Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CIFASD), Administrative Resource (U24) (Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AA 21 011

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AA 21 011

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), offered this funding opportunity to support the next phase of the Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CIFASD). CIFASD is a long-running, multi-site consortium built to tackle major gaps in the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) field by coordinating research across disciplines rather than funding isolated projects. The opportunity is specifically for an Administrative Resource under a U24 Cooperative Agreement, meaning the award is designed to provide centralized leadership, coordination, and shared infrastructure for the broader CIFASD consortium, with substantial NIH involvement in steering and oversight typical of cooperative agreements. Clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement.

The purpose of the CIFASD program, and the reason NIAAA continues to invest in it, is to push progress on several urgent unmet needs in FASD. Those needs include finding ways to identify FASD cases earlier and with better accuracy, improving interventions that can lessen or manage FASD-related outcomes, expanding basic and mechanistic knowledge of alcohol teratogenesis (how prenatal alcohol exposure disrupts development) with an emphasis on faster translation from lab discoveries to practical clinical or public health benefit, and reducing prenatal alcohol exposure overall to lower the incidence of FASD. The expectation is that the consortium structure helps these aims move faster by aligning study designs, sharing data and methods, and coordinating expertise across clinical, translational, and basic science teams.

Because this is the Administrative Resource component, the proposed work would typically focus on the operational backbone of the consortium rather than being a stand-alone hypothesis-driven research project. In practice, an Administrative Resource in a consortium like this generally supports cross-site governance, communication, planning, and coordination; harmonization of protocols and common data elements; facilitation of working groups; monitoring of progress and milestone tracking; organization of meetings and reporting; and consortium-wide data management and sharing processes. The key idea is to enable the scientific projects within CIFASD to function as an integrated program, reduce duplication, and ensure that outputs (data, biospecimens, analytic methods, measures, and findings) are comparable and usable across the network.

Eligibility for the opportunity is broad within the United States and includes many types of organizations that commonly apply for NIH funding. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, and 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; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also highlights that a range of mission-focused and historically underrepresented institution types are included as other eligible applicants, such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the funding opportunity places clear geographic limitations. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed. In NIH terms, this generally means a U.S.-based applicant can include certain well-justified international collaborations or elements under the rules for foreign components, while still keeping the applicant organization and core award administration within the U.S.

The administrative details in the source data identify the opportunity as RFA AA 21 011, categorized as discretionary funding and using the cooperative agreement funding instrument. The activity category is health, and the CFDA number listed is 93.273. The original closing date was August 16, 2021, and the opportunity was created June 2, 2021. While the source data does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, the main practical takeaway is that the announcement is intended to keep CIFASD functioning as a coordinated national research effort by funding the central administrative and coordinating hub that supports the consortiums integrated science goals.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CIFASD), Administrative Resource (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): 93.273.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-06-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-08-16. (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 RFA AA 21 011

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