Limited Competition for the Continuation of the APOL1 Long-term Kidney Transplantation Outcomes Network (APOLLO) Clinical Centers (Collaborative U01 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DK 22 506

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 22 506

This grant opportunity, RFA-DK-22-506, is a limited-competition NIH cooperative agreement (U01) designed to continue and renew the APOL1 Long-term Kidney Transplantation Outcomes Network (APOLLO) Clinical Centers. The focus is on sustaining an existing research network rather than launching a brand-new program, with the Clinical Centers expected to keep carrying out the APOLLO Consortiums coordinated clinical and research activities. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically means NIH program staff will have an active role in guiding and coordinating the project alongside awardees, rather than operating purely as a hands-off funder.

The purpose of renewing the APOLLO Clinical Centers is to keep generating high-quality, standardized data on kidney transplant recipients, specifically by determining key laboratory measures and tracking important clinical events over time. In practical terms, the centers are expected to support continued longitudinal follow-up and consistent collection of outcomes information in transplant recipients, aligned with APOLLO-wide protocols. The overall scientific goal is to strengthen evidence on how APOL1 genotype relates to kidney transplant outcomes, especially in the context of kidney donation and transplantation involving individuals of African ancestry. By doing this, APOLLO aims to improve understanding of genetic risk factors that may influence graft survival and other transplant-related outcomes, and to support better-informed approaches to organ allocation and clinical management.

This FOA is explicitly coordinated with a companion funding opportunity for the APOLLO Scientific and Data Research Center (SDRC), RFA-DK-22-507, which runs in parallel. That parallel structure signals that the APOLLO program is organized as a network, with Clinical Centers responsible for patient-facing and site-based research operations, and a separate central entity (the SDRC) responsible for data coordination, scientific support, and other core infrastructure functions needed to run a multi-center consortium. Applicants to the Clinical Center FOA should therefore expect their work to be closely integrated with the SDRC and with other APOLLO sites to ensure common procedures, harmonized data elements, and consistent reporting across the network.

The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and sits within NIH health-related research areas, with CFDA numbers 93.307 and 93.847. The activity is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning applications should not propose a prospective clinical trial as defined by NIH policy. The work is instead oriented toward observational outcomes research, network-based follow-up, and related clinical research activities that do not meet NIHs definition of a clinical trial.

Eligibility is broad across multiple domestic organization types but remains subject to the limitations described. Eligible applicants include certain local government and quasi-government entities listed in the source data (such as independent school districts and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities), as well as additional categories noted in the FOA description: eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized, regional organizations, and US territories or possessions. At the same time, the FOA is clear that foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, non-US components of US organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed. In short, the research and operational activities supported under this announcement must be carried out within allowable US-based organizational structures without foreign components.

The funding agency is the National Institutes of Health, and the original application closing date listed is October 26, 2022. The source data does not provide an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the fields shown, so applicants would need to consult the full FOA text or NIH postings for any additional budget or award-volume details that may be specified elsewhere. Overall, this announcement is best understood as a continuation mechanism for a well-defined consortium effort, aimed at maintaining and extending APOLLOs capacity to evaluate how APOL1 genetic variation influences long-term kidney transplant outcomes and how that evidence can be translated into improved donor selection, allocation considerations, and post-transplant management for populations of African ancestry.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition for the Continuation of the APOL1 Long-term Kidney Transplantation Outcomes Network (APOLLO) Clinical Centers (Collaborative 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): 93.307, 93.847.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-08-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-10-26. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Independent school districts, Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Others.

Apply for RFA DK 22 506

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