Elements of successful NIH grant applications.

Is there a formula for a competitive NIH grant application? The Serenity Prayer may provide one: "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the ability to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." But how to tell the difference? In this Perspective, we provide an inclusive roadmap-elements of NIH funding. Collectively, we have over 30 y of peer review experience as NIH Scientific Review Officers in addition to over 30 y of program experience as NIH Program Officers. This article distills our NIH experience. We use Euclid's 13-book landmark, The Elements, as our template to humbly share what we learned. We have three specific aims: inform, guide, and motivate prospective applicants. We also address ways that support diversity and inclusion among applicants and young investigators in biomedical research. The elements we describe come from a wide range of sources. Some themes will be general. Some will be specific. All will be candid. The ultimate goal is a competitive application, serenity, and hopefully both.

Establishing a Dexamethasone Treatment Regimen To Alleviate Sulfur Mustard-Induced Corneal Injuries in a Rabbit Model.

Sulfur mustard (SM) is an ominous chemical warfare agent. Eyes are extremely susceptible to SM toxicity; injuries include inflammation, fibrosis, neovascularization (NV), and vision impairment/blindness, depending on the exposure dosage. Effective countermeasures against ocular SM toxicity remain elusive and are warranted during conflicts/terrorist activities and accidental exposures. We previously determined that dexamethasone (DEX) effectively counters corneal nitrogen mustard toxicity and that the 2-hour postexposure therapeutic window is most beneficial. Here, the efficacy of two DEX dosing frequencies [i.e., every 8 or 12 hours (initiated, as previously established, 2 hours after exposure)] until 28 days after SM exposure was assessed. Furthermore, sustained effects of DEX treatments were observed up to day 56 after SM exposure. Corneal clinical assessments (thickness, opacity, ulceration, and NV) were performed at the day 14, 28, 42, and 56 post-SM exposure time points. Histopathological assessments of corneal injuries (corneal thickness, epithelial degradation, epithelial-stromal separation, inflammatory cell, and blood vessel counts) using H&E staining and molecular assessments (COX-2, MMP-9, VEGF, and SPARC expressions) were performed at days 28, 42, and 56 after SM exposure. Statistical significance was assessed using two-way ANOVA, with Holm-Sidak post hoc pairwise multiple comparisons; significance was established if P < 0.05 (data represented as the mean ± S.E.M.). DEX administration every 8 hours was more potent than every 12 hours in reversing ocular SM injury, with the most pronounced effects observed at days 28 and 42 after SM exposure. These comprehensive results are novel and provide a comprehensive DEX treatment regimen (therapeutic-window and dosing-frequency) for counteracting SM-induced corneal injuries. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The study aims to establish a dexamethasone (DEX) treatment regimen by comparing the efficacy of DEX administration at 12 versus 8 hours initiated 2 hours after exposure. DEX administration every 8 hours was more effective in reversing sulfur mustard (SM)-induced corneal injuries. SM injury reversal during DEX administration (initial 28 days after exposure) and sustained [further 28 days after cessation of DEX administration (i.e., up to 56 days after exposure)] effects were assessed using clinical, pathophysiological, and molecular biomarkers.

Supporting discovery and development of medical countermeasures for chemical injury to eye and skin.

Vesicants, from vesica (Latin for blister), can cause local and systemic toxicity. They include the chemotherapy drug nitrogen mustard and chemical warfare agents sulfur mustard, Lewisite, and phosgene oxime. These agents are commonly released in vapor form and consequently, eyes and skin are the most vulnerable. The ocular and cutaneous injuries can be acute, subacute, or chronic, and can predispose casualties to secondary deleterious effects. Underlying these broad organ responses are shared and tissue-specific cellular and molecular biological cascades that attempt to counteract such chemical injuries. Depending on the severity of the chemical insult, biological responses often lead to inadequate wound healing and result in long-term pathology instead. Exposure to other toxic industrial chemicals such as acrolein, chloropicrin, and hydrogen fluoride, can also cause prominent eye and skin damage. There are currently no FDA-approved drugs to counteract these injuries. Hence, the possibility of a mass casualty emergency involving these chemicals is a major public health concern. Recognizing this critical challenge, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is committed to the development of medical countermeasures to advance national health and medical preparedness against these highly toxic chemicals. Here, we provide an overview of various HHS funding and scientific opportunities available in this space, emphasizing parallels between eye and skin response to chemical injury. We also discuss a main limitation of existing data and suggest ways to overcome it.

