Bioengineering Approaches to Energy Balance and Obesity (SBIR [R43/R44])

-Purpose: This funding opportunity will develop and validate new and innovative bioengineering technology to address clinical problems related to energy balance, intake, and expenditure. Novel sensors, devices, imaging, and other approaches are expected to be developed and evaluated by collaborating engineers, physical scientists, and scientists from other relevant disciplines with expertise in obesity and nutrition. The goal is to increase the number of useful technologies and tools available to scientists to facilitate their research in energy balance and health. Eventually these research tools should facilitate therapeutic advances and behavioral changes to address such problems as weight control and obesity. -Mechanism of Support. This FOA will utilize the SBIR (R43/R44) grant mechanisms for Phase I, Phase II, and Fast-Track applications and runs in parallel with a FOA of identical scientific scope, PA-07-436, that solicits applications under the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) (R41/R42) grant mechanisms. -Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: Because the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary from application to application, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary. The total amount awarded and the number of awards will depend upon the mechanism numbers, quality, duration, and costs of the applications received.