New Epidemiological Cohort Study among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AsA-NHPI): Coordinating Center (U24 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA HL 23 016

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HL 23 016

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a cooperative agreement funding opportunity, RFA-HL-23-016, titled "New Epidemiological Cohort Study among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AsA-NHPI): Coordinating Center (U24 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)." The initiative is built around establishing and running a new epidemiological cohort study focused on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations, using the cohort design to close major evidence gaps in population health. In plain terms, NIH is looking to support the central hub that will coordinate how the cohort study is designed, launched, managed, and kept consistent across all participating sites, rather than directly recruiting participants at the local level. A separate companion funding opportunity is intended to support the clinical and community field centers (CCFCs) that will do on-the-ground recruitment and data/sample collection, while this announcement specifically targets the coordinating center (CC) role.

This is a U24 cooperative agreement, which signals that the awardee should expect substantial NIH scientific and programmatic involvement compared with a standard research grant. The coordinating center is expected to provide leadership and infrastructure for a multi-site cohort effort: harmonizing protocols across field centers, standardizing data collection and measurements, setting up and maintaining data systems, coordinating quality assurance, enabling secure data flow and governance, and supporting cross-site communication and decision-making. Because the mechanism is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," the proposed activities should remain observational in nature and should not be structured as an intervention trial; the emphasis is on building a cohort platform that can track exposures, social and structural determinants, and health outcomes over time to better understand disease risk and health trajectories in AsA, NHPI, and Pacific Islander communities.

The public health motivation is the persistent lack of large, well-designed, and appropriately powered cohort resources for these populations, and the related problem that existing datasets often aggregate distinct groups into broad categories that can mask meaningful differences in risk, protective factors, and outcomes. A new cohort study can address these shortcomings by capturing richer, more granular information and supporting analyses that reflect the diversity within and across Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander groups. By funding a dedicated coordinating center, NIH is signaling that consistency, comparability, and long-term usability of the resulting data resource are core priorities, with the CC serving as the backbone for study operations and scientific integration across the network of field centers.

Eligibility for the award is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education where applicable); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other entities. NIH also highlights additional eligible applicant categories that are especially relevant for this research area and community engagement, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. Foreign institutions (non-U.S. entities) are not eligible to apply as applicant organizations, but non-domestic components of U.S. organizations may participate, and foreign components, as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed. This structure typically means the applicant organization must be U.S.-based, while certain project activities or collaborations can occur internationally if justified and compliant with NIH policy.

The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and falls under the health funding activity area, with multiple CFDA/assistance listing numbers referenced (93.172, 93.233, 93.307, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.853), reflecting NIH’s multi-institute or multi-program alignment for heart, lung, blood, and broader biomedical and public health research. The original closing date shown is October 13, 2022, and the record creation date is July 7, 2022. An award ceiling is not specified in the provided source text, and the expected number of awards is not listed in the excerpt. Overall, the grant is designed to stand up the central coordinating infrastructure for a large, collaborative, observational cohort effort aimed at producing stronger, more detailed epidemiological evidence to inform prevention, policy, and future research addressing health outcomes among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "New Epidemiological Cohort Study among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AsA-NHPI): Coordinating Center (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): 93.172, 93.233, 93.307, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.853.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-07-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-10-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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 HL 23 016

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