Limited Competition: Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Coordinating Center (U24 - Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA MD 24 011

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MD 24 011

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is soliciting applications to create a single national Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Coordinating Center (CC) under a U24 cooperative agreement mechanism (clinical trial optional). The core idea is to fund an organization that can serve as the central hub for coordination, communication, and shared infrastructure across all NIMHD-funded RCMI Specialized Centers. Rather than functioning as another research center, the Coordinating Center is meant to strengthen the entire RCMI program by organizing common processes, improving consistency across sites, and helping the network move faster and more effectively on minority health and health disparities research priorities.

A major focus of this opportunity is to help RCMI centers collectively achieve several long-running program goals. These include building stronger institutional research capacity across basic biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research (including patient-oriented and health services research); improving investigators ability at all career stages to secure competitive external funding, especially NIH support, with an emphasis on conditions that disproportionately affect minority and other health disparity populations; and creating environments that actively support career development, particularly for early career investigators. The Coordinating Center is also expected to raise the overall quality of scientific work across the program, promote rigorous inquiry aligned with minority health and health disparities, and support sustainable, meaningful relationships between RCMI institutions and community-based organizations. In practice, this means the CC is expected to provide organizing structure and practical tools that make it easier for centers and investigators to plan studies, operate efficiently, learn from one another, and build durable partnerships that improve research relevance and impact.

A distinctive requirement in this funding opportunity is the expectation that the Coordinating Center will centralize and harmonize multi-site study operations for the RCMI Clinical Research Network for Health Equity (RCMI-CRNHE). This includes coordinating data management, providing biostatistical support, and helping the network rapidly develop and implement studies focused on minority health and health disparities, consistent with the RCMI-CRNHE concept described in RFA-MD-22-006. The CC is also responsible for managing a Network Steering Committee, which typically means planning meetings, supporting governance processes, documenting decisions, tracking action items, and ensuring consistent communication across participating sites and NIH staff. Overall, the CC is expected to act as a service and coordination engine for the network, responding not only to RCMI site leadership and NIMHD program needs, but also, as appropriate, to inquiries or requests from NIH more broadly, the scientific community, and the public.

This is a limited competition, meaning eligibility is restricted. Applicant institutions must be current recipients of RCMI awards issued under specific prior funding announcements: RFA-MD-17-003, RFA-MD-17-006, RFA-MD-18-012, RFA-MD-20-006, PAR-11-132, RFA-MD-22-002, RFA-MD-23-001, or RFA-MD-24-001. The opportunity also references categories of organizations commonly associated with RCMI and minority-serving ecosystems, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), certain tribal governments (other than federally recognized), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, the announcement clearly excludes non-U.S. (foreign) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations, and it does not allow foreign components as defined by NIH policy.

Administratively, the funding opportunity number is RFA-MD-24-011 and the instrument is a cooperative agreement (U24), which generally indicates substantial NIH programmatic involvement compared to a standard grant. The administering agency is NIH, and the listed CFDA (now Assistance Listing) number is 93.307. The original application due date provided is January 25, 2025. The posted award ceiling is $3,500,000, signaling that NIMHD expects a fairly robust national coordination operation capable of supporting network-wide study infrastructure, data coordination, statistical support, and governance activities at scale.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Coordinating Center (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): 93.307.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-25. (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 $3,500,000.00 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.

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