Limited Competition: Additional Sequencing for the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project: Opportunity for Revision Requests for Active Cooperative Agreements (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 18 890

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 890

This funding opportunity (PAR-18-890) is a limited-competition NIH cooperative agreement announcement from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). It is aimed specifically at organizations that already hold active NIA-supported Cooperative Agreements (U01s) focused on the genetics of Alzheimer s disease and Alzheimer s disease related dementias (AD/ADRD). The mechanism is a cooperative agreement, meaning the NIH expects substantial programmatic involvement and coordination with awardees rather than a hands-off grant relationship. It is also labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," signaling that the work proposed under this revision request is not intended to initiate or run clinical trials, but instead to expand or enhance research activities tied to genetics and sequencing.

The purpose of the announcement is to invite revision applications (often called administrative supplements or competitive revisions depending on the structure) to add work that supports the Alzheimer s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) Follow-Up Study. In practical terms, the FOA is focused on generating additional high-quality genetic data and associated analyses to strengthen ADSP follow-up efforts. The scope described is very specific to the sequencing and genetics pipeline: acquiring appropriate samples, conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS), performing whole genome sequencing (WGS), and carrying out the downstream bioinformatics and data processing steps needed to make the resulting datasets usable for research. That includes quality control checks, variant calling, and data calling, all of which are core steps in turning raw sequencing reads into reliable lists of genetic variants and curated datasets that can be shared and analyzed across the research community.

Because this is a limited competition, it is not a general open call for any new applicant to start an ADSP sequencing project from scratch. Instead, it is designed for existing NIA-funded U01 teams already working in this space, allowing them to request revisions to their ongoing projects so they can contribute additional sequencing, genotyping, or analytic capacity aligned with the ADSP Follow-Up Study. The overall intent is to accelerate and broaden the generation of comparable, harmonized genetic data relevant to Alzheimer s disease and related dementias, which can improve statistical power for discovery, support replication of findings, and enable deeper analyses of risk variants and biological pathways.

Eligibility in the source information lists a wide range of domestic organization types that can generally apply to NIH opportunities, including state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments, tribal organizations, nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, special district governments, and certain housing authorities. The description also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as 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 (AANAPISI), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies. At the same time, the FOA draws a firm boundary around foreign involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed. In other words, the work and organizational participation must remain fully domestic under NIH rules for this program.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity falls under the NIH health research activity category, with CFDA number 93.866, and uses the cooperative agreement funding instrument. The opportunity was created on 2018-08-03, and the original closing date listed is 2021-09-07. The excerpted source data does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards, which typically means applicants would need to consult the full FOA or NIH documentation for budget limits, project period constraints, and any ADSP-specific expectations about sample numbers, sequencing depth, data submission timelines, or coordination requirements.

In summary, this FOA is a targeted request for competitive revision applications from currently funded NIA U01 cooperative agreement holders in AD/ADRD genetics, with the goal of generating additional sequencing and genetics datasets for the ADSP Follow-Up Study. It emphasizes end-to-end genomic data production and processing (from sample acquisition through QC and variant calling) and restricts participation to domestic organizations and domestic components only, while excluding clinical trial activities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Additional Sequencing for the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project: Opportunity for Revision Requests for Active Cooperative Agreements (U01 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 2018-08-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-09-07. (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 PAR 18 890

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