High-Priority Behavioral and Social Research Networks??(R24 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA AG 24 034

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 24 034

The High-Priority Behavioral and Social Research Networks (R24 Clinical Trial Optional) funding opportunity (RFA-AG-24-034) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant designed to renew and sustain existing network and infrastructure efforts that strengthen behavioral and social research on aging. Rather than focusing on a single discrete research project, the emphasis is on maintaining and expanding organized research networks that help a broader field move faster by building shared resources, developing methods, training researchers, and creating durable collaborations. The overarching purpose is to advance aging-relevant behavioral and social science while also bringing more consistent attention to health disparities and encouraging transdisciplinary integration, aligning with recommendations from a 2019 review by the Division of Behavioral and Social Research (BSR) National Advisory Council on Aging (NACA).

The NOFO targets six high-priority topic areas where network support is expected to have outsized impact. These include (1) Stress Measurement, to improve how stress is conceptualized and measured across studies and populations; (2) Life Course Health Disparities at Older Ages, which centers on how inequities accumulate over time and shape health in later life; (3) Aging Research on Criminal Justice and Health Disparities, addressing the intersection of aging, incarceration or justice involvement, and unequal health outcomes; (4) Rural Aging, focused on the distinct realities of aging in rural contexts including access to services, social connection, and structural barriers; (5) Genomics of Behavioral and Social Science, supporting integration of genomic approaches with behavioral and social science questions relevant to aging; and (6) Behavioral and Social Research on Aging in Animal Models, which supports behavioral and social science-relevant aging questions using animal model systems where appropriate. Applications are expected to be clearly anchored in at least one of these priority areas and to demonstrate how the proposed network activities will move that area forward in practical, field-level ways.

Because this is an infrastructure and network-building mechanism, the supported activities are geared toward community formation, resource development, and the creation of shared tools and knowledge. Examples explicitly encouraged include convening meetings and working groups to develop novel research directions, coordinate investigators, and plan or refine infrastructure; running small-scale pilot efforts that generate preliminary data, create or test theoretical frameworks, or advance empirical and methodological approaches; and conducting dissemination and outreach that makes the network’s products widely usable by the broader aging research community. Training and educational components are also central, such as intensive summer institutes, workshop series, advanced methodology seminars, and short-term residential experiences that help researchers learn specialized approaches and enter aging-focused behavioral and social science. A recurring theme across these activities is building capacity in the wider field, attracting new investigators into aging research, and embedding a strong disparities lens into research questions, methods, and collaborations.

Eligibility is broad and includes many domestic U.S. organization types and government entities. Eligible applicants include 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; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (outside of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The NOFO 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 (AANAPISISs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, foreign involvement is tightly restricted: non-U.S. entities and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as NIH defines them) are not allowed under this opportunity.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health area (CFDA 93.866) using the R24 mechanism, with clinical trials listed as optional. The posted award ceiling is $250,000, and the original closing date for the opportunity was November 1, 2023, with the notice created on September 6, 2023. In practical terms, an applicant would be expected to propose a strong renewal plan for an ongoing network, showing clear value to the field, concrete infrastructure and capacity-building deliverables, and a credible approach to expanding participation, improving methods or shared resources, and strengthening the integration of health disparities perspectives within aging-related behavioral and social research.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "High-Priority Behavioral and Social Research Networks??(R24 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-09-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-11-01. (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 $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 AG 24 034

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