NIH issues small business grant to encourage hepatitis research

the Clinical Advisor take:

To encourage more viral hepatitis research, the National Institutes of Health has issued a funding opportunity announcement to small businesses across the United States.

The agency’s plan, Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, details the creation of a new Small Business Innovation Research grant, which is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

“The important role the research community plays in improving our national response to viral hepatitis is clear throughout the Action Plan’s many references to areas of research priority and detailing of specific research activities,” said Ronald Valdiserri, MD, MPH, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The grant was created in an effort to get small businesses to applications to any of the specific research topics detailed in the agency’s action plan. Projects funded by the grant will aid public health efforts to reduce the burden of viral hepatitis in the United States.

Research objectives and strategies relevant for small businesses include, but are not limited to:

• The development of rapid screening tests
• New diagnostic tests
• Tests for hepatitis-related complications
• Practical models of care
• New and improved therapies to treat viral hepatitis or manage complications of the disease or antiviral treatment
• Genetic-based tests for patient management care or treatment selection
• Preventive vaccines

“We are grateful that the NIH has created this opportunity within the small business community to stimulate research innovation related to viral hepatitis,” said Valdiserri.