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

A -- GULF WAR ILLNESSES RESEARCH: INTEGRATED PSYCHOSOCIAL & NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH ON STRESS & SOMATIC CONSEQUENCES SOL 074&&&-9902-0004 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 studies intended to predict, prevent, and treat somatic consequences of psychological stress relevant to chronic undiagnosed symptoms reported by many Gulf War veterans. This research is intended to advance the understanding of personal and environmental factors which contribute to a servicemember's health and perception of well-being during and after military deployment. Proposals must clearly represent multidisciplinary research, incorporating major contributions from both psychosocial and physiological/neuroscience research disciplines, and must define a well integrated hypothesis-driven research effort. Submissions will be considered from federal and nonfederal institutions; extramural institutions are encouraged to develop DoD medical research collaborations and may include cooperative agreements, coinvestigator and federated lab arrangements. Current DoD research efforts and interests in this area are principally located at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Naval Medical Research Center, and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. More information about DoD In-House Research Development Testing and Evaluation programs and contact points can be found at http://www.ihreport.com/. Studies should represent unique research including many of the following elements: -- dynamic investigation of stress factors that relate to military operational environments (e.g., leadership, morale, cohesion, exposure to traumatic events, and challenging ambient physical conditions) and personal factors and characteristics (e.g., life events, marital, family, and cultural/ethnic variables) -- 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 -- investigation of links between servicemember perception of psychological well-being, utilization of health care services, and somatic consequences/symptoms including memory-cognition impairments, fatigue, headache, muscular pain or weakness, and decreased resistance to disease -- development of biobehavioral approaches to the treatment and prevention of chronic non-specific symptoms and physiological outcomes -- studies of the association of neurotransmitter, immunologic, and neuroendocrine pathways with chronic nonspecific symptoms and chronic stress disorders including those specifically connected with military deployments -- studies using functional imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, magnetoencephalography, single photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography, to detect differences in neurophysiological structure, function, and neurochemistry in relation to cognitive and memory function in patients with non-specific symptoms such as those reported by Gulf War veterans Proposals should represent individual research proposals (NIH "RO1"-type grants) and are expected to average $200K per year for up to four years of support; no proposal award will exceed $1M in total funding. A total of approximately $4M per year is available for the portfolio of projects to be funded under in topic. 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, Wednesday, 5 May 1999. Proposals which are not responsive to the solicitation will not be reviewed. 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-SN296817). (0041)

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