The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has announced a new R01 program for pilot studies for development of improved research methodology to study safety, efficacy, and clinical effectiveness of mind-body interventions (such as meditation), manual therapies, and/or yoga therapy. This initiative focuses on NIH-defined "T1" translational research. The program might be of potential interest to sleep and circadian researchers in partnership with CAM experts developing improved "tools" for CAM clinical trials. The application due date is March 23, 2010. Read the complete request for applications on the NIH Web site.

Participating NIH Institutes have announced a new program for 1) evaluation research on obesity-related "natural experiments," and/or 2) develop and/or validate community-level measures to inform public policy relevant to "diet" and "physical activity behaviors." This PA may be of interest to sleep/circadian researchers working closely with obesity experts and researchers with experience in community-based evaluation approaches. Read the three announcements on the NIH Web site: