Limited Competition Coordinating Center for the HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Cohorts Program (U24 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DA 22 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 22 002

This funding opportunity (RFA-DA-22-002) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) cooperative agreement (U24) to support a Coordinating Center for NIDA's HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Cohorts Program. The overall purpose is not to run a new clinical trial or recruit a new cohort, but to strengthen and connect the existing NIDA-supported longitudinal cohorts that study HIV in the context of injection and non-injection substance use. These cohorts already generate valuable long-term data and biospecimens that can answer pressing questions about HIV pathogenesis, prevention, treatment, and the many co-morbidities and co-infections that affect people with HIV who also use substances. NIDA is essentially investing in shared infrastructure so the cohorts function more like an integrated network and so outside investigators can more efficiently collaborate with them.

The Coordinating Center is expected to make it easier to use and share the "rich sources of data and bio-specimens" coming from the cohorts by creating systems, processes, and governance that support broad scientific use while maintaining appropriate oversight. A central expectation is the establishment of a virtual repository, which in practical terms means an organized, accessible, and well-managed mechanism to catalog and facilitate access to cohort data and biospecimens across studies. The intent is to reduce duplication, standardize how information is described and requested, and speed up legitimate collaborations and secondary analyses that can address emerging HIV and substance use research questions as they arise.

Another major responsibility of the Coordinating Center is to facilitate leadership and operations for the program's Steering Committee. This Steering Committee is made up of representatives from the NIDA-funded cohorts along with NIDA staff, and it serves as the main collaborative body that guides network-wide priorities, promotes cross-cohort studies, and coordinates scientific and operational decisions. The Coordinating Center functions as the hub that supports this committee's work, helping organize meetings, coordinate communications, track action items, and generally keep multi-site, multi-investigator collaboration running smoothly and transparently.

This opportunity is described as a limited competition and uses the cooperative agreement mechanism, which signals substantial NIH/NIDA program involvement in the funded effort compared to a standard research project grant. The activity category is listed under education and health (CFDA 93.279), and the funding instrument type is a cooperative agreement, reflecting that the Coordinating Center will work closely with NIDA and the cohort investigators to meet network goals. The opportunity is explicitly "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," reinforcing that the Coordinating Center's role is infrastructure, coordination, facilitation, and resource optimization rather than conducting interventional clinical trials.

Eligibility information indicates a broad range of domestic applicant types may be able to apply, including certain local governmental entities and other organizations, with additional categories explicitly noted such as eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (other than federally recognized), regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning the applicant organization must be domestic and eligible, but specific project elements may involve foreign components under NIH policy when justified and compliant.

Key administrative details from the listing include the opportunity number RFA-DA-22-002, an original closing date of 2021-05-26, and a creation date of 2021-04-02. The award ceiling and expected awards fields are not populated in the provided source data, so the summary cannot infer a maximum budget or number of awards from the excerpt alone. Overall, the grant is designed to maximize the scientific value of existing NIDA HIV and substance use cohorts by improving coordination, enabling efficient collaboration, and building shared virtual infrastructure that helps researchers access and use cohort data and biospecimens in a consistent, network-wide way.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition Coordinating Center for the HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Cohorts Program (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): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-04-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-26. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Independent school districts, Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Others.

Apply for RFA DA 22 002

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