Neural Mechanisms of Force-Based Manipulations: High Priority Research Networks (U24 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA AT 21 006

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AT 21 006

The NIH funding opportunity "Neural Mechanisms of Force-Based Manipulations: High Priority Research Networks (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)" (RFA-AT-21-006) is a cooperative agreement designed to build and coordinate research networks that can accelerate progress on understanding the neurocircuitry involved in force-based manipulations. In practical terms, the program is less about funding a single large, stand-alone research project and more about creating shared infrastructure, common concepts, and collaborative momentum across multiple investigators and disciplines. The central goal is to develop field-wide resources by refining and testing key ideas that will push the science forward, especially where the community needs better alignment on definitions, experimental approaches, and how neural mechanisms are interpreted in the context of mechanistic, force-applied interventions.

The initiative emphasizes network-building activities that strengthen a research area over time. Supported activities include convening meetings and conferences to bring researchers together, running small-scale pilot studies that can generate preliminary data or evaluate emerging concepts, and offering multidisciplinary cross-training programs. Examples of the cross-training emphasis include intensive workshops, summer institutes, and visiting scholar programs, all aimed at helping investigators and trainees learn methods and frameworks from adjacent fields (for instance, neuroscience, biomechanics, rehabilitation science, engineering, and clinical disciplines). The opportunity also explicitly highlights information dissemination as a supported activity, signaling that funded networks are expected to share knowledge broadly, promote standards or best practices where appropriate, and help cultivate a cohesive research community around the priority scientific areas referenced in the announcement.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary federal funding opportunity offered by the National Institutes of Health under a cooperative agreement mechanism (U24). A cooperative agreement typically means NIH program staff will have substantial involvement in the funded network's activities compared with a standard research grant, often through coordination, guidance, and participation in steering or advisory structures. The opportunity is categorized within the health funding activity area and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.213 and 93.853. The "clinical trial optional" label indicates applicants may propose work that includes a clinical trial, but they are not required to do so; the network can focus on preclinical, translational, or human-focused mechanistic work depending on what best supports the program's goals.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common U.S.-based applicant types: 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; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), as long as they are not higher education institutions in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The notice also calls out additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), 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, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized ones, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, there are important restrictions regarding foreign participation: non-U.S. entities (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 may include certain foreign elements within a project under NIH rules, even though the main applicant must be domestic.

Key timing details from the source information include a creation date of March 23, 2021, and an original closing date of July 14, 2021. The provided record does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, so applicants would typically need to consult the full FOA text and any related NIH notices for budget and award planning details. Overall, the program is best read as an NIH effort to intentionally grow a coordinated research ecosystem around the neural mechanisms of force-based manipulations by funding the connective tissue of science: shared meetings, shared training, pilot data generation, and structured dissemination that can raise the rigor, comparability, and pace of discovery across the field.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Neural Mechanisms of Force-Based Manipulations: High Priority Research Networks (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213, 93.853.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-03-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-14. (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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