Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Research Centers of Excellence (U54)

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages applications for Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Research Centers of Excellence (U54s). The mission of the CounterACT program is to foster and support research and development of new and improved therapeutics for chemical threats (see www.ninds.nih.gov/counteract). Chemical threats are toxic chemicals that could be used in a terrorist attack or accidentally released from industrial production, storage or shipping. They include traditional chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and pesticides. The scope of the research includes target and candidate identification and characterization, through candidate optimization and demonstration of in vivo efficacy, through Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies required for advanced development. The Centers will contain at least three research projects supported by administrative and scientific cores, and a research education core. Each research project must include milestones that create discrete go or no-go decision points in a progressive translational study plan.