Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: June 5, 2025 (New) | July 5, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | September 7, 2025 (AIDS-related) | February 5, 2025 (New) | March 5, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | May 7, 2025 (AIDS-related)
Funding Amounts: No budget cap; most projects expected ≤$250,000 direct costs/year for up to 5 years.
Summary: Supports development and validation of in vivo neurophysiological and behavioral assays in animals for early-phase therapeutic screening relevant to mental illnesses.
Key Information: Clinical trials are not allowed; human subject studies are not permitted under this opportunity.
Description
This funding opportunity supports research to develop, optimize, and evaluate in vivo neurophysiological and behavioral measures in animals as assays for early-phase screening of therapeutic candidates targeting mental illnesses. The goal is to improve the translational value of preclinical animal data by establishing robust, clinically relevant assays that can inform the therapeutic development pipeline. Projects should focus on measures that reflect neural processes of clinical interest, with the expectation that these assays will ultimately facilitate cross-species translation and future validation in humans.
Priority is given to projects that:
- Optimize novel, predominantly non-invasive neurophysiological or behavioral measures in animals that reflect clinically relevant brain processes.
- Evaluate the performance of these measures using FDA-approved drugs or interventions with known effects, including pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) readouts.
- Conduct mechanistic testing to confirm the involvement of specific brain circuits or processes in the assay measures.
Assays developed should be innovative, have clear translational potential, and be designed for future comparison with analogous measures in humans.
