NOFO: RFA-DK-22-036
Deadline:
Letter of Intent: October 16, 2023
Application: November 15, 2023
Background
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a multisystem disorder associated with a heterogeneity of clinical changes, suggesting the existence of different subtypes, characterized by both motor and non-motor dysfunctions. There has been a longstanding interest in the neurological symptoms of PD, but disease symptoms are not limited to motor dysfunction. More than 50% of patients who develop PD often have a history of complaints affecting nearly all parts of the gastrointestinal (GI) system including the esophagus (dysphagia), stomach (nausea, gastroparesis), and colon (constipation), as well as the rectum and anus (anorectal/defecatory dysfunction). The fact that GI symptoms may be present years before the appearance of motor symptoms (prodromal phase) gave rise to the hypothesis that the gut plays a key, but undefined, role in the initiation and/or progression of PD and that the gut may be an unexplored diagnostic and/or therapeutic target. Elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the role of the GI tract in pathogenesis of PD remains a major challenge.
Research Objectives
The goal of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to enhance our understanding of the temporal onset of GI symptoms in PD and changes in gut-brain communication that can be used to leverage the potential role of the GI tract in the pathogenesis and progress of PD and to improve patient diagnosis, care, and outcomes. To achieve this objective, two different types of centers will form a consortium. This NOFO invites cooperative agreement applications for multiple Gastroenterology Neurology Research Centers (GNRC) that would work together with a biospecimen repository and Coordinating and Data Management Center (CDMC) described in the companion NOFO, RFA-DK-23-001.
For more information, please see the funding opportunity website.