The FY19 Defense Appropriation provides $15 million (M) to the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program (PRARP) to support research which addresses the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) as they pertain to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD).  As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, J9 Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

FY19 PRARP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.

FY19 PRARP Overarching Challenges and Focus Areas:

All applications for FY19 PRARP Program Announcements must address at least one of the following FY19 Overarching Challenges.  The FY19 Overarching Challenges will be award mechanism-specific. 

FY19 PRARP Overarching Challenges are listed below.

In addition to addressing one or more of the specified FY19 Overarching Challenges, applications should also address at least one of the following FY19 Focus Areas in support of the FY19 Overarching Challenges.  An application that proposes research outside of the FY19 Focus Areas is acceptable, as long as the applicant provides a strong rationale.  The Focus Areas will be award mechanism-specific.

The PRARP FY19 Focus Areas are listed below.

The following is a summary of the FY19 PRARP Program Announcements.  Three award mechanisms will be offered for FY19. 

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/prarp

Convergence Science Research Award – Letter of Intent due June 26, 2019

Level I:  The Principal Investigator (PI) must be an independent, early-career investigator within 3 years of his/her first independent faculty position (or equivalent).  

Level II: The PI must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Intent:  Support innovative or novel efforts to generate research resources, tools, or research efforts for researchers and/or practitioners in health sciences.

Applications must address one or more of the following FY19 PRARP Overarching Challenges:

• ·        Paucity of Research Resources
• ·        Paucity of Clinical Studies
• ·        Diagnostics and Prognostics
  • ·         Epidemiology

Applications should address at least one of the following FY19 PRARP Focus Areas:

• ·        Mechanisms of Pathogenesis
• ·        Biomarkers
• ·        Epidemiology
• ·        Novel Target Identification
  • ·         Bioinformatics

Research considering pharmacologic interventions is specifically discouraged under this mechanism.

Preliminary data, while not required, are encouraged.

Level I:

• ·       Maximum funding of $225,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• ·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
• ·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution's rate agreement.

Level II:

• ·       Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• ·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
• ·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution's rate agreement.

Innovation in Care and Support award – Letter of Intent due June 26, 2019

Level 1: The PI must be an independent, early-career investigator within 3 years of his/her first independent faculty position (or equivalent).

Level II: The PI must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

Intent: To support innovative research that improves the quality of life and care for individuals living with the common symptoms of TBI and/or Ad/ADRD and/or their families and care providers.

Applications must address one or more of the following FY19 PRARP Overarching Challenges:

• ·        Paucity of Clinical Studies
• ·        Diagnostics and Prognostics
  • ·         Epidemiology
  • ·         Quality of Life
  • ·         Family and Care Support

Applications should address at least one of the following FY19 PRARP Focus Areas:

• ·        Biomarkers
• ·        Quality of Life
• ·        Family and Caregiver Support
• ·        Epidemiology
• ·        Nonpharmacological Interventions and Devices
  • ·         Bioinformatics
  • ·       Research considering pharmacologic interventions is specifically discouraged under this mechanism.
  • ·       Preliminary data, while not required, are encouraged.

Level I:

• ·       Maximum funding of $225,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• ·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
• ·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution's rate agreement.

Level II:

• ·       Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• ·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
• ·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution's rate agreement

Research Partnership Award – Letter of Intent due June 26, 2019

The PI must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Intent: To create an avenue for collaborative research partnerships between/among investigators to address a research problem or question in a manner that would be unachievable through separate efforts.

Applications must include clearly stated plans for interactions between the partners.

Applications must address one or more of the following FY19 PRARP Overarching Challenges:

• ·        Paucity of Research Resources
• ·        Paucity of Clinical Studies
• ·        Diagnostics and Prognostics
  • ·         Epidemiology
  • ·         Quality of Life
  • ·         Family and Care Support

Applications should address at least one of the following FY19 PRARP Focus Areas:

• ·        Mechanisms of Pathogenesis
• ·        Biomarkers
• ·        Quality of Life
• ·        Family and Caregiver Support
• ·        Epidemiology
• ·        Novel Target Identification
• ·        Nonpharmacological Interventions and Devices
  • ·         Bioinformatics
  • ·       Research considering pharmacologic interventions is specifically discouraged under this mechanism.
  • ·       Preliminary data are required.
  • ·       Funding limit is $1.3M in total costs. 
  • ·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
  • ·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s rate agreement.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline. All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website.  The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov.  A listing of all CDMRP and other USAMRMC extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage athttps://eBRAP.org.  For more information about the PRARP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk 
301-682-5507 
help@eBrap.org

What is this prize?

