Biomedical and Behavioral Research Innovations to Ensure Equity in Maternal and Child Health

by: Michael Saunders

The National Institutes of Health, otherwise known as the NIH, is an agency operating within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that's essentially responsible for looking after the nation's biomedical and health-related research studies.

The grants and initiatives of the NIH are all specifically tailored to help achieve its general agency mission which is to "seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability."

In keeping with this mission, the National Institutes of Health has recently partnered with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to establish the Biomedical and Behavioral Research Innovations to Ensure Equity (BRITE) in Maternal and Child Health Grant Program.

The program initially seeks to increase the diversity of the research who are involved in health equity research studies associated with infant mortality; Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; child, adolescent, and/or adult obesity; uterine fibroids; pediatric and maternal HIV/AIDS prevention; violence prevention; health literacy; and outreach and information dissemination.

In addition, the BRITE program also intends to kickstart maternal and child health equity research studies from institutions which are eligible for the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) R15 program.

  (continued...)

Biomedical and Behavioral Research Innovations to Ensure Equity in Maternal and Child Health
  Page 2

About The Author Michael Saunders is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs. He also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.

Additional Resources

category - Health Grants

Learning Disabilities Innovation Hubs Program
The National Institutes of Health has partnered with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to establish the Learning Disabilities Innovation Hubs Program where both agencies intend to solicit resource-related research project grant applications that concentrate on the etiology, manifestation, prevention, and remediation of writing, reading, or mathematics learning disabilities.

---

Development of Therapeutics and Diagnostics for Biodefense Program
The National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases(NIAID), has established the Development of Therapeutics and Diagnostics for Biodefense Program in an attempt to seek research proposals that desire to support the development of lead candidate diagnostics or therapeutics against NIAID Category A, B, or C priority agents.

---

Biodemography of Aging Program
The National Institutes of Health has formed a partnership with the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in an effort to establish the Biodemography of Aging Program wherein they intend to solicit applications with the intent to conduct research studies regarding demographic and life-science approaches that could potentially expand the current understanding of aging, frailty and mortality.

---

Health Care Fraud Program Expansion and Senior Medical Patrol Capacity Building Grants
In line with this mission, the Administration on Aging has recently established the Health Care Fraud Program Expansion and Senior Medical Patrol Capacity Building Grants in an attempt to boost the capacity of the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program to reach more Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, their families and caregivers, while focusing on fraud prevention and identification.

---