NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The National Institutes of Health has started two new grant programs aimed at developing knowledge about newborn screening tests that eventually could lead to new and better treatments for a number of diseases.
These grants will support an array of different areas, including studies seeking genetic risk factors for certain diseases and analytical research into genotype/phenotype relationships.
One of these, an R21 program issued by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, and National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, will give up to $275,000 over a two-year period to fund these studies.
In addition, an R03 grant program will give funding from small research project grants of up to $100,000 over two years for research relevant to understanding and developing therapeutic interventions for “high priority” genetic conditions for which screening may be possible in the near future.
Researchers may apply to the programs for support for research to identify genetic and environmental factors that determine disease risk or modify disease onset, symptoms, progression, or outcomes. Investigators also may seek funding for clinical studies using genotype-phenotype analysis that can provide a foundation for treatment and management of these conditions, and developmental genetics and biology studies, such as research into epigenetic alterations that are linked to conditions and may be used to identify risk markers or potential therapeutic targets.