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Publication Date - 12/3/1999

25. NIH/NIGMS & NIDCR - Evolutionary Mechanisms in Infectious Diseases

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) announce the availability of funds for research on the Evolutionary Mechanisms in Infectious Diseases. The goal of this program announcement (PA) is to encourage development of a predictive science of infectious diseases by applying the perspectives, theories, and methods from evolutionary biology to important issues of disease emergence, prevention, and the consequences of treatment. The focus is limited to discovery of fundamental biological principles rather than on detailed knowledge or treatment of specific diseases.

Research projects involving interdisciplinary collaborations are an explicit goal of this PA. Evolutionary biology, molecular biology, genetics, systematics, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, and other disciplines, will contribute significantly to the development of a predictive science of infectious systems. Approaches might include, but are not limited to, microbiology, population dynamics, chemistry, biochemistry, and computational biology.

Applications for research projects responsive to this program announcement should address broad evolutionary questions that are relevant to the infectious diseases in general. Relevant applications could focus on, but are not limited to, one or more of the following aspects:

• causes and sources of infectious diseases;
• interactions between hosts and pathogens;
• consequences of intervention strategies;
• establishment of model systems to explore the environmental, physiological, and genetic factors responsible for generating and maintaining variation in pathogen, vector, and host populations, including co-evolutionary dynamics;
• natural history of pathogenic organisms.

The support mechanism for this PA will be the NIH research project grant (RO1) and the program project grant (PO1). The total project period for an application submitted in response to this PA may not exceed five years.

Applications are due at the NIH Center for Scientific Review on or before FEBRUARY 1, JUNE 1, or OCTOBER 1, 2000.

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