I.  Early Career Award in Chemistry of Drug Abuse and Addiction (ECHEM)  (R21/R33) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-13-350.html

This announcement is intended to encourage early career chemists (or chemists new to NIH) to develop probes that aid basic research investigations on drug abuse and/or identify new or better templates as lead compounds with potential for conducting structure activity relationship (SAR)-function studies. Importantly, this includes the identification of new chemical entities (NCEs) with therapeutic potential for drug abuse and addiction.

Standard dates apply, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.  Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

II.  Illuminate the Druggable Genome (IDG) –

Adaptation of Scalable Technologies to Illuminate the Druggable Genome (U01)  (RFA-RM-13-010) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-13-010.html

Development of a Knowledge Management Center for Illuminating the Druggable Genome (U54)  (RFA-RM-13-011) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-13-011.html

The IDG project is predicated on the need to fully explore the underlying biology and role in disease of genes linked to already drugged genes within the Druggable Genome. While the number of drugged targets is relatively limited, there are many more, related, genes that if more deeply investigated may define new biology and/or new therapeutic targets.  The IDG project represents a new NIH Common Fund project and seeks to:

1)      Develop a useful and public Knowledgebase that can be used to identify gaps in our knowledge of the Druggable Genome and prioritize where to subsequently invest resources

2)      Adapt and scale technologies to rapidly illuminate the underlying biology and potential role in disease of prioritized genes

Please review these FOAs, share them with colleagues, and consider ways in which you may respond with applications. Full details on submission deadlines, application formats, review considerations, and implementation framework for the IDG may be found in the FOAs themselves. In addition, a technical assistance webinar for the Knowledge Management Center RFA will be held in early October. Information about the webinar will be posted on the IDG webpage at http://commonfund.nih.gov/IDG/.