Biomedical and Behavioral Research Innovations to Ensure Equity in Maternal and Child Health

by: Michael Saunders

The National Institutes of Health, otherwise known as the NIH, is an agency operating within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that's essentially responsible for looking after the nation's biomedical and health-related research studies.

The grants and initiatives of the NIH are all specifically tailored to help achieve its general agency mission which is to "seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability."

In keeping with this mission, the National Institutes of Health has recently partnered with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to establish the Biomedical and Behavioral Research Innovations to Ensure Equity (BRITE) in Maternal and Child Health Grant Program.

The program initially seeks to increase the diversity of the research who are involved in health equity research studies associated with infant mortality; Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; child, adolescent, and/or adult obesity; uterine fibroids; pediatric and maternal HIV/AIDS prevention; violence prevention; health literacy; and outreach and information dissemination.

In addition, the BRITE program also intends to kickstart maternal and child health equity research studies from institutions which are eligible for the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) R15 program.

  (continued...)

Biomedical and Behavioral Research Innovations to Ensure Equity in Maternal and Child Health
  Page 2

About The Author Michael Saunders is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs. He also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.

Additional Resources

category - Health Grants

Small Business Innovation Research Phase IIB Bridge Awards
In line with this mission, the NIH has recently constituted the Small Business Innovation Research Phase IIB Bridge Awards to Accelerate the Development of Cancer Therapeutics, Imaging Technologies, Interventional Devices, Diagnostics, and Prognostics Toward Commercialization Program.

---

Grants form the Department of Health and Human Services
In the year 1979, the Department of Health and Human Services, otherwise known as HHS, was established in an effort to protect the health of all Americans and to provide essential human services to everyone, especially to those who are least capable of helping themselves.

---

Excellence in Hemoglobinopathies Research Award Program
The National Institutes of Health has formed a collaboration with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in an effort to establish the Excellence in Hemoglobinopathies Research Award Program wherein both agencies have agreed to financially support the creation of studies that could potentially improve high-impact multi-disciplinary basic and translational research studies in the hemoglobinopathies.

---

Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health: Integrating Mental Health into Chronic Disease Care Provision in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
The National Institutes of Health has recently formed a partnership with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in order to establish the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health: Integrating Mental Health into Chronic Disease Care Provision in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Program.

---