Ocular Surface - Merging Challenges and Opportunities.

Dichotomies are double-edged: they can simplify and enlighten as well as exaggerate and entangle. Seeing the eye as anterior segment vs. posterior segment simplifies the formidable task of dissecting the function of the eye. Yet this view creates artificial divisions in a coherent whole. Clearly, vision requires the convergence of the light refractive function of the front of the eye with the light sensing function of the back of the eye. The National Eye Institute has long aimed to foster research across the visual pathway. Finding the right balance is a constant work in progress. A recently held scientific meeting which we co-organized with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, offered an opportunity to take stock of what the anterior segment in general, and the ocular surface in particular, bring to our understanding of biology and disease of the eye. Multiple dichotomies surfaced: acute vs. chronic disease; epithelial vs. endothelial damage; fibrotic vs. vascular pathology; inflammation vs. resolution response; chemical exposure vs. countermeasure; monotherapy vs. combination therapy; mechanistic vs. exploratory research; human vs. animal model. Merging some of these dichotomies is the goal of this paper.

Considerations in developing medical countermeasures against chemical ocular toxicity.

The Chemical Countermeasures Research Program (CCRP) was established in 2006 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH) on behalf of the National Institutes of Health Office of the Director (NIH OD). It is a trans-NIH initiative to expedite the discovery and early development of medical countermeasures (MCMs) that can reduce mortality and serious morbidity during and after large consequence public health emergency involving the deliberate or accidental large-scale release of highly toxic chemicals (HTCs).

Is household air pollution a risk factor for eye disease?

In developing countries, household air pollution (HAP) resulting from the inefficient burning of coal and biomass (wood, charcoal, animal dung and crop residues) for cooking and heating has been linked to a number of negative health outcomes, mostly notably respiratory diseases and cancers. While ocular irritation has been associated with HAP, there are sparse data on adverse ocular outcomes that may result from acute and chronic exposures. We consider that there is suggestive evidence, and biological plausibility, to hypothesize that HAP is associated with some of the major blinding, and painful, eye conditions seen worldwide. Further research on this environmental risk factor for eye diseases is warranted.

Future of genetics of mood disorders research.

This report summarizes the deliberations of a panel with representation from diverse disciplines of relevance to the genetics of mood disorders. The major charge to the panel was to develop a strategic plan to employ the tools of genetics to advance the understanding, treatment, and outcomes for mood disorders. A comprehensive review of the evidence for the role of genetic factors in the etiology of mood disorders was conducted, and the chief impediments for progress in gene identification were identified. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) portfolios in the Genetics Research Branch and the Division of Mental Disorders, Behavioral Sciences, AIDS, and all genetics training activities were reviewed. Despite some promising leads, there are still no confirmed linkage findings for mood disorders. Impediments to gene finding include the lack of phenotypic validity, variation in ascertainment sources and methodology across studies, and genetic complexity. With respect to linkage, the committee recommended that a large-scale, integrated effort be undertaken to examine existing data from linkage and association studies of bipolar disorders using identical phenotypes and statistical methods across studies to determine whether the suggestive linkage findings at some loci can be confirmed. Confirmation would justify more intensive approaches to gene finding. The committee recommended that the NIMH support continued efforts to identify the most heritable subtypes and endophenotypes of major depression using the tools of genetic epidemiology, neuroscience, and behavioral science. The field of genetic epidemiology was identified as an important future direction because population-based, epidemiologic studies of families and unrelated affected individuals assume increasing importance for common chronic diseases. To prepare for shifts to more complex genetic models, the committee recommended that the NIMH develop new interdisciplinary training strategies to prepare for the next generation of genetics research.