Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Reserch Centers [IDDRC] FY 2021 (P50 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA HD 21 009

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HD 21 009

The Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRC) FY 2021 opportunity (RFA-HD-21-009) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant announcement that supports the Eunice Kennedy Shriver IDDRC program using the P50 research center mechanism, with clinical trials allowed but not required ("Clinical Trial Optional"). The central aim is to strengthen and expand high-impact, multidisciplinary research centers focused on intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), with an emphasis on advancing diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and overall amelioration of IDD across the lifespan. Rather than funding only a single lab or a narrow project, the program is structured to build or sustain a coordinated center that can serve as an institutional hub for collaborative, interdisciplinary, and translational IDD science and for getting findings out to the broader community.

A key feature of the FOA is its two-part expectation for what an IDDRC must provide. First, the center must operate shared "Cores" that make research more efficient and more collaborative by providing specialized expertise, services, infrastructure, and resources that multiple investigators can use. These cores are intended to facilitate interdisciplinary and translational work in IDD and to support dissemination of research, meaning the center is expected to help move discoveries toward practical application and to communicate findings effectively. Importantly, the cores are designed to support not only projects funded under the P50 itself, but also a broader portfolio of IDD-related projects that are funded by other sources. The FOA makes clear that a large share of the research projects using these core facilities are expected to be supported through independent funding streams, including federal, state, and private organizations, which underscores that an IDDRC is meant to amplify and accelerate a wider ecosystem of funded research rather than function as an isolated grant.

Second, beyond maintaining cores, the center must include at least one specific research project that aligns with one of the FOA's identified focus themes representing areas of need in IDD research. While the announcement text provided here does not list those themes, the requirement signals that NIH expects each center application to anchor itself with a clearly defined scientific project that addresses a priority gap, demonstrating both the center's research direction and its ability to deliver concrete advances. In practice, that anchor project helps show how the cores will be used, what scientific questions the center will tackle, and how the center's structure will produce outcomes that matter for people with IDD, their families, clinicians, and service systems.

Eligibility is broad and spans many types of U.S.-based organizations. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and 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; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out 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 (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, there are strict limits on foreign participation: non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined by NIH policy are not allowed. In short, the program is intended to fund U.S.-based centers without foreign components.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity falls under CFDA 93.865 and uses the grant funding instrument type within the Health, Income Security and Social Services activity category. The original closing date listed is August 14, 2020, with a stated award ceiling of $800,000. The opportunity was created on April 2, 2020. While the provided record does not specify the number of expected awards, the structure and budget ceiling indicate NIH is aiming to fund robust center-level activities that include both shared infrastructure (cores) and focused scientific work (at least one research project), with the expectation that the center will also attract and support substantial externally funded IDD research that leverages the cores.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as a center-building and center-sustaining opportunity for institutions that already have, or can convincingly establish, a strong, multidisciplinary IDD research environment. Competitive applications would be expected to show an integrated plan for cores that genuinely enable cross-disciplinary collaboration and translation, a clearly compelling research project tied to a recognized IDD research need, and an institutional setting capable of supporting a broader community of investigators whose independently funded IDD projects will actively use and benefit from the IDDRC infrastructure.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Reserch Centers [IDDRC] FY 2021 (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-04-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-08-14. (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 $800,000.00 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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