Botanical Dietary Supplement Research Centers (P50)

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This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications to support research centers to develop and apply cutting-edge, transdisciplinary approaches to the study of botanicals with relevance to human health, that are found as ingredients in dietary supplements. These centers are expected to synergistically integrate a range of relevant disciplines (e.g., phytochemistry, botany, and expertise utilizing models ranging from in silico through in vitro to in vivo) to conduct innovative research to elucidate the interactions between complex botanical products and human biology. The long-term goal of this program is to support development of the preclinical data required for optimal design of rigorous, definitive clinical research on complex botanical products. Given the extensive resources required for clinical research it is critical that clinical trials of botanicals be supported by solid and extensive relevant preclinical data, especially with respect to mechanisms of action, optimal formulations and dosing, for example. Therefore the focus of these Centers will be on basic and preclinical research. The focus of this FOA is on research on the mechanisms of action of botanicals traditionally used for health maintenance, or on botanicals with strong evidence of promise for improving objective, quantitative measures of organism resilience. Use of relevant vertebrate and invertebrate models is strongly encouraged. A strictly limited number of human subjects research aims, designed to interrogate, e.g., in vivo mechanism(s) of action, safety, pharmacokinetics, or bases of individual differences in metabolism or response, may be included.

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