Interorgan Communication in Aging (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 24 005

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 24 005

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity titled "Interorgan Communication in Aging (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-AG-24-005. This program uses a cooperative agreement mechanism (U01), which typically means NIH staff will have substantial involvement during the project period compared with a standard research grant. The scientific focus sits within the health research activity area and is associated with CFDA number 93.866.

The central goal of the opportunity is to stimulate research that digs into how communication between organs changes with age, why those changes occur at the molecular level, and what downstream effects they have on the body. The solicitation is explicitly aimed at understanding age-related alterations in interorgan signaling and how these shifts contribute to a loss of homeostasis, meaning the body's ability to keep internal systems stable and balanced. By targeting interorgan communication, the program is also trying to explain why aging looks very different from one person to another (the heterogeneity of aging). In practical terms, the research supported through this RFA is meant to clarify the mechanistic links between aging biology and system-wide physiological decline, with an emphasis on signaling pathways, circulating factors, organ-to-organ feedback loops, and other cross-tissue interactions that may either accelerate decline or help preserve function.

This is a "Clinical Trial Not Allowed" opportunity, which means applicants should propose mechanistic and preclinical or non-trial human research approaches rather than projects that meet the NIH definition of a clinical trial. Studies can still involve human biospecimens, observational analyses, or other human-focused research designs as long as they do not cross into clinical trial territory as defined by NIH policy. Because the intent is molecular mechanisms and consequences of altered interorgan communication, strong applications will generally be expected to connect mechanistic biology to measurable outcomes relevant to aging and homeostatic regulation, without proposing an interventional clinical trial.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common U.S.-based applicant types: state, county, and local 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also 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 (AANAPISIs). It also notes that faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and certain eligible federal agencies may apply, which reinforces the intent to encourage a diverse set of institutions to participate in aging biology research.

At the same time, the opportunity includes important restrictions related to foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities, described as foreign organizations or foreign institutions, are not eligible to apply directly. Non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed under the NIH Grants Policy Statement definition, meaning a U.S. applicant may be able to include a foreign component in the project when it is scientifically justified and complies with NIH policy, even though a foreign institution cannot be the primary applicant.

Key administrative details provided in the listing include an original closing date of 2023-06-01 and a creation date of 2022-12-12. The award ceiling is listed as $400,000, indicating an upper limit on the amount that may be awarded (often per year, though applicants typically confirm the exact budgeting interpretation in the full FOA and NIH guidance). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, so applicants should expect milestone-driven management, coordination with NIH program staff, and potentially greater emphasis on collaboration, data sharing, and alignment with programmatic goals than in investigator-initiated mechanisms. The number of expected awards is not specified in the provided excerpt.

Overall, this RFA is best understood as an NIH aging biology initiative focused on the cross-talk among organs that helps maintain (or destabilizes) whole-body balance over time. It is looking for research that can explain, at a molecular and systems level, how age changes the signals organs send and receive, what those changes do to physiological resilience, and how those processes might help explain why aging trajectories vary so widely across individuals.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Interorgan Communication in Aging (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 2022-12-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-01. (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 $400,000.00 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 24 005

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