Funding Opportunities

Transdisciplinary Research on Fatigue and Fatigability in Aging
Deadline: May 7, 2011
The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) from the National Institutes of Health is to encourage submission of research grant applications on fatigue and fatigability in aging. This FOA is intended to promote research studies employing transdisciplinary approaches that could lead to increased understanding of mechanisms contributing to, assessment of, or potential interventions for, increased fatigue or fatigability in older persons. For more information, click here.    

Health Impact Project: Advancing Smarter Policies for Healthier Communities
Deadline: June 1, 2011
The Health Impact Project is a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts advancing the use of health impact assessment (HIA), which provides sound, objective data than can help decision-makers identify the health ramifications of proposals in a range of sectors that do not traditionally focus on health outcomes, and make recommendations that enhance health benefits and minimize adverse effects and associated costs. A new call for proposals has been issued to help demonstrate the effectiveness of HIAs and promote their incorporation into local, state, tribal and federal decision-making. This call for proposals will support organizations that wish to undertake an HIA of a proposed policy, project or program currently or soon to be under active consideration by a decision-making body. Click here for more information.

The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination/Bias on Health Care Delivery (R01, R03, R21)
Deadline: May 7, 2014
This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) encourages the submission of research project grant applications from institutions/organizations that propose to: (1) improve the measurement of racial/ethnic discrimination in health care delivery systems through improved instrumentation, data collection, and statistical/analytical techniques; (2) to enhance understanding of the influence of racial/ethnic discrimination in health care delivery and its association with disparities in disease incidence, treatment, and outcomes among disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority groups: and (3) to reduce the prevalence of racial/ethnic health disparities through the development of interventions to reduce the influence of racial/ethnic discrimination on health care delivery systems in the United States (U.S.). Click here for more information.

Round Two: Digging Into Data Challenge
Deadline: June 16, 2011
Round two of an international grant competition designed to spur cutting edge research in the humanities and social sciences begins today. Called the "Digging into Data Challenge," the competition promotes large-scale, international and interdisciplinary analysis of large data sets. The competition asks interested scholars to design methods and tools to analyze large data sets associated with a million books, or a million pages of newspaper, or a million songs, for example. The best proposals receive research grants from an international group of funding agencies. Teams comprised of researchers in the humanities, social sciences, computer sciences, information sciences and other fields may participate. Click here for more information.

Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program

Deadline: May 9, 2011

This national program seeks to provide professionals in health and aging with the experience and skills necessary to make a positive contribution to the development and implementation of health policies that affect older Americans. The goal is to create a cadre of leaders across multiple disciplines and career stages to serve as change agents to improve the lives of older adults. The program offers two different tracks: (1) a residential track that includes a nine-to-12-month placement in Washington, D.C. or at a state agency (as a legislative assistant in Congress, a professional staff member in an executive agency or in a policy organization); and (2) non-residential fellows remain in their current positions while working on a specific policy project which may involve brief placement(s) throughout the year at relevant sites. Core program components focused on career development, professional enrichment aging, and legislative issues and processes are provided for fellows in both tracks. Click here for more information.  

AGESW GERONTOLOGICAL PRE-DISSERTATION INITIATIVE FELLOWS
Deadline: May 1, 2011
The Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work (AGESW) is pleased to invite applications for the second cohort of the AGESW Gerontological Pre-Dissertation Initiative. Ten doctoral students who have completed at least the first year of doctoral studies will be selected. The goal of this program is to support dissertation and career development in gerontological social work research and education. Recipients will receive more than ten hours of programming delivered by nationally recognized experts in gerontological social work research and teaching designed to prepare participants for an academic career in gerontological social work. The program will be delivered at the 2011 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) conference in Boston, Massachusetts from November 18-22, 2011. Awardees will be selected by the AGESW Pre-Dissertation Advisory Council. Both application information and cover sheet are located on the AGESW website. Applicants should submit their completed application as one pdf file and email it to Joyce McDaniel.

Alzheimer's Association Releases New 2011 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures

Today, 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease - 5.2 million aged 65 and over. By 2050, as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease. Alzheimer's disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and the 5th leading cause of death for those aged 65 and older. The Alzheimer's Association has released updated facts and figures related to this disease. For a link to the fact sheet and to learn more about Alzheimer's disease, please visit the website.

How to Evaluate Choice and Promise Neighborhoods
(From HandsNet)
Living in concentrated poverty stifles the life chances of adults and children. Efforts to transform neighborhoods of extreme poverty into places of opportunity must grapple with concentrated disadvantages including distressed housing, failing schools, joblessness, poor health, and violence. Two federal initiatives seeking to address neighborhood deficiencies simultaneously are the Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods effort and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Choice Neighborhoods program. Evaluating these efforts presents many methodological challenges. This brief provides a framework for designing evaluations of Choice and Promise Neighborhoods including key research questions, different research approaches, and components of an evaluation strategy. Click here for the full article by Robin E. Smith on the Urban Institute website.

New Data Releases
Below is a list of new data collection additions to the ICPSR data archive along with a list of released data collections that have been updated:
*28024 Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 [United States]
*28481 Mexican American People: A Generation Later
*29653 Current Population Survey, June 2006: Fertility Supplement
Click the individual link for more information.