Quantifying the Impact of Environmental Toxicants on Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) Risk in Cohort Studies (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 24 022

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 24 022

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released this funding opportunity, RFA-AG-24-022, to push forward research on how environmental toxicants influence the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (ADRD), with a specific emphasis on toxicants that have already been observed in prior work to be linked to higher AD risk. A central theme of the announcement is health disparities: the NIH is looking for studies that can clarify how environmental exposures may contribute to differences in AD/ADRD pathology and clinical outcomes across populations, including groups that have historically been underrepresented in research or disproportionately affected by harmful exposures.

This is a cooperative agreement (U01), meaning funded projects are expected to involve substantial scientific and/or programmatic involvement from NIH staff compared with a standard research grant. It is also explicitly labeled “Clinical Trial Not Allowed,” which generally means applicants should not propose prospective interventional studies in which participants are assigned to an exposure or a prevention/treatment strategy. Instead, the FOA is aimed at observational, population-based environmental epidemiology approaches, especially those that leverage existing longitudinal cohort studies where participants have already been followed over time and where dementia-related outcomes can be assessed.

The scientific approach NIH is trying to enable is cohort “enrichment.” In practical terms, that means adding stronger, more targeted exposure measurement to ongoing studies rather than starting entirely new cohorts from scratch. The FOA highlights measuring exposures to individual toxicants as well as mixtures or combinations of toxicants, reflecting the real-world situation where people are rarely exposed to only one chemical or pollutant at a time. Alongside direct exposure assessment, the announcement encourages adding multi-omics molecular profiling (for example, profiles that may capture how the body responds biologically to exposures), with the idea that omics data can serve as biomarkers of exposure, effect, or susceptibility and help connect external exposures to downstream pathways relevant to neurodegeneration.

Another major objective is capacity building through multi-disciplinary teams. NIH signals that it wants projects that bring together the expertise needed for rigorous exposure science at the population level, which often requires collaboration among environmental epidemiologists, exposure scientists, biostatisticians, data scientists, neurologists/geriatricians, laboratory scientists, and cohort investigators. The FOA is essentially acknowledging that strong environmental dementia research depends on both high-quality exposure assessment (including harmonized measurement methods and careful handling of spatial/temporal variability) and equally strong outcome characterization for AD/ADRD, including clinical endpoints and, where available, neuropathologic or biomarker-based indicators.

A defining feature of this opportunity is the plan to create an environmental epidemiology consortium. NIH is not only funding individual projects, but also trying to knit them together into a network that can share data quickly and broadly, harmonize and integrate complex exposure variables across studies, and ultimately support pooled analyses. The intent is to make cross-cohort comparisons and combined meta-analyses more feasible by encouraging compatible data structures, shared definitions, and coordinated analytic strategies. This emphasis on harmonization and integration reflects a recognition that single cohorts often lack enough exposure variability, sample size, or subgroup representation to answer the biggest questions about toxicants and dementia risk, particularly when the goal includes understanding disparities and mixture effects.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity falls under the health funding activity category (CFDA 93.866) and is offered by NIH. The maximum award amount listed is $1,500,000 (award ceiling), and the original closing date was October 23, 2023. Because it is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism, applicants should expect milestone-driven project management and coordination requirements consistent with consortium-style work, such as participation in shared governance, data-sharing plans, and agreed-upon harmonization procedures.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and governments: state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and state-controlled higher education institutions; private higher education institutions; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicants and partners that align with its health disparities emphasis, including 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), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, eligible federal agencies, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility range signals NIH’s intent to bring in diverse institutions and community-connected organizations that may have access to cohorts and populations most relevant to exposure-related disparities.

Overall, the grant is designed to accelerate credible, comparable evidence on which environmental toxicants (alone or in mixtures) are linked to later-life dementia risk, how those links may differ across populations, and what biological responses to exposure look like when captured through modern molecular profiling. The combined strategy of strengthening exposure measurement in existing cohorts and requiring coordinated consortium-level data sharing is meant to produce results that are both scientifically rigorous and scalable, so findings can be tested across studies rather than remaining isolated within any one dataset.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Quantifying the Impact of Environmental Toxicants on Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) Risk in Cohort Studies (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 2023-05-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-10-23. (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 $1,500,000.00 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 24 022

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