NINDS Morris K. Udall Center without Walls for Parkinsons Disease Research (P20 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA NS 18 027

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 18 027

The NINDS Morris K. Udall Center without Walls for Parkinsons Disease Research (P20 Clinical Trial Optional) is a National Institutes of Health funding opportunity designed to help launch brand-new, multi-institution research consortia focused on solving a high-impact problem in Parkinsons disease (PD). The award mechanism is an Exploratory Grant (P20), and its main purpose is to support the early planning, organization, and initial collaborative work needed to build a strong, coordinated team that can later compete for a full NINDS Udall Center without Walls (CWOW) effort. In practical terms, this FOA is less about funding a mature, long-running research program and more about assembling the right people, structure, and preliminary evidence to tackle an essential bottleneck that is holding back progress in understanding or treating PD.

Applications are expected to be organized around a clearly defined and fundamental PD research priority. The strongest proposals will do four things well: first, they will identify a core challenge in PD where progress is currently limited by a specific, well-articulated impediment; second, they will build an exceptional transdisciplinary consortium with the expertise needed to address that challenge; third, they will generate or compile supportive preliminary data through feasibility-style projects that reduce uncertainty and demonstrate credibility; and fourth, they will lay out a targeted, goal-driven strategy showing strong potential to remove the identified impediment and accelerate advances in PD etiology, pathogenesis, or treatment. While the main focus must remain Parkinsons disease, the FOA allows work on related synucleinopathies if and only if those studies directly contribute to solving the central PD challenge the consortium is proposing.

A key feature of this announcement is its emphasis on new collaborations rather than extensions of existing ones. NINDS is explicitly trying to stimulate innovative partnerships and fresh approaches, so continuation of established projects, longstanding teams, or already well-formed consortia is not the intent and will not be supported. The consortium must be built intentionally to match the problem, using an optimal mix of specialized skills. The team must be anchored by at least one Parkinsons disease researcher, but it also must integrate at least one investigator whose primary expertise comes from a different, complementary field. This requirement is meant to push teams beyond traditional PD silos and bring in cutting-edge methods, concepts, or technologies from other areas that can unlock new insights.

Leadership and organization are central review themes. The Program Director/Principal Investigator is expected to provide strong scientific vision as well as effective oversight of the consortiums administrative and collaborative functions across institutions. Participating investigators should be recognized as top-tier experts in their respective domains, reinforcing that NINDS is looking for a highly capable, high-credibility team that can execute a complex, coordinated plan and quickly mature into a CWOW-level center.

From an eligibility standpoint, the FOA is broad and includes many U.S.-based organizational types, such as state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments, tribal organizations, nonprofits (with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses, among others. The announcement also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, AANAPISI institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. However, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. At the same time, foreign components are allowed when they meet the NIH definition in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning international collaboration can be part of the project if structured appropriately under a U.S. applicant.

Administratively, this is an NIH discretionary grant opportunity under CFDA 93.853, with the opportunity number RFA-NS-18-027. The original closing date listed was 2019-01-11, and the award ceiling shown in the provided data is $250,000. The clinical trial designation is "optional," which generally means applicants may propose clinical trial-related activities if they fit the goals and are justified, but a clinical trial is not required and the core emphasis remains on consortium formation, feasibility work, and building the foundation for a subsequent Udall Center without Walls application.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NINDS Morris K. Udall Center without Walls for Parkinsons Disease Research (P20 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.853.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-10-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-01-11. (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 $250,000.00 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 NS 18 027

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