This Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) seeks to advance Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) research. There is a critical need to reduce RHD burden within low- and middle-income countries and low-resource settings in high-income countries. The NOSI calls for research proposals across the translational science spectrum (e.g., basic science, clinical research, and implementation and dissemination studies) within endemic settings to improve health outcomes.
This notice applies to due dates on or after February 5, 2024 and subsequent receipt dates through January 7, 2027.
NOT-HL-23-106
Areas of interest include:
- Primordial prevention proposals assessing modifiable social determinants of health impacting RHD burden and the development/testing of GAS vaccines
- Primary prevention proposals to study the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of GAS infections and subsequent ARF episodes
- Secondary prevention proposals to study the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of persons with established RHD to prevent disease progression (including long-term penicillin prophylaxis)
- Tertiary care proposals focused on the management of complications of RHD, including surgery and palliative care
In addition, ancillary studies can also be proposed to address research questions for which the parent study can provide participants, infrastructure, and data. These ancillary studies should include: the collection of new information, compatible timelines (e.g., the timeline of the parent study would need to be compatible with the timeline of the ancillary study), Letters of Support, and a clear research strategy aimed at increasing the knowledge base related to GAS/ARF/RHD. Applications proposing studies taking place in LMICs and low-resource settings experiencing high burden of GAS/ARF/RHD would also be responsive.