Limited Competition: Clinical Centers for Completion of Ongoing MFMU Network Protocols (UG1 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA HD 21 029

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HD 21 029

The funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Clinical Centers for Completion of Ongoing MFMU Network Protocols (UG1 Clinical Trial Optional)" (RFA HD 21 029) is a discretionary National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant announcement issued by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). It supports participation as a Clinical Center within the long-running Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network, a multi-center research network that conducts coordinated studies in pregnancy and perinatal care. The overall purpose is to improve maternal, fetal, and neonatal health by running high-quality observational and interventional clinical research using standardized, network-wide protocols so results are comparable and can be combined across sites.

This announcement uses the UG1 cooperative agreement mechanism, which is important because it reflects a partnership model rather than a typical stand-alone research grant. Under a cooperative agreement, the funded Clinical Centers do not operate independently in the way an R01-style investigator-initiated project might. Instead, they work closely with NICHD and other MFMU Network sites on shared scientific goals, common study designs, consistent data collection methods, and coordinated trial operations. In practice, that means the awardee is expected to integrate into an existing network infrastructure and help execute ongoing protocols rather than proposing an entirely new, site-specific research agenda. The phrase "Clinical Trial Optional" indicates that applications may involve clinical trials or may focus on observational clinical studies, depending on the specific ongoing protocols being completed within the network.

The emphasis on "limited competition" signals that this is not a broadly open call for any applicant with a general interest in maternal-fetal research. Limited competitions are typically restricted in eligibility or intent, often to support continuity of an established research network and ensure the network can complete already-approved and active studies. In this case, the FOA is specifically framed around completing ongoing MFMU Network protocols, which implies that the funded Clinical Centers are expected to have the clinical volume, operational readiness, research staffing, and institutional capacity needed to immediately contribute to recruitment, intervention delivery (if applicable), participant follow-up, data entry, and adherence to network standards such as Good Clinical Practice, human subjects protections, and uniform reporting procedures.

Eligible applicants, as listed in the source data, include a range of U.S.-based government and tribal entities: county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, and Native American tribal governments and tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments). While the NIH commonly funds academic medical centers and universities under many FOAs, this specific eligibility listing highlights governmental and tribal organizational eligibility in the provided dataset. Regardless of the applicant type, the applying organization would need to function as a capable clinical research site able to enroll and manage pregnant participants and/or newborns as required by MFMU protocols, and to collaborate effectively with the network.

The announcement is explicit about restrictions on foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply. Non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply, and foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. In other words, the work supported under this FOA must be carried out entirely within allowable U.S.-based organizational structures, without foreign components performing substantive portions of the project.

Administratively, the FOA was created on July 30, 2020, and the original closing date for applications was September 4, 2020. The listing references CFDA number 93.865, which corresponds to NICHD funding streams. The opportunity category is discretionary, and the activity category is listed as Health, Income Security and Social Services, reflecting the public health and clinical care impact of maternal-fetal and neonatal research. While an award ceiling and expected number of awards are not provided in the source excerpt, the network-based structure and cooperative agreement mechanism typically mean budgets and award numbers are driven by the operational needs of the network and the number of sites required to complete the planned protocols.

At a practical level, a successful applicant under this FOA would be proposing to serve as a MFMU Network Clinical Center that can reliably implement network protocols across multiple studies, including participant identification and recruitment, informed consent, intervention delivery when relevant, standardized clinical assessments, outcome ascertainment for mothers and infants, and timely, high-quality data submission. Because MFMU research often targets clinically meaningful outcomes in pregnancy and birth, the Clinical Center role generally demands strong coordination between obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology, nursing, pharmacy (if interventions are involved), research coordinators, and data/quality staff, along with the institutional ability to comply with NIH and NICHD oversight requirements typical of cooperative agreements.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Clinical Centers for Completion of Ongoing MFMU Network Protocols (UG1 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 2020-07-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-09-04. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments).

Apply for RFA HD 21 029

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