The Killam Prizes are awarded to active Canadian scholars who have made a substantial and significant contribution to their respective fields in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences or engineering.

Prize amount

Up to five prizes of $100,000 each (one prize per discipline)

The National Housing Strategy Demonstrations Initiative (Demonstrations) provides a platform to:

• create and disseminate real-world data and information on affordable housing
• improve the performance, viability and effectiveness of affordable housing solutions
• foster a culture of innovation in the affordable housing sector that will better meet the housing needs of Canadians

The Demonstrations initiative offers solutions aiming to:

• strengthen, better equip and innovate the affordable housing sector
• increase stakeholder’s awareness, knowledge and acceptance of promising innovations
• create and disseminate real-world data for evidence-based decision-making

Demonstrations showcase innovative: practices, technologies, programs, policies and strategies.
Demonstration formats include on-site tours, virtual tours, best-practices guides, case studies, factsheets, website content, user experience videos, surveys and innovation profiles.

Eligibility

Scope

The New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) is a federal grants and contributions program that supports projects designed by and for seniors who make a difference in the lives of others and their communities. Through the NHSP, the Government of Canada encourages seniors to share their knowledge, skills and experiences to the benefit of others.

This application process is intended to fund projects up to $25,000 that are led or inspired by seniors, volunteer-based and supported by their communities.

The program provides funding for projects that encourage seniors to play an important role in their communities by volunteering, participating in and leading community activities. The program also provides funds to help organizations make necessary modifications or repairs to their facilities, or to purchase replacement equipment and furnishings, to enable their continued use for programs and activities for seniors.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will consider the project eligible for funding only if it is clearly linked to a NHSP program objective. The program objectives are:

• promoting volunteerism among seniors and other generations
• engaging seniors in the community through the mentoring of others
• expanding awareness of elder abuse, including financial abuse
• supporting the social participation and inclusion of seniors
• providing capital assistance for new and existing community projects and/or programs for seniors

Projects for which capital assistance is being requested are eligible as long as the project will support new or existing community programs and activities for seniors. Therefore, in addition to having capital assistance as an objective, projects must also meet one of the first 4 program objectives. In this case, it is mandatory that you select one of the first 4 program objectives listed.

The New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) is a federal grants and contributions program that supports projects designed by and for seniors who make a difference in the lives of others and their communities. Through the NHSP, the Government of Canada encourages seniors to share their knowledge, skills and experiences to the benefit of others.

This application process is intended to fund projects up to $5,000 that are led or inspired by seniors, volunteer-based and supported by their communities.

The program provides funding for projects that encourage seniors to play an important role in their communities by volunteering, participating in and leading community activities. The program also provides funds to help organizations make necessary modifications or repairs to their facilities, or to purchase replacement equipment and furnishings, to enable their continued use for programs and activities for seniors.

In support of the Government of Canada’s commitment to focus on vulnerable populations, and particularly, increasing the capacity of organizations serving vulnerable populations, a small grant pilot project was created to improve access to funding. Eligible organizations that have not received funding for the last 5 years can receive up to $5,000 per project.

Employment Social Development Canada (ESDC) will consider the project eligible for funding only if it is clearly linked to a NHSP program objective. The program objectives are:

• promoting volunteerism among seniors and other generations
• engaging seniors in the community through the mentoring of others
• expanding awareness of elder abuse, including financial abuse
• supporting the social participation and inclusion of seniors
• providing capital assistance for new and existing community projects and/or programs for seniors

During recent key regulatory environmental assessment processes, questions were raised concerning: 1) the presence or absence of Atlantic salmon (Salmo solar) in areas of offshore oil and gas activity in eastern Canada; and 2) if they are present, what could be the possible impact of such activities on salmon survival while at sea.

Atlantic salmon is an important anadromous fish species in eastern Canada. These fish spend their early lives in freshwater and then migrate long distances to the sea to feed and grow before returning as mature adults to spawn in their natal river. Since the late 1980’s, there has been a significant decline in the number of adult salmon returning to their native river to spawn, which has raised questions regarding the recovery and survival of many salmon stocks on the east coast of Canada.

Objective: To develop a program of research aimed to determine the presence of Atlantic salmon in Eastern Canadian offshore regions to inform regulatory decision making in Canada’s areas of offshore oil and gas activity.

