Announcements  October 9, 2020 David Shurtleff, Ph.D. Inna Belfer, M.D., Ph.D. Recently, Dr. Helene Langevin, Director of NCCIH, posted a message about an upcoming, all-virtual event,NCCIH Workshop 2020: Exploring the Mechanisms Underlying Analgesic Properties of Minor Cannabinoids and Terpenes. If you are a scientist or potential grant applicant in the field of natural products, especially this group of products, we hope youll consider attending. |
 New research in has uncovered the mechanisms by which bladder stretch is sensed and the urethral reflexes involved in urination are controlled. The findings pinpoint the gene PIEZO2 as a key mechanosensor for interoception, which is the sensory regulation and awareness of whats happening inside our bodies. The research, conducted jointly by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Scripps Research Institute was published in a recent issue of the journalNature. |
 A recent study exploring the association between pain and cognitive impairment (CI) found that pain and CI each increase the severity of the other; that is, when pain progresses from acute pain to high impact chronic pain (HICP), the severity of CI increases, and as the severity of CI increases, the severity of pain increases. Further, the study found that people with comorbid chronic pain and CI are in a much higher state of self-reported disability than people with either alone. The study, published in a recent issue ofThe Clinical Journal of Pain, was supported by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). |
 Although fibromyalgia is associated with changes in brain function and neural pathways, researchers saw no differences in responses to placebo pain relief between fibromyalgia patients and healthy volunteers in a new study. This research, funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), was recently published in the journalPain. |
 Pain at the time of testing, rather than the presence of a chronic pain condition, is primarily responsible for changes in the functioning of the brains default mode network in patients with fibromyalgia, according to the results of a study recently published in the journalNeuroImage. The study, conducted at the National Institutes of Health and McGill University, was partly funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Healths intramural research program. |
Resources for Researchers If you are submitting a grant application to NIH for the current review cycle, you should be aware of a few policy changes that have been implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.The policies relate to peer review considerations and post-submission materials. - Applicants are instructed not to include and reviewers are instructed not to consider contingency plans related to temporary, emergency situations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. SeeNOT-OD-20-122.
- Applicants will be able to provide a one-page summary of additional preliminary data as post-submission material up to 30 days before the review meeting. SeeNOT-OD-20-163.
For more information about the peer review process during the COVID-19 pandemic, please see: https://grants.nih.gov/policy/natural-disasters/corona-virus/review-process.htm. If you have any additional questions after reviewing these temporary policies, please feel free to send an email to:nccihderinquiries@mail.nih.gov. The NIH Science of Behavior Change program was established with two major long-term goals: 1) to promote a systematic approach to discovering the mechanisms underlying successful behavior change, and 2) to provide blueprints for developing behavior interventions that could reliably improve health outcomes. We are excited to be co-funding another five years of theSOBC Resource and Coordinating Center. (NIH co-funders are NIA, NCATS, NCCIH, NICHD, NIDA, NIDCR, and OBSSR.) In celebration of the programs 10 years of Common Fund support, we are pleased to announce the SOBC Common Fund Programs Capstone Conference, to be held remotely Feb. 22-23, 2021. The conference will feature SOBC science advances and accomplishments, highlight innovative examples of mechanisms-focused behavior change science, and bring together experts from around the world to discuss future opportunities for strengthening the field. Visit themeeting websitefor more information about the agenda. Registration and other details will be available on this website in the coming months, and registration is free and open to the public. Upcoming Events October 23, 2020 from9:45 a.m. ETto 3:00 p.m. ET; Videocast The overall goals of this workshop are two foldone is to convene principal investigators funded by NCCIH on the topic of the analgesic properties of minor cannabinoids and terpenes from natural products and the underlying mechanisms; and the other is to discuss current research barriers and opportunities on this topic. Register now. |
