Biophotonics Funding Opportunities

             Biophotonics Initiative Regents Challenge Competition

      Biomedical Engineering
 

      Nanophotonics
 
 
 
 

      Optical Imaging
 
 
 

If you are aware of any funding opportunities not posted here that might of interest, please contact Maryann Fitzmaurice, Chair, Research Committee, at mxf39@po.cwru.edu.
 
 

In 2001,  the Biophotonics Initiative received approximately $500,000 from the State of Ohio Board of Regents Research Challenge.   These funds are intended to seed new interdisciplinary biophotonics research projects over the next two years.  These projects are intended to provide preliminary data to be used in applications for longer-term funding from extramural funding agencies, such as the National Sciences Foundation and National Institutes of Health.  Seed moneys were awarded in the first intramural competition in March 2002.  A list of the projects funded can be viewed on the web page under Seed Money for Pilot Projects.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

There are broad programs supporting multidisciplinary projects in Bioengineering at both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF).

Bioengineering Consortium (BECON)

Recognizing the potential benefits to human health to be realized from applying and advancing the field of bioengineering, the NIH Director formally established the Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) in February 1997. BECON is the focus of bioengineering issues at the NIH and is composed of senior-level representatives from each of the NIH centers, institutes, and divisions.  The Consortium also includes representatives of other federal agencies concerned with biomedical research and development. The BECON is administered by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the NIH.

The mission of the Consortium is to foster new basic understandings, collaborations, and transdisciplinary initiatives among the biological, medical, physical, engineering, and computational sciences. In support of this objective, BECON coordinates and facilitates research grants, training opportunities, and scientific symposia associated with biomedical engineering.  Regular monthly meetings of the Consortium are conducted to discuss program status, future needs and directions, and topics of interest to the biomedical engineering community.

The following is a current BECON project funding announcement:

PA NUMBER:  PA-02-011: BIOENGINEERING RESEARCH GRANTS
Release Date:  October 11, 2001

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites applications for R01 awards to support Bioengineering Research Grants (BRGs) for basic and applied multi-disciplinary research that addresses important biological or medical research problems.  The BRGs support multi-disciplinary research performed in a single laboratory or by a small number of investigators that applies an integrative, systems approach to develop knowledge and/or methods to prevent, detect, diagnose, or treat disease or to understand health and behavior.  A BRG application may propose hypothesis-driven, discovery-driven, developmental, or design-directed research at universities, national laboratories, medical schools, large or small businesses, or other public and private entities.

National Science Foundation Biomedical Engineering Program

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Biomedical Engineering Program (BME) supports research, often with diagnosis or treatment-related goals, that applies engineering principles to problems in biology and medicine while advancing the engineering knowledge base.  Integration of engineering expertise with life science principles is an essential requirement for advances in this field.  The BME program emphasizes basic engineering research that contributes to better and more efficient health care delivery.  Support is provided for both unsolicited proposals and for special initiatives.  Some new areas of particular interest are: biomedical photonics; novel tissue characterization schemes; new cellular and tissue engineering concepts; the innovative integration of multi-disciplinary technologies for new imaging and biosensing systems, and home care technologies.

The Biophotonics Initiative at CWRU is timely, as biophotonics (in a variety of guises) is currently a priority for funding at both NSF and NIH.  In particular, there is a new federal initiative to support research in nanotechnology.
 

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a $500 million initiative to support long-term nanoscale research and development leading to potential breakthroughs in areas such as materials and manufacturing, nanoelectronics, medicine and healthcare, environment and energy, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, biotechnology and agriculture, computation and information technology, and national security. Four federal agencies are funding nanotechnology projects through the NNI:  the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of Defense (DoD).
 

National Science Foundation (NSF)

The NSF heads the Nanoscale Science and Engineering part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.   According to Grantsnet, "the NSF has received the largest piece of the NNI pie for FY2001 – $150 million. Mihail Roco heads up the initiative and is also Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology at NSF.  Although no specific NSF program solicitations for nanobiotechnology are currently open, Roco says that nanobiotechnology proposals will be accepted anytime by appropriate NSF directorates. Within the Directorate for Biological Sciences, apply to either the Division of Biological Infrastructure or the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences; within the Directorate for Engineering, apply to the Division of Bioengineering and Environmental Systems; and within the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, apply to the Division of Materials Research."
 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The NIH Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) is also encouraging applications for research in the general areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology as related to 1) the development of new research tools for elucidating biological principles essential for the design and implementation of nanostructured materials for use in biomedicine, and 2)  the transfer of nanotechnology advances in other fields of science and engineering to develop new ways to help prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disorders.  There are a number of existing  NIH solicitations affording opportunities for funding nanotechnology and nanoscience research related to biomedicine.
 

Department of Defense (DOD)

There are also a number of existing  DOD solicitations affording opportunities for funding nanoscience and technology related to biomedicine, such as nanoscale integrated sensor suites for chemical and biological agent detection.
 

NASA and National Cancer Institute (NCI)

NASA in concert with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) also has nanotechnology funding solicitations for the development of biomolecular sensors.

