This National Institutes of Health funding opportunity announcement invites descriptive studies to identify putative juvenile protective factors, experimental studies to test hypotheses about their effects on aging, and translational studies to explore the potential risks and benefits of maintaining or modulating the level of juvenile protective factors in adult life. This FOA is uniquely focused on studies which involve comparisons between post-natal developmental stages or pre- vs. post-maturational changes to identify potential juvenile protective factors and their effects on aging. Examples of potential approaches include, but are not limited to:
- Identifying factors during post-natal growth and development that change during maturation and may subsequently influence aging changes in adult life.
- Exploration of possible links between maturational changes and progression of aging changes by examining the relationships between polymorphisms or mutations that influence/alter maturational changes and post-maturational aging changes.
- Exploration of the role of epigenetics in the control of the prolongation or cessation of the synthesis and release of juvenile factors and their receptors.
- Elucidation of the relationships between sexual dimorphism in maturational changes and their subsequent contribution to gender differences in the progression of aging changes in adult life.
Application budgets are not limited, but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The maximum project period is five years. The next two application due dates are February 5 and June 5, 2013. For more information, see the link below: