance learning equipment -Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses What are the funding priorities? ---Priority point system based on population, median household income -Small communities with a population of 5,500 or less -Low-income communities having a median household income below 80% of the state nonmetropolitan median household income.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to various organizations, including universities and non-profits, to improve veterinary diagnostic capabilities and address public health issues related to animal food safety and antimicrobial resistance.

This funding opportunity supports research projects aimed at reducing stigma related to HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on improving health outcomes for affected populations.

This funding opportunity supports research initiatives focused on non-communicable diseases related to HIV at institutions in low- and middle-income countries, encouraging innovative projects and collaborations to improve health outcomes for people living with HIV.

This funding opportunity supports interdisciplinary research teams to explore how medical devices can effectively relieve chronic pain while minimizing addiction risks.

This funding opportunity supports the development of innovative tools and technologies aimed at advancing research and treatment in kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases, encouraging projects that push scientific boundaries and have broad applications beyond individual research interests.