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.

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

Department of Human Health and Services: Family Planning Services Grant
OPHS has recently announced the availability of funding opportunities for the establishment and implementation of voluntary family planning service projects.

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National Institutes of Health funds the Improving Adherence to Treatment Regimens for HIV-Positive Adolescents and Young Adults
The National Institutes of Health has recently established a program entitled Improving Adherence to Treatment Regimens for HIV-Positive Adolescents and Young Adults wherein they intend to kick-off research studies that will create, implement, and evaluate both old and new interventions that are geared towards improving adherence to medical and behavioral regimens for HIV-positive adolescents which are 11 to 21 years old and adults who are 21 to 24 years old.

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Early-Stage Innovative Technology Development for Cancer Research Program
The National Institutes of Health has collaborated with the National Cancer Institute(NCI) in order to establish Early-Stage Innovative Technology Development for Cancer Research Program, wherein both agencies intend to solicit grant applications expressing intents to conduct funded exploratory research projects that concentrate on the inception and development unique, innovative technological advances that could potentially be utilized in the study of cancer.

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National Science Foundation's Smart Health and Wellbeing Program
The National Science Foundation has constituted the development of the Smart Health and Wellbeing (SHB) Program wherein they intend to address scientific and technical issues that would pave the way towards the transformation of the healthcare process from being rather reactive and hospital centered into becoming preventive, proactive, evidence-based, patient-centered and focused on the wellbeing of the person rather than his/her disease.

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