Biosignatures of Chronic Drug Exposure (R21)

archived

-Purpose. In relation to this FOA, biosignatures are defined as biological indicators obtainable through assays, which can be used to ascertain facts about an individual's past exposure to drugs of abuse. Biosignature could be comprised of more than one biomarker. The total number of biomarkers must be reasonably limited to address the developability of the screening assay. This FOA would support high risk projects to search for peripheral, not associated with the central nervous system, biosignatures (not drug or drug metabolites) that could serve as surrogates to monitor changes that are taking place in the brain in response to illicit and licit drug exposure, withdrawal or relapse. These projects are intended to be feasibility projects using animal models only to identify appropriate clinically accessible biomaterial (e.g., blood, lymphocytes, bladder epithelial cells, stem cells) and to identify the best class or classes of molecules (proteins, peptides, RNA, miRNA, etc.) suitable for assay development . These feasibility projects are intended to address technical issues such as sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio, in addition to predictive validity. . -Mechanism of Support. This FOA will utilize the R21 grant mechanism, as The National Institute on Drug Abuse recognizes the high risk nature of this project. -Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards. The total amount of funding that the NIDA expects to award through this announcement is $2,000,000 for an anticipated 5-7 awards.

High