Research Coordinating Center on the Exposome and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD): Elucidating the Role of Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health in AD/ADRD Etiology and Disparities (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 24 011

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 24 011

This grant opportunity (RFA-AG-24-011) from the National Institutes of Health, focused through the National Institute on Aging (NIA), seeks to fund a single Research Coordinating Center that will act as a central hub for AD/ADRD exposome research, with a specific emphasis on social and behavioral determinants of health and how they contribute to Alzheimer s disease and related dementias risk, progression, and disparities across the life course. The award mechanism is a U24 cooperative agreement, meaning the funded center is expected to work in close partnership with NIH/NIA program staff and to take on a service-and-infrastructure role for the broader research ecosystem rather than running an independent, hypothesis-driven clinical study. Clinical trials are not allowed under this FOA, reinforcing that the core mission is coordination, data infrastructure, methods, and dissemination rather than testing interventions in participants.

At the heart of the FOA is the idea of the "exposome" applied to AD/ADRD, but defined here primarily through social, behavioral, psychological, and economic exposures. The coordinating center is intended to accelerate research that captures how lived experiences and contextual conditions shape brain health and dementia outcomes over time, and why certain populations experience disproportionate burden. Practically, the center would help researchers access, harmonize, link, and share both environmental contextual data (for example, neighborhood and policy context, area-level socioeconomic conditions, structural factors) and individual-level exposure data (for example, measures of stress, discrimination, social connection, education and occupation histories, sleep, physical activity, financial strain). The goal is to make it easier for NIA/NIH-funded projects and longitudinal aging studies to use comparable measures, integrate new exposure information, and examine disparities with greater rigor and consistency.

Applications are expected to identify five to seven priority exposome domains within the broad social, behavioral, psychological, and economic space and then lay out a coherent plan of work around those domains. While the FOA does not prescribe the domains, it clearly expects applicants to be intentional about selecting domains that are strongly relevant to AD/ADRD etiology and inequities, feasible to harmonize across studies, and positioned to benefit from shared guidance, common data elements, and innovative measurement development. In other words, the center is not just a data warehouse; it is meant to shape the field by deciding which exposure areas to standardize and strengthen first, and by building the tools and practices that allow many studies to speak the same measurement language.

The FOA organizes the coordinating center s responsibilities into three main objectives. First, the center must create an organizational and governance structure that supports administration, innovation, and dissemination. This typically implies a clear leadership plan, decision-making and prioritization processes, stakeholder engagement, and working groups or committees that represent the needs of multiple NIA-supported projects and diverse scientific perspectives. Because this is a cooperative agreement, the governance model also needs to reflect ongoing coordination with NIH/NIA, along with transparent policies for collaboration, resource allocation, and community input.

Second, the center must develop guidance and shared practices for using and harmonizing exposure data across NIA-supported infrastructure projects and other longitudinal studies of aging. This includes the practical mechanics of harmonization (cross-walks between instruments, metadata standards, documentation, and methods for combining measures collected differently across cohorts), but also field-building work such as recommending best practices, defining common measures, and supporting interoperability. The FOA also explicitly calls for activities that foster the development of innovative and novel exposure measures and data. That can include improving how exposures are captured (for example, more precise or culturally appropriate measures, new linkages to administrative or geospatial data, improved temporal resolution across the life course), and encouraging method development that makes it possible to integrate complex exposure data into dementia research.

Third, the center must disseminate what it builds so that the broader AD/ADRD research community can use social and behavioral data and harmonized measures more widely. Dissemination here is not limited to publishing papers; it points to practical products such as publicly described protocols, harmonization guides, measure libraries, data dictionaries, toolkits, training materials, webinars, and other resources that help investigators adopt consistent approaches. A major theme is expansion: making it easier for many different studies, not just those directly connected to the center, to incorporate these determinants of health into AD/ADRD research and to do so in a way that supports comparability and cumulative science.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and government entities, including state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and tribal governments and organizations. The FOA also highlights other eligible applicant categories such as HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, as well as faith-based and community-based organizations and U.S. territories or possessions. Non-U.S. (foreign) institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, but non-domestic components of U.S. organizations may participate, and foreign components as defined by NIH policy are allowed, which leaves room for international collaboration when it is part of a U.S.-led application.

From the funding details provided, the award ceiling is listed at $5,000,000, and the instrument is a discretionary cooperative agreement under CFDA 93.866. The original application closing date shown is 2023-10-27, and the opportunity was created on 2023-02-09. Taken together, these details signal a relatively large, infrastructure-oriented award meant to support a central coordinating function for multiple projects rather than a single research study, with an emphasis on building shared standards, linkages, and resources that help the entire AD/ADRD field better study how social and behavioral exposures across the life span drive disease risk and contribute to persistent disparities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Research Coordinating Center on the Exposome and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD): Elucidating the Role of Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health in AD/ADRD Etiology and Disparities (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 2023-02-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-10-27. (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 $5,000,000.00 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 24 011

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