Closing date: 23:59 EDT September 1, 2019

Eligible Funding Recipients must be:

1. Legal entities validly incorporated or registered in Canada, including:
   • For profit and not for profit organizations such as companies, industry associations, research associations, etc.;
   • Indigenous organizations and groups;
   • Community groups; and
   • Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions; or
2. Federal, provincial, territorial, regional and municipal governments and their departments, agencies and research centres.

The FY19 Defense Appropriation provides $10 million (M) to the Department of Defense Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) to support promising, necessary research for treatment of burdensome and very prevalent auditory system injury.  As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation.  The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

FY19 HRRP Program Announcement and General Application Instruction for the following award mechanism are a posted on the Grants.gov website.

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/prgdefault

Focused Research Award – Preproposal due July 16, 2019

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent) are eligible to submit applications.

Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

• ·        Supports promising research that will accelerate drug discovery and therapeutic development for hearing restoration or accelerate advances in the assessment, diagnostics, and treatment of auditory dysfunction..

Must address one or more of the FY19 HRRP Focus Areas.

• Funding Level 1 supports exploratory, high-risk/high-reward research that is in the earliest stages of idea development.

• Funding Level 2 supports the advancement of more mature research toward clinical translation.

• Funding Level 2 may include a pilot clinical trial component where limited clinical testing of a novel intervention is conducted to inform the feasibility, rationale, and design of subsequent clinical trials.

• It is the responsibility of the applicant to select the funding level that is most appropriate for the research proposed. The funding level should be selected based on the stage and maturity of the research, rather than the amount of the budget.

• Tinnitus or vestibular-related research is excluded.

Funding Level 1:

• Maximum funding of $250,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).

• Maximum period of performance is 2 years.

Funding Level 2:

• Maximum funding of $1,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).

• Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

Funding Level 2 with Pilot Clinical Trial Option:

• Maximum funding of $1,250,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).

• Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline.  All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website.  The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov.  A listing of all CDMRP and other USAMRMC extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage athttps://eBRAP.org.  For more information about the HRRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk

301-682-5507 
help@eBrap.org

MEOPAR Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards

In 2019-20, the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) Network expects to offer three Postdoctoral Awards. The awards will provide top-up funding ($20,000/year) to highly-qualified postdoctoral candidates who have secured a base level of funding from other sources.

Proposed research activities must address MEOPAR’s organizational objective: To connect partners, resources and expertise to prepare for risks and take advantage of opportunities in the changing marine environment. Research must be linked to one of MEOPAR’s four challenge areas: Ocean Observation; Forecasting/Projection; Coastal Resilience; and Marine Operations/ Transportation. 

The purpose of these awards is to bring new postdoctoral fellows into the network and to connect them with MEOPAR-funded researchers and Highly-Qualified Personnel (HQP). MEOPAR’s top-up funding will empower postdoctoral candidates to take full advantage of professional development and career-building opportunities, providing them with the ability to:

• Increase their stipend for financial flexibility; 
• Participate in training and networking opportunities through MEOPAR; 
• Present and discuss results at national and international conferences and other fora;
• Purchase or fund specialized equipment, travel, or supplies for their research; or
• Offset costs associated with publication. 

Application instructions and eligibility criteria are available on MEOPAR’s website:
http://meopar.ca/programs/training/training-initiatives/ 

The deadline to apply is 2 July 2019. Questions about the award may be directed to Laura Avery (laura.avery@meopar.ca).

About MEOPAR

Established in 2012 through Canada’s federal Networks of Centres of Excellence Program, the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) Network is a national network of academic researchers, students, government scientists, and partners in the private, not-for-profit and community sectors working together to reduce Canada’s vulnerability to marine risk. An independent not-for-profit organization, MEOPAR supports interdisciplinary research, provides training opportunities for students, and mobilizes scientific knowledge and technology through cross-sector engagement. MEOPAR’s objective is to connect partners, resources and expertise to prepare for risks and take advantage of opportunities in the changing marine environment. 

The Law Foundation of Ontario is making a call for applications to its national Access to Justice Fund (ATJF) in the area of investor rights, in particular their legal rights. This initiative provides a unique and exciting opportunity to advance the protection of investor rights. The opportunity for granting is in three areas: research; projects; and articling fellowships.

Many ordinary Canadians invest in the market to provide needed income but they may lack financial literacy or expertise and require information and protection when navigating the often complex landscape. Without adequate information and protection, the rights of retail investors, especially the most vulnerable, may be compromised and it is these investors who are of special interest to The Law Foundation of Ontario.