Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 21 019
Radiation-Induced Immune Dysfunction (RFA-AI-21-019) is a National Institutes of Health funding opportunity, administered through NIAID's Radiation and Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP), focused on understanding how radiation exposure disrupts immune function and how those disruptions might be prevented, reduced, or treated. The central goal is to close key scientific gaps around the mechanisms of immune injury and immune recovery after radiation, because those gaps currently limit the development of effective medical countermeasures (MCMs) for radiation incidents. The award mechanism is a U01 cooperative agreement in the health activity area (CFDA 93.855), meaning funded projects are expected to involve substantial scientific involvement from NIH program staff compared to a typical investigator-initiated grant. Clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement, so the work is expected to be preclinical, mechanistic, and translational in a non-clinical sense (for example, animal studies, biomarker work, or pathway-focused discovery and validation).
The research scope emphasizes immune-targeted radiation injuries and the broader downstream consequences of immune dysfunction. RNCP is looking for projects that can develop and refine animal models that specifically capture immune system damage caused by radiation, since robust models are essential for testing candidate MCMs and for understanding dose-response relationships and time courses of injury and repair. Beyond model development, the announcement calls for studies that map out how radiation alters immune system biology, including how immune dysregulation can contribute to multi-organ injury. In practice, this could include work on radiation effects on innate and adaptive immune compartments, immune cell depletion and reconstitution, inflammatory cascades, barrier immunity and infection susceptibility, immune-mediated tissue injury, and the interplay between hematopoietic damage and systemic immune function.
Another major emphasis is identifying immune-specific pathways that are targeted or perturbed by radiation exposure. The intent is to push the field past descriptive findings and toward actionable mechanisms: signaling pathways, cellular programs, and molecular targets that can be modulated to mitigate immune collapse, inappropriate inflammation, or immune-driven organ damage. Alongside pathway discovery, the opportunity prioritizes biomarkers of exposure and response. Biomarkers can serve multiple purposes in radiation preparedness, such as indicating exposure level, predicting who is likely to deteriorate, tracking immune injury over time, and providing pharmacodynamic readouts to show whether a candidate mitigator or treatment is engaging the intended immune-related pathway. Finally, the initiative explicitly seeks mitigators and treatments that target immune-related radiation response pathways, aligning the basic and mechanistic work with eventual countermeasure development even though human clinical trials are outside the allowable scope for this particular funding announcement.
Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic organizations: state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public housing authorities; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses, as well as other entities. The announcement also highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it places clear limits on non-U.S. participation: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities, including foreign organizations and foreign institutions, are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which generally means a U.S. applicant organization can include a foreign component when it is well-justified and meets NIH policy requirements, even though a foreign institution cannot be the direct applicant.
Key administrative details from the listing include the original closing date of August 24, 2021, and a creation date of April 2, 2021. While the source data does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, the overall structure and the cooperative agreement mechanism signal that NIH anticipated coordinated, programmatically aligned projects aimed at generating models, mechanistic insights, biomarkers, and candidate immune-focused interventions that can ultimately strengthen national readiness for radiation and nuclear public health emergencies.Apply for RFA AI 21 019
- The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Radiation-Induced Immune Dysfunction (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): 93.855.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2021-04-02.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-08-24. (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.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the funding opportunity called?
The opportunity is titled Radiation-Induced Immune Dysfunction with the identifier RFA-AI-21-019.
Which federal agency and program are administering this opportunity?
This is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity administered through NIAID's Radiation and Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP).
What is the overall purpose of this announcement?
The central purpose is to improve understanding of how radiation exposure disrupts immune function and how those disruptions might be prevented, reduced, or treated. A key stated goal is to close scientific gaps about mechanisms of immune injury and immune recovery after radiation, because those gaps currently limit development of effective medical countermeasures (MCMs) for radiation incidents.
What type of award mechanism is being used?
The mechanism is a U01 cooperative agreement in the health activity area.
What does it mean that this is a U01 cooperative agreement?
A U01 cooperative agreement indicates that funded projects are expected to involve substantial scientific involvement from NIH program staff compared to a typical investigator-initiated grant. In other words, projects are intended to be more programmatically coordinated and aligned with NIH/RNCP priorities.
