The occurrence of insects as well as pesticide residuals can be significant barriers for U.S. horticultural exports. Each importing country can have unique phytosanitary and maximum residue limit (MRL) requirements, which creates operational and logistical challenges. To maximize return to growers, U.S. shippers need tools that can universally address all such requirements while maintaining product quality. Currently, tree nuts and many other durable specialty crops require fumigations or freezing, which are both expensive and create bottlenecks in marketing.
More and more tree nut handlers are using a modified atmosphere (MA) or controlled atmosphere (CA) technology in which low-oxygen conditions (<1% by volume) are maintained during storage and/or in packaging. Low-oxygen conditions are known to control insect pests, leave no chemical residuals, and result in high quality products since the lipid oxidation that causes rancidity is markedly suppressed. While this approach is being used as a condition of sale, there is currently no efficient way for shippers to validate the low-oxygen conditions for customers, let alone importers with phytosanitary requirements for insect control. Technically and economically viable, verifiable, and preferably traceable technologies are critically needed before low-oxygen storage and packaging approaches can be used for export to most countries.
Currently, the existing low-oxygen technologies do not incorporate digital mapping or official record-keeping during the packing or storage process, so there is no non-invasive manner to verify the oxygen content over time within the gas-impermeable liners and/or confirm seal integrity. This limits the ability to verify that a low-oxygen environment has been maintained at a specific oxygen level over a certain period of time, which would be necessary to ensure the conditions were met to act as a phytosanitary treatment. Counties such as India, Korea, and Japan require phytosanitary treatments, such as fumigation, for post-harvest pest management before many types of U.S. tree nuts can be imported into the countries. Additionally, buyers in other markets also request pest management treatments as a condition of sale in commercial transactions.
Farming and AgricultureArts and CultureEMS and Homeland Security
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the U.S. Department of State announce an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to develop a software-based weighted, random case-allocation system to prevent selective prosecution of transnational organized crime and money laundering cases. Political interference in the prosecution service remains a barrier to fighting transnational organized crime and achieving other U.S. objectives in Serbia. As requested by the High Prosecutorial Council, the body responsible for oversight of the prosecution service, this grant will reduce political manipulation of prosecutions and improve outcomes in extradition cases and cases involving high-level corruption and transnational criminal organization (TCO) leaders whose activities harm U.S. national security interests through random allocation of cases
The Fogarty International Center, with NINDS, NIMH, NIA, NIEHS, NICHD, NEI, NIDCD, and NCCIH, intends to continue support of neuro-health research through the Global Brain and Nervous System Disorders Research Across the Lifespan program. Awards will catalyze and strengthen collaborative research on the brain and nervous system that leverages the unique scientific contexts of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) not readily present in the United States and, subsequently, optimizes our potential to address health needs in the U.S. and globally. Research on the full spectrum of neuro-health across the lifespan is encouraged - including neurological, neuromuscular, sensory, neuropsychiatric, neuroinfectious, cognitive, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disease - and encompassing basic, clinical, translational, and implementation research approaches. Projects will foster collaborations between scientists in the U.S. and LMICs to drive scientific advancement and the development of innovative, cost-effective interventions spanning the care continuum –– from diagnosis through treatment and implementation.
Health and MedicalResearch and EvaluationInternational
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary study to a clinical trial. Applicants to this FOA are permitted to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Applicants proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion FOA PAR-.The purpose of the Fogarty Emerging Global Leader Award is to provide research support and protected time (three to five years) to an early career research scientist from a low- or middle-income country (LMIC) who holds a junior faculty position at an LMIC academic or research institution, as defined by the World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups , including low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries). This intensive, mentored research career development experience is expected to lead to an independently funded research career at the LMIC institution or in another LMIC. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications from LMIC scientists from any health-related discipline who propose career development activities and a research project that is relevant to the health priorities of their country under the mentorship of LMIC and U.S. mentors.
EducationEnvironment and ConservationHealth and Medical
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) supports research to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate technology-driven and cost-effective tools that reduce the global human rabies burden. It also measures progress toward canine rabies elimination, with an emphasis on high-burden countries. Priority research areas include:
Electronic systems for tracking human and dog rabies vaccinations. Managing human rabies exposure investigations. Enhancing rabies laboratory information management systems. Modeling the economic impact of dog-mediated rabies interventions. Estimating rabies-susceptible dog populations. The research is intended to generate data-driven strategies that help accelerate progress toward global canine rabies elimination and protect public health.
This initiative will provide salary and research support to advanced U.S. postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty for intensive mentored research and career development activities focused on biomedical, behavioral, and/or clinical research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Proposals will leverage special opportunities not present in the U.S. and result in generalizable knowledge applicable to the health of U.S. and LMIC populations. Recipients will be required to spend significant time at the LMIC research site and receive mentoring from senior U.S. and LMIC researchers. This experience will provide recipients with a deep understanding of the local research environment and foster collaborative relationships necessary to develop competitive independent NIH research proposals. A sustained period of research career development will enable recipients to become global leaders in their fields, serve as mentors to the next generation of investigators, and strengthen international networks that support NIH research investments.
Health and MedicalResearch and EvaluationInternational
This NOFO will provide critical disease modeling to inform decision making on the development of strategies for cVDPV2 outbreak response, optimal surveillance upon global WPV eradication, and surveillance to detect containment breaches. It will also build capacity for a diverse public health workforce of statistical and mathematical modelers. Additionally, models will assess economic implications of outbreak response and surveillance strategies, while developing workforce capacity for students in statistical and mathematical modeling for polio and other VPDs.
This award aims to strengthen immunization programs in priority countries so they can better prevent, control, and eliminate/eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) like polio, measles, and rubella, reduce illness and death from these diseases, and respond to emerging global health threats.
The Recipient will build stronger systems in priority countries to prevent, detect, and respond to VPDs. This includes improving immunization services, strengthening VPD surveillance, and expanding the capacity to prepare for and manage outbreaks. The Recipient will also create and carry out targeted approaches to reach high-risk groups who are un- or under-immunized. Additionally, the Recipient will promote long-term sustainability of immunization programs–such as supporting evidence-based decisions through National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs)–and enhance program evaluation to increase impact. The Recipient will manage and coordinate Pakistan's National Stop Transmission of Polio (NSTOP) program and assist countries facing polio outbreaks or at high risk for them. This agreement may also support other global health priorities aligned with CDC goals.
The Department of State invites eligible applicants to advance the America First Global Health Strategy, which aims to save lives, strengthen health systems, enhance efficiency, foster self-reliance, and ensure U.S. investments benefit American safety, strength, and prosperity. This Annual Program Statement (APS) establishes a supplemental framework through which the Department of State may identify and support projects that complement, extend, and/or fill identified gaps in the implementation of these bilateral MOUs. Through specific Addenda, the Department will signal priorities and needs. This APS provides the standard application instructions for the submission of all Statements of Interest (SOIs) to these specific Addenda. GHSD will collaborate with Embassies and other Department of State Bureaus and Offices to post specific funding opportunities through Addenda to this APS that address health challenges and priorities of importance.