Are you saying there isn't any health issue worth studying inside our borders? We have no HIV here so we need to go find it in chinese hookers?

1. Research Objectives

The evolution and vitality of biomedical sciences requires a constant infusion of new ideas, techniques, and points of view. The NIH encourages use of the R21 mechanism for the submission of applications that describe novel scientific ideas, model systems, tools, agents, targets, and technologies that have the potential to substantially advance biomedical research. These ideas may differ from current thinking and may not as yet be supported by substantial data. The R21 mechanism is intended to encourage new research projects that are exploratory and/or at an early stage of development. These studies should break new ground or extend previous discoveries toward new directions or applications. For example, such projects could assess the unique and innovative use of an existing methodology to explore a new scientific area. These exploratory studies may involve considerable risk but may lead to a breakthrough that could have a major impact on a field of biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research.

The NIH R21 exploratory/developmental grant is a mechanism for supporting novel scientific ideas or new model systems, tools, or technologies that have the potential to significantly advance our knowledge or the status of health-related research. Because the Research Plan is limited to 15 pages, an exploratory/developmental grant application need not have extensive background material or preliminary information as one might normally expect in an R01 application. Accordingly, reviewers will focus their evaluation on the conceptual framework, the level of innovation, and the potential to significantly advance our knowledge or understanding. Reviewers will place less emphasis on methodological details and certain indicators traditionally used in evaluating the scientific merit of R01 applications, including supportive preliminary data. Appropriate justification for the proposed work can be provided through literature citations, data from other sources, or, when available, from investigator-generated data. Preliminary data are not required for R21 applications in response to this FOA; however, they may be included if available.

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