DIRECTOR, USAMRAA, 820 CHANDLER ST, FORT DETRICK MD 21702-5014

A -- GULF WAR ILLNESSES RESEARCH: FORCE HEALTH PROTECTION -- DEPLOYMENT HEALTH SOL 074&&&-9902-0001 POC Craig D. Lebo, Contracting Officer (Site Code DAMD17) E-MAIL: dolores_king@amedd.army.mil, dolores_king@amedd.army.mil. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command is soliciting proposals for research to improve medical prevention and intervention strategies to protect Service members against health risks in future deployments. Studies should be consistent with current concepts of Force Health Protection and with research objectives stated in the Presidential Review Directive 5, "Planning for Health Preparedness for and Readjustment of the Military, Veterans, and Their Families after Future Deployments" (see: http:// www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OSTP/html/OSTP_Home.html). The force health protection concept includes an array of preventive, surveillance, and clinical measures needed to ensure the health and safety of Service members against the many threats present in the modern military environment. It is a fundamental reorientation of military medical forces away from acute-care services that emphasize post-casualty intervention and toward services that prevent casualties. Studies should represent unique epidemiologically-based research on the effectiveness of health assessments and risk factors in future deployments that may include: -- effectiveness of current health care delivery to deployed forces and associations with related morbidity and mortality -- effects of how specific types of information are made available to deployed Service members on somatic symptom development and reporting -- cohesion and leadership roles in creating protective/vulnerability factors -- effectiveness of current deployment screening methods and clinical examinations on health care requirements or emergencies for deployed Service members -- effectiveness of combat stress prevention programs in minimizing combat and post-combat medical problems, identifying information or training prior to deployment which best prepares military personnel to withstand deployment stressors -- risk factors for major birth defects, including deployment and individual medical history, potentially using data from the DoD Birth Defect Registry -- post-deployment health studies which include outpatient morbidity as a health-related outcome -- impact of pre-service histories, such as information obtained from the DoD Recruit Assessment Program, on military service retention and deployment and post-deployment health -- psychiatric epidemiological investigations of the baseline prevalence and predictors in the general military population for use of health care, specialized care, and psychiatric care, as well as predictors of attrition from the military -- development of effective surveillance tools or models for early detection of illness and injury outbreaks in military deployments and in remote camps supported only by primary care facilities -- identification of potential risk factors for deployment-related medical and psychological problems, including demographic characteristics and before-deployment symptoms and health -- studies of the relationship between risk behaviors and involvement in accidents during and after deployment Research proposals responding to this solicitation should address topics relevant to increasing our understanding of issues pertinent to military operational health, and enhancing the protection of Service members from deployment-related health disorders following future military operations. Proposals should represent individual research proposals (NIH "RO1"-type grants). Project funding will be a maximum of $500K in total costs for up to three years of support; a total of up to $4 M per year is available for the portfolio of projects funded through this broad agency announcement. Submissions will be considered from federal and nonfederal research institutions. Collaborations with DoD medical researchers are strongly encouraged and may include cooperative agreements, co-investigator and federated laboratory arrangements. Current DoD research efforts and interests in this area is principally located at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington D.C. and the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA. More information about DoD In-House Research Development Testing and Evaluation programs and contact points can be found at http://www.ihreport.com/. Proposals must be submitted according to general instructions contained in the Broad Agency Announcement 99-1 (see http://www-usamraa.army.mil). The specifics of this program announcement define both the requirement and amount of funding support envisioned, accordingly preproposals (as defined in BAA 99-1) are not necessary nor encouraged. Full proposals are due by 4:00 pm EST, 14 April 1999. Investigators will be notified about funding recommendations approximately 90 days after the closing date. Send proposals to: Commander, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, ATTN: MCMR-AAA (GWI99), 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5014. Posted 02/10/99 (A-SN296814). (0041)

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