Funding Opportunities

Examination of Survivorship Care Planning Efficacy and Impact (R01 and R21)

Given the added burden of the long-term or late side effects that cancer survivors may face throughout their lifetimes, the importance of care planning is essential. In 2005, The Institute of Medicine recommended that all patients completing primary cancer treatment be provided with a comprehensive treatment summary and a survivorship care plan. This long-term care plan may also include complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). According to analyses of national surveys, cancer survivors are more likely to use CAM compared with the general population. CAM use may be a large part of the long-term care cancer survivors face throughout their life.

To address the issues of long-term survivorship care planning, NCI has announced new R01 and R21 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA): “Examination of Survivorship Care Planning Efficacy and Impact.” This FOA seeks applications that are expected to assess whether care planning renders added benefits in terms of patient morbidity, adherence to follow-up guidelines and self-management of late effects, as well as appropriate utilization of follow-up care. Studies relating to how successful care planning initiatives are implemented in a variety of healthcare and community practice settings are also encouraged, including family and caregiver outcomes in addition to survivor outcomes.

Research areas of interest include, but are not limited, to:

• What is the impact of survivorship care planning on cancer survivors’ post-treatment psychosocial and physiologic morbidity?
• What is the effect of survivorship care planning on adherence to screening recommendations, preventive behaviors, and self-management of late and long-term effects of cancer?
• Does provider participation in the development of care plans and the care planning process affect implementation of care planning?

For more information about this FOA please visit: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-275.html. Questions related to this funding announcement can be directed to Carly Parry, Ph.D., MSW (301-435-4540, carla.parry@nih.gov).

Funding Opportunity: Translational Research at the Aging/Cancer Interface (TRACI) (R01)

Age is a major risk factor for cancer. As life expectancy in the United States continues to rise, there will be a larger number of individuals reaching older age and the public health burden of cancer in the elderly will increase. The National Cancer Institute is co-sponsoring a funding opportunity designed to improve translational research relevant to the care of older cancer patients.

Examples of research areas include, but are not limited to:

• Developing innovative translational interventions designed to increase efficacy and/or tolerance of treatment
• Exploring ways in which geriatric syndromes (such as frailty and unexplained anemia) and general health problems (for example, nutritional status) affect treatment outcomes
• Investigating interventions to help manage post-therapy health issues in elderly cancer survivors

Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-136.html for a detailed description of this funding opportunity. For questions related to this funding announcement, please contact T. Kevin Howcroft, PhD (301-496-7815, howcrofk@mail.nih.gov).

Funding Opportunity Announcement: Mechanisms, Models, Measurement, & Management in Pain Research (R01, R03, R21)

Pain is the most common reason people visit the doctor and costs this country over $500-650 billion each year in health care and lost productivity. Pain has a profound impact on quality of life and can negatively affect sleeping, cognition, mobility, and overall functional status. It is also a common side effect of cancer and cancer treatment and can persist in cancer survivors after treatment ends.

The National Institutes of Health is seeking applications for all aspects of pain research. Topic areas include, but are not limited to:

• Epidemiology of pain
• Biobehavioral pain
• Pain management, including non-pharmacological interventions
• Molecular and cellular mechanisms of pain

For more information about this funding opportunity, go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-118.html (R01), http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-117.html (R03), or http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-119.html (R21). For specific questions regarding this funding opportunity, please contact Partap S. Khalsa, DC, PhD, DABCO (301-594-3462, khalsap@mail.nih.gov).