HIV/AIDS, Drug Use, and Highly Vulnerable Youth: Targeting Research Gaps

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) invite innovative applications to address critical gaps in research on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and related health issues among highly vulnerable youth. For the purpose of this request for applications (RFA), highly vulnerable youth are those children, adolescents, and young adults aged 10 to 24 years who are using or are at high-risk for using drugs (both injection and non-injection drug use) and who are at high risk for HIV and other infectious diseases (e.g., hepatitis B virus [HBV], hepatitis C virus [HCV]), living with HIV/AIDS, or affected by HIV/AIDS (e.g., youth with family living with HIV, especially youth from drug-using households; youth bereaved by HIV, including youth orphaned by HIV/AIDS).

This initiative is focused on highly vulnerable youth in the United States who are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and its medical and psychosocial consequences: youth in risky social environments who are exposed to multiple factors associated with drug abuse and HIV, but who have limited exposure to factors that are protective; youth who live outside of the protective influences of traditional family, school, or work venues (e.g., on the street, homeless and runaway youth, youth in foster care, incarcerated youth, youth in gangs, migrant youth); youth who represent the current or emerging face of the HIV epidemic in the United States (e.g., young minority females, young men who have sex with men, youth from rural or suburban areas); and youth in families or communities already vulnerable as a result of poverty, HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, mental illness, stigma, discrimination, and violence.

The overall objective of this RFA is to facilitate the development and implementation of interventions that reduce HIV infections and mitigate the medical and psychosocial consequences of the virus in order to improve the health and quality of life of youth at risk for, living with, or affected by HIV/AIDS. This RFA encourages innovative, culturally relevant, and gender sensitive research in the following areas: epidemiology of current and emerging trends related to HIV/AIDS and drug use patterns, physical and mental health comorbidities, and social environments among highly vulnerable youth; development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of innovative approaches to prevent the transmission of HIV infection; access to, receipt of, and adherence to health and drug abuse treatment services, including research on barriers to treatment such as stigma, and on optimizing HIV/AIDS risk reduction through drug abuse treatment; and integration of services (e.g., HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services, HIV/AIDS medical services with drug abuse prevention or treatment, HIV/AIDS and HBV/HCV prevention).

Sponsor:Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Sponsor Type: Federal, U.S.

Deadline:March 17, 2004

Deadline Note: Although not required, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent by February 17, 2004. Applications are due by March 17, 2004.

Amount Note: NIDA intends to commit approximately $1.5 million in FY 2004 and NIMH intends to commit approximately $500,000 in FY 2005 to fund three to seven grants in response to this RFA. An applicant may request for the R01 a project period of up to five years. The award amount for the R01 is unspecified. For the R03, the project period is two years and direct costs up to $50,000 for each of those years. For the R21, the project period is two years and up to $275,000 in direct costs for the two-year period.

Eligibility: Applications may be submitted by domestic or foreign, for-profit or nonprofit organizations and public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories; units of state and local governments; eligible agencies of the federal government; and faith-based or community-based organizations.

Citizenship or Residency: Unrestricted

Activity Location: Unrestricted

Requirements: Small Business; Ph.D./M.D./Other Professional; Commercial; Government; Nonprofit; Academic Institution.

Contact Name: Nicolette Borek, Ph.D.

Contact Address: National Institute on Drug Abuse Center on AIDS and Other Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 5198, MSC 9555, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-9555, USA.

Telephone: +1 (301) 402-0866

Fax: +1 (301) 594-6566

Email: [email protected]

URL for more information:http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DA-04-012.html