The Uniformed Services University of the Health Science (USU) www.usuhs.mil released the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on July 27, 2015 for the Collaborative Health Initiative Research Program (CHIRP).
CHIRP a cooperative interagency project between the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) www.nhibi.nih.gov and USU will be doing research on the causes, prevention, mitigation, and treatment of diseases of the heart, lungs, and blood.
Both USU and NHLBI will also do research on sleep disorders affecting the readiness of uniformed service members and the health of military families along with the larger U.S. population. Studies may also include research on cardiovascular and lung health, human performance optimization, transfusion, coagulation, and other precision medicine issues of shared concern.
These research studies can use one or more several “omics” approaches such as whole genome sequencing, exome sequencing, RNA sequencing, proteomics, metabolomics, and clinical epidemiology.
Eligible individuals encouraged to submit proposals, are USU faculty to serve as principal investigators and affiliate faculty at Military Treatment Facilities. Also, partnerships are strongly encouraged.
CHIRP has committed up to a total direct cost of $7,500,000 for this first phase of funding. The total number of awards is contingent upon the number of applications. Projects may request up to $125,000 per year for 1 to 3 years to provide preliminary data. The CHIRP program intends to release a second FOA at a later date that will accommodate additional research funding opportunities.
Letters of Intent (LOI) are required by August 17, 2015 with the decision on Pre-Proposal LOIs to be made on August 31, 2015. Selected applicants are required to send in the full application by October 26, 2015.
For more information on CHIRP research areas, email Dr. David Scott at david.scott@usuhs.edu. For information regarding the application, contact Susan Rasmussen, PhD, Director of Outreach and External Research Affairs, at 301-295-9849 or email susan.rasmussen@usuhs.edu.