CWRU/UHC Comprehensive Cancer Center

The Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and University Hospitals of Cleveland (UHC) is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.  An In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Initiative has been established at the CWRU/UHC Cancer Center to capitalize on extraordinary opportunities that advancements in imaging technologies offer for studying cancer and other disease processes noninvasively in animal models and in man. Example           technologies include high resolution MR anatomical imaging, MR spectroscopic imaging to examine regional distributions of molecules, nuclear medicine imaging of radiopharmaceuticals, microscopic CT, and optical imaging methods such as OCT.
Multidisciplinary Working Groups have been established in four key areas:

--image-guided therapeutics;

--in vivo micro-magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy;

--nuclear and biochemical imaging; and

--optical diagnostic imaging.

In late 2001/early 2002 an intramural competition was conducted and seed money was awarded for new interdisciplinary pilot projects in in vivo cellular and molecular imaging of cancer.  Two of the funded projects were in optical diagnostic imaging:

--PI: Clement Burma, Chemistry
   Title: Nanocrystal-Antibody Conjugates for Optical Imaging of HER Overexpression in Breast Cancer

--PI: Andrew Rollins, Internal Medicine (Gastroenterology) and Biomedical Engineering
   Title: Imaging Human Colonic Aberrant Crypts Using Optical Coherence Tomography

A second intramural seed money grant competition is anticipated in Summer 2002.

For more information on the seed money competition or Working Groups, contact David Wilson at dlw@po.cwru.edu.
 

Biomedical Imaging Program

The NIH and National Cancer Institute (NCI) have an ongoing Biomedical Imaging Program (BIP) to accelerate discovery and development of cancer imaging methods that will predict clinical course and response to interventions.  Their goals are to: develop and validate imaging   technologies and agents (e.g., probes, radiocontrast agents) that have the sensitivity to detect
precancerous abnormalities and very small cancers; develop imaging techniques that identify the biological properties of precancerous or cancerous cells that will predict clinical course and   response to interventions; develop minimally invasive imaging technologies that can be used in interventions and in assessing treatment outcomes; foster interaction and collaboration among imaging   scientists and basic biologists, chemists, and physicists to help to advance imaging research; and create infrastructures to advance research in developing, assessing, and validating new imaging tools, techniques, and assessment methodologies.

The BIP at NCI has created a newsletter, to be distributed by e-mail, to notify interested people about funding opportunities and other issues related to imaging research. Its primary purpose is to call your attention to important, relevant information on NIH Web pages or in the NIH Guide.
 

The following are some current BIP project funding announcements:
 

NCI/BIP: PA-01-030: Exploratory/Developmental Grants for Diagnostic Cancer Imaging (R21s):

The Biomedical Imaging Program (BIP), of the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) is soliciting proposals
for exploratory/developmental (R21) grants that articulate highly innovative research concepts in diagnostic cancer imaging.
Within each area of importance in imaging, there exists a need for innovative and creative approaches leading to new
avenues of research. One way to encourage research into high risk/high impact areas is to provide investigators with the
initial resources required to accomplish feasibility and pilot testing of innovative ideas. The R21 mechanism will provide
investigators at all career levels with a defined level of funding adequate for the initial feasibility testing of high risk/high impact
concepts and, if the concepts are viable, for the generation of experimental preliminary data. This would render the
investigators competitive for continued funding through other NIH research award mechanisms, thus potentially leading to the
establishment of new research programs in areas that might have previously remained unexplored.
 

NCI/BIP: PAR-01-101 and NCI/BIP: PAR-01-102: Development of Novel Imaging Technologies
(Phased Innovation Awards): Reissue

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has reissued invitations for applications on the development of novel image acquisition
or enhancement methods, incorporating limited pilot or feasibility evaluations using either pre-clinical models or clinical
studies.  This initiative is intended to facilitate the development of novel imaging technologies for early detection, screening,
diagnosis and image guided treatment of cancer and other diseases. The intent is to stimulate: (a) the development of highly
innovative image acquisition and enhancement methods, including high risk/high gain research on technologies that exploit our
knowledge of the molecular basis of cancer or other disease, and (b) the integration of these emerging technologies with
traditional imaging methods for more effective solutions for health care delivery. A phased innovation award mechanism
(R21/R33) is proposed that is more suitable for supporting imaging technology development. Applications from academia,
industry and the use of the SBIR/STTR funding mechanisms are encouraged. Modifications to the reissue include support for
a limited number of system prototypes, and use of joint ventures for SBIR/STTR's.
 

NCI PA: Innovative Technologies for the Molecular Analysis of Cancer:
Phase Innovation Award (R21/R33)/ SBIR/STTR (PAR-01-105): Reissue

This is a call for grants for the development of molecular analysis tools to expand our understanding of the biological basis of
cancers. The scope includes application of high-resolution imaging at the cellular or molecular scales, tissue samples,
pre-clinical models, or clinical investigations as an important extension of molecular analysis  methods.

This page last updated on: May 29, 2002.