(SBIR) PHS 2003-2-DHHS/CDC-NCIPC

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PHS 2003-2
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC)
SBIR GRANT TOPIC(s)
NATIONAL CENTER FOR INJURY PREVENTION AND CONTROL (NCIPC)

For additional information about areas of interest to the CDC, please visit our home page at http://www.cdc.gov.

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control plans, directs, and coordinates a national program to maintain and improve the health of the American people by preventing premature death and disability and reducing human suffering and medical costs caused by nonoccupational injury, addressing both intentional injuries that result from violent and abusive behavior and unintentional injuries. The national program encompasses the prevention of nonoccupational injuries, and applied research and evaluations in acute care and rehabilitation of injured persons. The Center will address injury prevention and control through an orderly sequence of activities beginning with research on causes, circumstances, and risk factors; progressing through research on interventions and their impact on defined populations. These activities then lead to the broad, systematic applications of interventions that are soundly based scientifically.

CDC is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2010," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. CDC encourages applicants to submit grant applications with relevance to the specific objectives of this initiative. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2010"; (Full Report: Stock No. 7-1): through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. , .

More recently, the Centers for Disease Control has published its CDC Injury Research Agenda, June 2002, Atlanta Georgia, which identifies 95 research themes in various areas of injury research, including preventing injuries at home and in the community and in sports, recreation and exercise, preventing transportation injuries, preventing intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child maltreatment, youth violence and suicidal behavior and acute care, disability and rehabilitation. The full report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc.

The focus of the research topics for SBIR should reflect the themes represented in the research agenda designed to control injury, morbidity, mortality, disability, and costs. These projects may be categorized by the three phases of injury prevention and control. Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Prevention. There is interest in the development, application, and evaluation of innovative interventions applicable to intentional and unintentional injury. The focus should reflect target populations at high risk for injury and injury consequences, including minorities, children, the elderly, rural residents, and farm families. SBIR projects that have relevance for reducing injury or increasing dissemination and adoption of effective injury prevention interventions are sought. The following are examples:
1. Develop improved smoke alarm technology (e.g., smoke alarms with a lower audible frequency for those with high-end hearing loss; smoke alarms with more accurate detection for dangerous levels of smoke and dangerous particulate matter, less intrusive self-testing devices, increased coverage radius, etc.
2. Develop a practical, valid screening tool to assess an older driver's fitness to drive safely, or walk safely in traffic as a pedestrian, taking into account mental, perceptual-motor and physical/medical condition.
3. Develop devices that help alert drowsy and distracted drivers and prevent inattention that contributes to motor vehicle crashes.
4. Design, develop, and evaluate educational materials to train public health personnel in injury prevention that could be adapted for medicine, nursing and allied health.
5. Develop and evaluate injury and violence prevention materials uniquely targeted to and disseminated in medical care and managed care settings, such as in-house kiosks, computer-based self-assessments, and clinical preventive services based interventions or through the use of distance-based learning technology. These materials can address topics such as falls, helmets, supervision and prevention of youth violence or intimate partner violence.
6. Design and develop innovate scald prevention devices.
7. Design and develop improved and effective driver and motorcycle training programs for beginning drivers.
8. Design, develop and evaluate a garment with hip protector that is acceptable to the public, comfortable and effective in preventing a hip fracture in older adult women during a fall.
9. Develop and test a passive alcohol sensor device to passively measure the blood alcohol level of injured patients arriving at the emergency department.
10. Design and test a home-based program to assist teens and their parents to manage "graduated licensing" requirements for new teen drivers.
11. Design and develop a safe device to deter dog attacks.
12. Develop improved sensors for cars that will improve visibility of drivers in heavy fog, rain, or snow.
13. Develop, test, and evaluate devices that will reduce deaths and suffocations of children left in cars unattended.
14. Develop and test methods to improve the occupant protection of women driving or riding in automobiles, light trucks, and vans.
15. Design and develop academic instructional materials on injury and violence prevention for grades K through 12 that can be integrated into comprehensive school health education.
Acute Care.
1. Develop developmentally appropriate devices, instruments, methods, models, tests, and computer software related to the full spectrum of acute care of the trauma patient, beginning with the establishment of access to emergency care, response at the injury scene, transportation of the critically injury, to management of postoperative complications such as multiple organ failure syndrome.
2. There is a need to improve diagnostic modalities in several areas, particularly in those related to perfusion and oxygenation at the tissue level. Further, among those patients whose bleeding has been controlled and who will survive the acute phase of injury, the major causes of death are irreversible cerebral damage or uncontrollable cerebral swelling and multiple organ failure. There is an urgent need for research into methods of reducing secondary cerebral injury and of controlling brain swelling and preventing multiple organ failure.
3. Design, develop and evaluate Emergency Department-based prevention services for the identification and referral of persons at risk for violence or alcohol-related injury.
Rehabilitation.
1. Develop developmentally appropriate adaptive equipment, assistive devices, and instructional materials directed toward preventing or minimizing the secondary complications of individuals with traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries including cognitive learning problems, pressure ulcers, contractures, muscular atrophy, skeletal deformity and other definable conditions.
2. Design, develop and evaluate educational materials for persons with traumatic brain or traumatic spinal cord injury, their families and/or caregivers that are directed toward preventing or minimizing the secondary complications associated with these injuries.
3. Develop training materials to assist persons with disabilities and their care givers to safely and efficiently evacuate various buildings, (e.g., multi-storied structures) in emergencies.

Other Research Topic(s) Within the Mission of the Program