Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 24 030
This funding opportunity (RFA-DA-24-030) from the National Institutes of Health supports projects that build and use advanced ex vivo imaging approaches to better understand how cells interact with each other in the central nervous system (CNS) in the context of HIV infection, HIV persistence, and related brain pathology, including pathology that may be linked to substance use. The core idea is to move beyond studying CNS HIV in bulk tissue averages and instead produce spatially resolved, highly detailed maps that show where specific cell types are located, how they are organized, and how they communicate or interact within intact or semi-intact tissue. The emphasis is on pairing innovative imaging with the full set of enabling steps needed to make the science work end to end, including tissue acquisition, tissue handling and processing, and the computational pipelines required to analyze and annotate the spatial data with molecular information.
The NOFO is structured as an R61/R33 phased innovation award mechanism and is explicitly labeled “Clinical Trial Not Allowed,” which signals that the supported work is not intended to be an interventional clinical trial. In practical terms, this mechanism is commonly used for projects that need an initial, milestone-driven development phase (R61) to establish feasibility, optimize methods, and prove that the approach can generate usable data, followed by an expansion or implementation phase (R33) where the validated pipeline is applied more broadly to answer biological questions. For applicants, this means the proposal typically needs to describe both phases: what will be built and de-risked early on, what objective benchmarks will be used to decide readiness to transition, and what biological or neuropathological questions will be addressed once the pipeline is working reliably.
Scientifically, the opportunity prioritizes spatial characterization and molecular annotation of intercellular interactions in CNS HIV. That includes understanding how infected or reservoir-associated cells may be distributed in the brain, how immune cells and glial cells respond in specific microenvironments, and how these patterns relate to neuropathology. Because the NOFO also references substance use, it is positioned to support studies that examine how substance exposure or use-related conditions might change cellular neighborhoods, inflammatory signaling, neuroimmune interactions, or tissue architecture in ways that influence HIV persistence or CNS damage. The imaging component can reasonably encompass modern spatial technologies such as multiplexed immunofluorescence, high-parameter microscopy, spatial transcriptomics used in an imaging-guided manner, or other advanced approaches, as long as the project delivers spatially explicit data and integrates that data with molecular labels or annotations that clarify which cells are interacting and what functional states they exhibit.
A key feature of the announcement is that it does not just fund a single imaging assay in isolation. It calls for complete pipelines, meaning applicants are expected to think through and propose a coherent workflow from tissue procurement to final spatial analytics. Tissue procurement and processing are called out as necessary elements, which usually implies attention to factors like post-mortem interval considerations, fixation and sectioning strategies, preservation of antigenicity or RNA quality, batch effects, and standardized metadata collection so that results can be interpreted across samples. On the computational side, the NOFO highlights the need for computation pipelines capable of handling large imaging datasets, performing tasks such as cell segmentation, cell type classification, spatial statistics, neighborhood analysis, and integration with molecular features, ultimately enabling interpretable maps of cell-cell relationships relevant to HIV neuropathogenesis.
Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types that commonly participate in NIH funding, such as state, county, city, and special district governments; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; and Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized. It also includes nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and other entities. The announcement explicitly notes additional eligible applicant categories that NIH often highlights to encourage diverse participation, including 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, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. (foreign) organizations. Taken together, this indicates NIH is open to applications from a wide range of research environments, including international groups, as long as they can execute the required tissue, imaging, and analytics work.
From an administrative snapshot, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the NIH education/health activity area, associated with CFDA number 93.279. The original closing date listed is 2024-02-08. The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $300,000, indicating a cap on the amount that can be requested under the terms shown in the source data (applicants would still need to follow the NOFO-specific budget guidance and any phase-specific constraints typical of R61/R33 awards). The listing also shows the expected awards field without a number, so the total number of awards is not clearly specified in the provided excerpt.
Overall, the opportunity is aimed at teams that can bring together neuropathology, HIV neuroscience, imaging technology, tissue handling expertise, and computational biology to produce actionable spatial maps of CNS cellular interactions. Competitive projects are likely to be those that demonstrate technical innovation in imaging, strong control of tissue-related variables, and a realistic, well-validated computational strategy for converting complex images into quantified, biologically meaningful descriptions of how cells interact in HIV-related CNS disease and, where relevant, substance use contexts.Apply for RFA DA 24 030
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Applying Imaging Pipelines for Spatial Characterization of Cellular Interactions in HIV-related CNS Pathology and/or Substance Use (R61/R33 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): 93.279.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2023-10-16.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-08. (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 $300,000.00 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.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the funding opportunity number and sponsor?
This opportunity is RFA-DA-24-030 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
What is the main goal of this funding opportunity?
The goal is to support projects that build and use advanced ex vivo imaging approaches to understand how cells interact within the central nervous system (CNS) in the context of HIV infection, HIV persistence, and related brain pathology, including pathology that may be linked to substance use.
What does "ex vivo imaging" mean in the context of this opportunity?
In this context, ex vivo imaging refers to imaging performed on CNS tissue outside the living body (for example, intact or semi-intact tissue sections), enabling detailed spatial mapping of cell types and their interactions.
What scientific gap is this opportunity trying to address?
It aims to move beyond "bulk tissue averages" by creating spatially resolved, highly detailed maps that show where specific cell types are located, how they are organized, and how they communicate or interact within tissue.
What kinds of questions is NIH prioritizing?
The NOFO prioritizes spatial characterization and molecular annotation of intercellular interactions in CNS HIV, such as how infected or reservoir-associated cells are distributed, how immune and glial responses vary by microenvironment, and how these spatial patterns relate to neuropathology.
How does substance use fit into the scope of this opportunity?
