Center without Walls for PET Ligand Development for Alzheimer's disease related dementias (ADRDs) (U19 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA NS 18 025

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 18 025

The NIH funding opportunity "Center without Walls for PET Ligand Development for Alzheimer's disease related dementias (ADRDs)" (RFA-NS-18-025) supports collaborative, center-based efforts to create and advance PET radioligands that can detect ADRD-relevant proteinopathies and other pathological processes in humans. The intent is to speed the pipeline from promising chemistry to practical imaging tools by organizing multidisciplinary teams into a single coordinated "Center without Walls" structure, where the combined capabilities of the group are essential to achieving the scientific goals. The award mechanism is a U19 cooperative agreement, meaning NIH staff are expected to have substantial programmatic involvement compared with a standard research grant, and clinical trials are optional under this announcement.

Scientifically, the FOA focuses on PET tracer development aimed at the biology of ADRDs, not just generic neurodegeneration. Supported activities span multiple stages of ligand development: in vitro screening of existing candidate ligands using human ADRD brain tissue, medicinal chemistry to optimize compounds for improved specificity and selectivity, initial in vivo screening in appropriate animal models, and the practical work needed to move a compound into humans, such as radioligand formulation and first-in-human testing. In other words, the program is designed to cover the core translational steps required to take a tracer from "this might bind the right target" to "this can be produced reliably and tested in people."

A key structural requirement is that applications must be built as a true center with shared infrastructure and clear governance. Each application is required to include an administrative core, a medicinal chemistry core, a clinical core, and a scientific governance structure that coordinates decision-making and prioritization across the program. In addition, the application must propose at least two research projects, each with milestone plans. Those milestones are expected to lay out concrete workflows for screening both existing ligands and newly derived ligands against human ADRD tissue and in relevant animal models, creating a disciplined "go/no-go" framework for advancing the best candidates. The FOA emphasizes that synergy has to be obvious: the research projects and cores must be interdependent in a way that makes it clear the overall aims could not realistically be completed as separate, stand-alone projects without the center organization.

Programmatically, this initiative is framed as a response to the ADRD challenges identified in the 2016 update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. The broader public health rationale is that better PET ligands can improve diagnosis, help differentiate among dementias, support patient stratification, and enable more informative clinical research by tracking specific pathological processes in vivo. By focusing on ligand specificity and selectivity and insisting on validation against human tissue and appropriate models, the FOA signals an emphasis on biological relevance and translational credibility rather than early-stage discovery alone.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations, such as state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations; nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; independent school districts; special district governments; and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and AANAPISI institutions, as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies.

Foreign eligibility is limited in a specific way. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible, and foreign components (as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed, which generally means a U.S. applicant can include certain international collaborators or activities when well-justified and compliant with NIH policy.

Administrative details in the source information indicate the sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health, the opportunity category is discretionary, the activity category is health, and the CFDA numbers listed are 93.853 and 93.866. The original closing date shown is 2018-05-08, and the creation date is 2018-03-02. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source text.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Center without Walls for PET Ligand Development for Alzheimer's disease related dementias (ADRDs) (U19 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.853, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-03-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-05-08. (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 RFA NS 18 025

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