End th Lies: Youth Vaping and Nicotine Research Initiative

Deadline: January 7, 2020
Link to RFA

The American Heart Association (AHA) is committing up to $20 million to fund two or three (2-3) bold, ground-breaking research projects focused on the health impacts of nicotine and nicotine delivery products in children and youth. The AHA seeks to accelerate desperately needed answers about the health effects of e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine delivery devices (ENNDs) and how to prevent and/or reverse the developing epidemic of nicotine addiction, among children and youth (defined as 15-24 years of age).

The AHA is uniquely positioned to launch a bold research initiative addressing key gaps in basic, clinical, and behavioral science related to e-cigarette use and nicotine addiction in children and& youth. Based on the latest available and emerging evidence, the AHA has identified a number of topics of priority interest; however, they should not be considered exclusive. Innovative, original research proposals leading to rapid discovery will be of the highest interest.

Nicotine’s impact on adolescent brain development, intelligence and learning;
The physiological impact of nicotine and other e-cigarette chemicals;
The role and influence of device type, flavors and other e-cigarette chemicals and byproducts on addiction;
How to reverse nicotine addiction in youth using behavioral, pharmacological and/or mobile health technology solutions;
Natural history and progression of ENNDs use, including dual-use, transitions to/from combustible tobacco, and cessation effectiveness, with a focus on equity and variations among populations;
The impact of policies eliminating flavors, imposing sales age restrictions and restricting marketing practices on youth e-cigarette use

It is recognized that the gap in research on children and youth is due to appropriately stringent legal and ethical standards that have made conducting these studies difficult. Nevertheless, major advances in understanding nicotine and e-cigarette use in children and youth are dependent on studies in these populations. Thus, studies must be in children and/or youth, or have direct applicability to addressing use in these populations. Proposals with animal studies will be considered if they demonstrate clear applicability to the problem in human populations.

The AHA will grant competitive research awards of up to $10 million over two years to two or three (2-3) highly inspiring and innovative integrated team(s).

Application Submission

The application requires the following four documents. Formatting instructions are in the last section below.

Research Proposal (up to 12 pages). Please address the following points:
1. Concept (1-2 pages): Your creative idea or hypothesis related to nicotine/e-cigarette (ENNDs) use and related effects in children and youth. Include:
  1. How your plan advances research into new areas and/or difficult problems not previously explored.
2. Plan (8-10 pages): Your research plan to produce compelling new knowledge prioritized in this call for proposals. Include a timeline of key milestones you would target in this 2-year study.
3. Team (1-2 pages): Who will be on your team and why you selected them. Include:
  1. The number of team members and their roles (e.g., Principal/Co-Investigator, technical research staff, biostatistician, clinicians, social scientists, lay adult/children stakeholders, etc.). Percent effort allocation is not required. If your proposal involves multiple institutions, please provide this information for each institution.
  2. Your (team’s) capacity to develop new tools and methods that support creative experimental approaches.
Biosketch for PI and any co-PIs (up to 5 pages each)
A list of up to 10 relevant or important publications (1 page)
Budget request (1 page): Whereas a detailed budget will only be required for invited proposals, please provide the following information:
- Total funds requested
- If your proposal includes multiple institutions, provide the estimated budget for each institution

Applications to be Completed in Grants@Heart

Applications must be submitted via Grants@Heart by the institution’s Grants Officer. Submit the application your institution’s Grants Officer in enough time to allow them to review and submit it to the AHA by the deadline.
The required uploads must each be created as word-processed documents, converted to Portable Document Format (PDF) files, and uploaded within Grants@Heart. If Grants@Heart is not yet open to accept proposals, applicants can prepare the required documents. Note: Grants@Heart will not accept a document that exceeds the page limit.
Internet Web site addresses (URLs) may not be used to provide information necessary to the review. Reviewers are under no obligation to view the Internet sites. Moreover, reviewers are cautioned not to directly access an Internet site, as it could compromise their anonymity.
The only place a URL may be used is in the biographical sketch as described in the instructions for that form. Provide a URL to a full list of your published work as found in a publicly available digital database such as SciENcv or My Bibliography, which are maintained by the US National Library of Medicine.