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Unique Funding Opportunity for Early Career Researchers Related to Conditions that Co-occur with Down Syndrome

ITHS › Unique Funding Opportunity for Early Career Researchers Related to Conditions that Co-occur with Down Syndrome

Special funding opportunity for predoctoral students & early career investigators

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are offering unique funding opportunities for early career researchers interested in basic or patient-oriented research related to conditions that co-occur with Down syndrome. These awards will be linked to grants currently held by ITHS, and are open to:

  • Students enrolled in doctoral programs at institutions of higher education in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho meeting T32/TL1 eligibility criteria, who can request 2 to 3 years of support for stipend and tuition.
  • Early career faculty and postdoctoral investigators meeting KL2 eligibility criteria, who can request support for 3 years of protected research time including salary and other support.

The INCLUDE initiative seeks to improve the health and well-being of individuals with Down Syndrome by better understanding risk and resilience factors for co-occurring conditions such as cognitive decline, cancers, and autoimmune disorders. Priorities include targeted, high-risk, high-reward basic research on chromosome 21 as well as patient-oriented research. In addition to stipend/salary support, successful candidates will receive additional cross-disciplinary mentoring and training in translational science and join dynamic peer cohorts supported by ITHS.

Wondering if your research project could be a fit? NIH has funded both basic research as well as patient-focused projects.

Basic research projects have included mouse, human cell culture, and other models of Down Syndrome to study:

  • Protein synthesis dysregulation in cognitive decline
  • Role of polyamines in Alzheimer’s
  • RNA degradation in induced pluripotent stem cells
  • Autophagy deficits in clonal hematopoiesis linked to leukemia
  • Susceptibility genes for congenital heart defects
  • Immune dysregulation in patient tonsils

Patient-focused research has included:

  • Epidemiology and social determinants of sleep apnea, dementia, and mortality
  • Brain behavior trajectories/development profiles from infancy through school-age

For more information about eligibility, funding, and project scope, refer to the ITHS Expression of Interest calls linked below and NIH notices NOT-OD-22-191 (students) and NOT-OD-22-192 (early career faculty).

78 KB2023 Expressions of Interest for Predoctoral Students – NIH INCLUDE Administrative Supplements76 KB2023 Expression of Interest for Postdocs/Early Career Investigators – NIH INCLUDE Administrative Supplements

Interested in applying? Set up a meeting with us to discuss a potential research project or learn more about the application process here. ITHS will help candidates develop full supplement applications to NIH for the July 3 submission deadline.

Submit your expression of interest by March 1, 5 pm PT.

Please note, the ITHS general TL1 request for applications and KL2 request for applications will open in autumn of 2023.

Questions?  ithsnav@uw.edu