Coordinating Center to Support Consortium for Neuroscience Alzheimers Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 25 014

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 25 014

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is offering a cooperative agreement (U24) to fund a single Coordination Center that will support new research consortia focused on Alzheimers disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The opportunity is titled "Coordinating Center to Support Consortium for Neuroscience Alzheimers Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is intended to provide the organizational backbone needed to make large, multi-site global collaborations function smoothly and consistently. Because this is a U24 cooperative agreement, the awardee should expect substantial involvement from NIH/NIA in how the program is carried out, with the Coordination Center working closely with the agency to meet shared goals.

This Coordination Center is meant to enable and strengthen two related NIA efforts aimed at building AD/ADRD research capacity and output in LMIC settings: (1) a broader Consortium for Neuroscience AD/ADRD in LMICs, and (2) a Small Research Grant Program designed to support the next generation of LMIC researchers working on aging, AD, and ADRD. The core idea is that launching and sustaining these global health consortia requires dedicated infrastructure for administration, communications, and data stewardship, rather than leaving each research group to independently solve coordination challenges. The Coordination Center award is therefore focused on support functions that help the overall ecosystem operate as a connected, productive network.

The main responsibilities of the Coordination Center fall into three big categories. First, it must serve as the administrative and coordinating hub for the consortia, which typically includes day-to-day program management, scheduling and supporting meetings, tracking milestones and deliverables, maintaining documentation, and helping ensure that activities across the consortia remain aligned. Second, it must actively coordinate collaboration and communication across the consortia and lead outreach efforts, meaning it should help connect investigators and sites, promote information flow, support networking among participants, and broaden awareness and engagement with relevant stakeholders. Third, it must coordinate data sharing in line with NIH data sharing expectations and the FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable), and then ensure that shared resources are disseminated to the broader scientific community. In practice, this implies building or supporting processes for consistent data sharing, documentation, governance, and resource distribution so that outputs from LMIC-focused AD/ADRD research can be reused and built upon.

Several key administrative features are explicit in the listing. The funding opportunity number is RFA-AG-25-014, and it is categorized as discretionary funding using a cooperative agreement mechanism. The activity area is health, and the CFDA (Assistance Listing) number provided is 93.866. The application due date (original closing date) is 2024-11-13. The award ceiling is listed as $500,000, and the notice indicates that one Coordination Center is expected to be supported (the listing shows "ExpectedAwards:" without a number, but the text states it will support one Coordination Center). Clinical trials are not allowed under this NOFO, so projects proposed under this award should not include clinical trial activity as defined by NIH.

Eligibility is broad across many U.S.-based organization types, spanning public and private higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit entities other than small businesses, small businesses, and multiple levels of government (state, county, city/township, special districts), as well as independent school districts and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The opportunity also highlights other eligible applicant types, including federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, the funding notice clearly limits foreign involvement on the applicant side: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as NIH defines them in its Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed. In other words, the Coordination Center must be based within eligible U.S. applicant organizations, even though the work it supports is focused on LMIC research networks.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as an infrastructure and coordination award designed to make LMIC-centered AD/ADRD research consortia effective, connected, and scientifically useful to the broader community. Rather than funding individual research projects directly, the U24 Coordination Center is intended to provide the systems and support that allow many investigators and sites to collaborate, communicate, share data responsibly, and disseminate outputs in ways that meet NIH expectations and maximize long-term value for global dementia research.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Coordinating Center to Support Consortium for Neuroscience Alzheimers Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA AG 25 014

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