Exploratory Clinical Trial Grants in Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to solicit applications for the Exploratory Clinical Trials Grants Program. The goal of the NIAMS clinical trial program is to support research leading to the prevention or reduction of symptoms and improve outcomes and function in patients with rheumatic, musculoskeletal, or skin conditions or diseases. The purpose of the Exploratory Clinical Trials Grants Program is to foster clinical trials that will lead to clinically meaningful improvements in prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of these conditions or diseases. Some examples of research areas of interest include: • Conducting early-stage clinical trials, such as but not limited to; first in human, dose-finding or escalation/tolerability/safety/efficacy studies with drugs, biologics, devices, behavioral interventions, and/or physical therapy for treatment of arthritis, musculoskeletal, or skin conditions or diseases. • Clinical trials to provide data required to support a future, more robust clinical trial whose aim is to help establish the safety and efficacy or effectiveness of an intervention. • Clinical trials in rare diseases where the number of potential study participants is limited. • Clinical trials to determine the predictive value of a potential biomarker.