The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the main institute for stroke at the National Institutes of Health, is in the second phase of reviewing new or unmet challenges and opportunities in stroke research.

 A joint white paper by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS) emphasizing the importance of sleep and directed at the nation’s health stakeholders is being published in the June issue of the journal SLEEP.

The American Sleep Medicine Foundation (ASMF) is pleased to announce the 2012 Cycle of the Humanitarian Projects Award. The primary objective of this award is to provide support to projects that address sleep problems in disadvantaged populations.

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and several other components of the NIH have issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the development of obesity prevention programs. The FOA "Exploratory/Development Clinical Research Grants in Obesity (R21)" encourages grant applications from institutions that propose clinical studies that will accelerate the development of interventions for the prevention or treatment of overweight or obesity in adults and/or children. The open date for the funding opportunity is May 16.

The NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recently issued two Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) and a Career Transition Award that apply to sleep.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Division of Lung Diseases (DLD) and Division for the Application of Research Discoveries (DARD) held a joint workshop in September titled "Reducing Health Disparities: The Role of Sleep Deficiency and Sleep Disorders."An executive summary of the workshop is now available on the NHLBI website.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking public comment on its new draft report titled "Future Research Needs for Diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea." The intended purpose of the report is to help researchers and funders of research make well-informed decisions in designing and funding research related to obstructive sleep apnea. The deadline for commentary is March 6, 2012.

The National Institute of Health Common Fund recently issued a pair of Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) intended to strengthen the national capacity to implement cost-effective large-scale research that engages health care providers as research partners.