The opportunity is positioned to support studies examining how substance exposure or use-related conditions may alter cellular neighborhoods, inflammatory signaling, neuroimmune interactions, or tissue architecture in ways that affect HIV persistence or CNS damage.
What award mechanism is used for this opportunity?
This NOFO uses the NIH R61/R33 phased innovation award mechanism.
How does the R61/R33 phased structure typically work for applicants?
Applicants are generally expected to propose (1) an R61 milestone-driven development phase focused on feasibility and method/pipeline optimization and (2) an R33 expansion/implementation phase where the validated pipeline is applied to address biological and/or neuropathological questions. The proposal should describe objective benchmarks for transitioning from R61 to R33.
Are clinical trials allowed under this NOFO?
No. The NOFO is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," indicating the supported work is not intended to be an interventional clinical trial.
What does NIH mean by funding "complete pipelines" rather than a single assay?
NIH is looking for coherent end-to-end workflows that cover tissue procurement through final spatial analytics, rather than funding an imaging assay in isolation. This includes enabling steps like tissue handling and processing, and computational pipelines to analyze and annotate spatial data with molecular information.
What tissue-related components are expected to be addressed?
The announcement calls out tissue procurement and processing as necessary elements. This typically implies attention to factors such as post-mortem interval considerations, fixation and sectioning strategies, preservation of antigenicity or RNA quality, batch effects, and standardized metadata collection to enable interpretation across samples.
What computational capabilities are emphasized in the NOFO?
The NOFO highlights computational pipelines capable of handling large imaging datasets, including tasks such as cell segmentation, cell type classification, spatial statistics, neighborhood analysis, and integration with molecular features to produce interpretable maps of cell-cell relationships relevant to HIV neuropathogenesis.
What types of imaging or spatial technologies are responsive to this opportunity?
The imaging component can encompass advanced spatial technologies such as multiplexed immunofluorescence, high-parameter microscopy, and spatial transcriptomics used in an imaging-guided manner, as well as other advanced approaches, as long as the project produces spatially explicit data and integrates molecular labels/annotations that clarify cell identities, interactions, and functional states.
Does the opportunity require molecular annotation in addition to imaging?
Yes. A central emphasis is on pairing innovative imaging with molecular information so the spatial maps can be annotated (for example, identifying which cell types are interacting and what functional states they exhibit).
What kinds of research teams are best positioned for this NOFO?
The opportunity is aimed at teams that can integrate neuropathology, HIV neuroscience, imaging technology, tissue handling expertise, and computational biology to generate actionable spatial maps of CNS cellular interactions.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types that commonly participate in NIH funding, including various government entities, public and private higher education institutions, tribal governments and tribal organizations (including those not federally recognized), nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and other entities.
Are non-U.S. (foreign) organizations eligible?
Yes. The eligibility list includes non-U.S. (foreign) organizations.
Are U.S. territories or possessions included in eligible applicant categories?
Yes. The announcement includes U.S. territories or possessions among eligible applicant categories.
Does the NOFO highlight institutions serving specific communities?
Yes. It explicitly notes additional eligible categories NIH often highlights to encourage diverse participation, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, Hispanic-serving Institutions, HBCUs, TCCUs, and faith-based or community-based organizations.
What is the activity area for this grant listing?
The administrative snapshot describes it as a discretionary grant opportunity in the NIH education/health activity area.
What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?
The listing is associated with CFDA number 93.279.
What is the listed application closing date?
The original closing date listed in the provided information is 2024-02-08.
What is the award ceiling shown in the listing?
The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $300,000, indicating a cap on the amount that can be requested under the terms shown in the source data (applicants would still need to follow NOFO-specific budget guidance and any phase-specific constraints typical of R61/R33 awards).
How many awards are expected to be made?
The provided excerpt does not specify a number of expected awards (the expected awards field is shown without a number).
What makes a project competitive based on the description provided?
Based on the description, competitive projects are likely to combine (1) technical innovation in imaging, (2) strong control and planning around tissue-related variables (procurement, processing, quality), and (3) a realistic and well-validated computational strategy to convert complex images into quantified, biologically meaningful descriptions of cell-cell interactions in HIV-related CNS disease, including substance use contexts where relevant.
Is the focus limited to mapping where cells are located, or does it include interactions?
It includes interactions. The emphasis is on spatially resolved maps that show organization and communication/interaction between cells, supported by computational analysis such as neighborhood analysis and spatial statistics.
Does the opportunity support projects focused only on method development?
The mechanism supports phased innovation, with an early milestone-driven phase to establish feasibility and optimize methods, followed by a phase applying the validated pipeline to biological questions. The framing emphasizes both development and application within an end-to-end pipeline.
What is meant by "spatially explicit data" in this NOFO?
Spatially explicit data refers to data that retains information about where cells and molecular signals are located within intact or semi-intact CNS tissue, enabling analyses of tissue architecture, cellular neighborhoods, and cell-cell relationships rather than averaged signals across whole samples.
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| Psychedelics Treatment Research in Substance Use Disorder (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trials Optional) Apply for RFA DA 25 058 Funding Number: RFA DA 25 058 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $2,000,000 |
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| Advancing Genomic Medicine Research (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA HG 23 033 Funding Number: RFA HG 23 033 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $250,000 |
| Rural Community-Centered Drug Misuse Prevention and Harm Reduction Research: Addressing Implementation, Dissemination, and Equity Challenges across the Continuum of Care (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Only) Apply for RFA DA 24 036 Funding Number: RFA DA 24 036 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Phased Research to Support Substance Use Epidemiology, Prevention, and Services Studies (R61/R33 Clinical Trials Optional) Apply for PAR 24 062 Funding Number: PAR 24 062 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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