The due date is approaching for Research Project Grant (R21) applications that propose to investigate the reciprocal interactions of the processes of sleep and circadian regulation and function with behavioral and social environmental processes. The grant (RFA-HD-12-204) offers the opportunity to link social environment factors that shape sleep behaviors with the direct neurobehavioral and circadian biology effects of sleep processes on individuals in the context of their social milieu.

The Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a funding opportunity announcement (RFA-MH-12-130) for research that increases the understanding of basic cognitive, affective, motivational and social processes that influence decision making. “Basic Research on Decision Making: Cognitive, Affective and Development Perspectives” encourages researchers to explore the interactions among the psychological, neurobiological and behavioral processes in decision making and the mediating or moderating influences of genetics, physiology, the social environment and culture. Applications are due Jan. 18, 2012.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) issued a funding opportunity announcement (RFA-HL-12-032) for Training Program for Institutions That Promote Diversity. This Institutional National Research Service Award (T32) supports students and postdoctoral trainees at non-research intensive institutions focused on serving diverse communities that are not well represented in NIH-funded research. The application due date is Oct. 26, 2011.

A study in the Aug. 25 issue of the journal Neuron maps the activity of genes in the cerebral cortex of mice. Researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health and from Oxford University created an atlas of the more than 11,000 genes in the six layers of brain cells that make up the cerebral cortex. The atlas of gene activity in mouse brain is available in an interactive format online.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) hosted a working group June 17, 2011, to discuss research areas that could be addressed by a possible continuation of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study.  One high priority recommended by the group is, “An assessment of sleep disordered breathing with a non-invasive home-based monitor and the administration of sleep questionnaires.”

From 2000-2006, black applicants were 10 percentage points less likely than white applicants to be awarded research project grants from the National Institutes of Health after controlling for factors that influence the likelihood of a grant award, according to an NIH-commissioned study in the journal Science. In an accompanying commentary, NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, and Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, call the findings unacceptable and commit to immediate action by the NIH.

A research project (R01) grant (PAR-11-314) and an exploratory/developmental (R21) research grant award (PAR-11-315) for “Systems Science and Health in the Behavioral and Social Sciences” both include numerous topics related to sleep and sleep disorders as potential areas of interest. Other new funding opportunities recently announced by the National Institutes of Health include the 2012 NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program (RFA-RM-11-004) and the 2012 NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program (RFA-RM-11-005).