Stem Cell Potential of the Mammalian Olfactory Epithelium

The summary for the Stem Cell Potential of the Mammalian Olfactory Epithelium grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Institutes of Health, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Stem Cell Potential of the Mammalian Olfactory Epithelium: The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) supports clinical and basic biomedical research in the area of human olfaction (smell). The partial or complete loss of smell (anosmia) affects approximately 2.5 million people and poses serious health risks as the presence of rancid food, toxic odors and smoke often go undetected. The loss of smell adversely affects the perceived flavor of foods, which impacts on diet and nutrition, especially in the elderly. The clinical treatment of anosmia will require a better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate differentiation, proliferation and the injury response of precursor, multipotent stem cells in the olfactory epithelium . The NIDCD invites applications for exploratory pilot studies focused on stem cell biology, using the precursor, multipotent stem cells of the mammalian olfactory epithelium as a model system. The proposed research should involve the testing of novel hypotheses or the development of new techniques or methodologies that will mainly benefit future stem cell research in the olfactory system, but has the potential to increase our understanding of stem cell biology elsewhere in the brain. The proposed areas of investigation should lack the pilot data needed for the submission of a regular research grant; however, the soundness and feasibility of the research plan must be demonstrated. It is intended that, if promising, the pilot data generated by these exploratory grants may serve as a basis for a more extensive follow-up investigation (e.g., an investigator-initiated R01 grant application). The NIDCD encourages applications from investigators who are conducting research outside the field of olfaction and possess expertise in stem cell biological research, and who are using methodological approaches that have not been typically applied to but which would greatly promote scientific progress within the field of olfaction.