Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 18 935

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 935

The NIH opportunity titled "Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PA 18-935) is a discretionary grant mechanism that makes additional funds available to certain investigators who already hold active NIH awards and who need to rapidly pivot their existing, funded work to respond to an immediate public health crisis. The core purpose is speed and relevance: it supports time-sensitive, unforeseen needs that were not anticipated when the original (new or renewal) application was submitted or when the most recent progress report for the ongoing award was filed. In practical terms, this is not a standalone new grant for a new team starting from scratch; it is a competitive revision (often called a competing supplement) that builds on an existing NIH-funded project and expands or modifies its aims, methods, or activities to address an urgent and emerging health situation.

A key feature of this program is that applications are routed directly to the NIH Institute, Center, or awarding component that manages the parent award, specifically the component listed on the most recent Notice of Award (NoA). That routing detail matters because it signals how NIH intends to handle these submissions: the request is evaluated in the context of the existing grant relationship, the scientific scope of the parent project, and the urgent public health justification for the revision. The emphasis is on addressing needs "in a timely manner," which generally implies that the proposed revision should be ready to launch quickly, leverage existing infrastructure and personnel where possible, and produce outputs that matter during the timeframe of the crisis rather than far in the future.

The announcement is described as "Clinical Trial Optional," meaning applicants may propose work that includes a clinical trial if it is appropriate for the urgent question and consistent with NIH definitions and requirements, but a clinical trial is not required. This gives flexibility for projects that may be basic, translational, behavioral, implementation-focused, data-driven, or community-engaged, as long as the proposed activities directly support the urgent crisis response and fit within the boundaries NIH sets for competitive revisions to an existing award.

Eligibility is broad, but it is anchored by one main requirement: the applicant must be tied to a qualifying, active NIH grant or cooperative agreement type specified in the full FOA (the detailed list is in the complete announcement). Beyond that, NIH indicates a wide range of eligible applicant organizations and government entities, including 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 tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education institutions); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other categories. NIH also explicitly calls out additional eligible groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), 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, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. (foreign) organizations. Taken together, this indicates NIH is aiming to make urgent-response capacity available across many institutional settings, including community-based and underserved-focused organizations, not only traditional research universities.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as a grant under NIH, with activity areas spanning education, food and nutrition, and health, and it is associated with CFDA numbers 93.242, 93.279, 93.847, 93.855, and 93.866. The posting date in the source data is October 3, 2018, and the listed original closing date is October 24, 2022, which is important because it suggests the opportunity may have operated over a defined window and that applicants would need to verify whether the FOA is still active, has been reissued, or has been superseded by a newer NIH urgent supplement mechanism before preparing a submission.

What this funding is designed to accomplish is straightforward: when a crisis emerges and researchers already supported by NIH are well-positioned to help, NIH can use the competitive revision pathway to rapidly expand those projects so they can answer urgent questions, collect critical data, adapt protocols, add new sites or populations, accelerate analysis, or deploy interventions relevant to the crisis. The revision must be justified as an immediate need tied to a specific public health emergency and as something that could not reasonably have been planned for at the time the parent application or routine progress report was submitted. In effect, NIH is paying for a rapid, targeted extension of existing capacity, rather than funding an entirely new line of work that would take longer to stand up.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242, 93.279, 93.847, 93.855, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-10-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-10-24. (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.

Apply for PA 18 935

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