This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) seeks innovative grant applications in nonmalignant hematology research that will steer the field in new directions. Applications to this FOA should propose proof of principle research that is tightly focused into one specific aim, which can be accomplished within a 1-3 year project period, and is directed at validating novel concepts and approaches that promise to open new pathways for discovery.The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) have joined together to build research activities in nonmalignant hematology.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is intended to promote innovative research projects in nonmalignant hematology that explore high impact and new directions of inquiry. While each Institute shares interests in nonmalignant hematology research, they also bring different perspectives, thereby expanding the scope of the SHINE II program beyond a single Institute's research mission.

This "New Directions in Hematology Research (SHINE-II)" program invites investigator-initiated grant applications for basic or early translational, proof of principle research projects that are tightly focused and directed at validating novel concepts and approaches that promise to advance new pathways for discovery. This program may include clinical research involving human subjects that is directed at understanding disease pathogenesis and prognosis. Research applications submitted under this FOA should be more limited in scope (single aim with sub-aims, as appropriate) and duration (1-3 years) than typical R01 grant applications. The SHINE-II FOA seeks specifically to promote and support new directions of research in their early stages. Applications submitted to this FOA should include preliminary data that support the conceptual basis of the research proposed and the technical approaches to be used. Moreover, while research applications submitted under this FOA are expected to be more limited in scope and shorter in duration than typical R01 applications, achievement of the research objective(s) proposed should validate novel pathways of discovery and provide the basis for future high impact research endeavors.

Principal areas of interest for this collaborative FOA include: (1) hematopoietic stem cell biology, (2) lineage fate determinants, (3) aging-related immune dysfunction and lymphocyte biology, (4) myeloid cell biology, and myelopoiesis, (5) platelet biology and dysfunction, (6) erythroid cell biology and erythropoiesis, (7) the molecular biology of heme and hemoglobin, (8) acquired and congenital disorders of red blood cell production and survival leading to chronic anemia or bone marrow failure, (9) and the uptake, utilization, storage, and transport of iron in health and disease.

Inquiries to Scientific/Research staff prior to submission of an application to this FOA are strongly encouraged to discuss programmatic relevance and potential time tables for funding (see below, Section VII. Agency Contacts). The limited scope and shorter duration of the SHINE II R01 are not optimal for Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) and New Investigators (NIs), who should contact Scientific/Research staff prior to submission of an application to this FOA.