What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?
The listing indicates the health activity area with CFDA 93.855.
Are clinical trials allowed under this announcement?
No. Clinical trials are not allowed under this funding announcement.
If clinical trials are not allowed, what kinds of studies fit the scope?
The expected work is preclinical, mechanistic, and translational in a non-clinical sense. Examples described include animal studies, biomarker work, and pathway-focused discovery and validation.
What scientific area does RNCP want to advance through this opportunity?
The scope emphasizes immune-targeted radiation injuries and the broader downstream consequences of immune dysfunction, including how immune dysregulation may contribute to multi-organ injury.
What is the role of animal model development in this opportunity?
Developing and refining animal models that specifically capture immune system damage caused by radiation is a major emphasis. The announcement describes robust models as essential for testing candidate medical countermeasures and for understanding dose-response relationships and time courses of injury and repair.
What kinds of immune biology topics are considered responsive to the research scope?
The opportunity calls for studies that map how radiation alters immune system biology, including areas such as:
- Effects on innate and adaptive immune compartments
- Immune cell depletion and reconstitution
- Inflammatory cascades and dysregulated inflammation
- Barrier immunity and infection susceptibility
- Immune-mediated tissue injury
- Interplay between hematopoietic damage and systemic immune function
Does the opportunity focus only on descriptive radiation effects, or does it prioritize mechanisms?
It explicitly prioritizes moving beyond descriptive findings toward actionable mechanisms, including identifying signaling pathways, cellular programs, and molecular targets that can be modulated to mitigate immune collapse, inappropriate inflammation, or immune-driven organ damage.
What does the opportunity say about immune-related pathways?
A major emphasis is identifying immune-specific pathways that are targeted or perturbed by radiation exposure, with the intent that these pathways become actionable targets for mitigation or treatment strategies.
Are biomarkers part of the intended research outputs?
Yes. The opportunity prioritizes biomarkers of exposure and response as part of radiation preparedness and countermeasure development.
What purposes can biomarkers serve under this announcement?
Based on the description provided, biomarkers may be used to:
- Indicate exposure level
- Help predict who is likely to deteriorate
- Track immune injury over time
- Provide pharmacodynamic readouts showing whether a candidate mitigator or treatment is engaging the intended immune-related pathway
Does this announcement support development of mitigators or treatments?
Yes. The initiative explicitly seeks mitigators and treatments that target immune-related radiation response pathways, aligning mechanistic work with eventual medical countermeasure development, even though human clinical trials are outside the scope.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is described as broad for domestic (U.S.) organizations and includes:
- State, county, and local governments
- Special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public housing authorities
- Federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations
- Public and private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status)
- For-profit organizations (other than small businesses)
- Small businesses
- Other entities (as described in the listing)
Are U.S. minority-serving and other special categories of institutions included in eligibility?
Yes. The announcement highlights additional eligible applicants such as:
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs)
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
- Faith-based or community-based organizations
- Regional organizations
- Eligible federal agencies
- U.S. territories or possessions
Are foreign (non-U.S.) organizations eligible to apply directly?
No. The listing states that non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities, including foreign organizations and foreign institutions, are not eligible to apply.
Can a U.S. organization apply if part of the work will occur outside the United States?
The listing states that non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, it also notes that foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S. applicant organization may include a foreign component when well-justified and consistent with NIH policy requirements (even though a foreign institution cannot be the direct applicant).
What is the creation date listed for this opportunity?
The listing includes a creation date of April 2, 2021.
What is the original closing date listed for this opportunity?
The listing indicates an original closing date of August 24, 2021.
Does the provided information state the award ceiling or the expected number of awards?
No. The source information provided does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards.
What kinds of outcomes does NIH/RNCP appear to be seeking through funded projects?
Based on the description, NIH/RNCP anticipated coordinated projects that generate:
- Improved animal models of radiation-induced immune damage
- Mechanistic insight into immune injury and immune recovery
- Validated or actionable immune-related pathways and molecular targets
- Biomarkers useful for exposure assessment and response monitoring
- Preclinical evidence supporting candidate immune-focused mitigators or treatments relevant to radiation/nuclear preparedness
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