Leveraging Existing Resources for Research on Lewy Body Dementia (R03) | RFA NS 17 016

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 17 016

Leveraging Existing Resources for Research on Lewy Body Dementia (R03) (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-NS-17-016) is a National Institutes of Health discretionary grant opportunity designed to accelerate research on Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) by making strong use of large, established datasets rather than launching new data collection efforts. The central idea is to support smaller, focused projects (R03 mechanism) that analyze already-collected clinical, imaging, and physiological information on people with dementia and parkinsonism to clarify what distinguishes LBD, how it progresses, and which measurable features might point to earlier or more accurate diagnosis. The FOA emphasizes practical, near-term scientific returns by leveraging the investment already made in major national research resources.

Projects funded under this announcement are expected to rely on previously collected data drawn from at least one of the following repositories: the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and/or the Parkinson’s Disease Biomarker Program (PDBP). The opportunity also allows investigators to incorporate other existing datasets, but only when those data are scientifically relevant and of comparable quality to ADNI or PDBP. A key boundary condition is that applicants are not expected or encouraged to collect new data; the goal is to extract new insights from existing measurements, records, and biospecimen-derived results already available through these programs (and potentially aligned external sources).

The research priorities center on identifying clinical or biological attributes that can serve three main purposes. First, studies should aim to find markers or patterns that could enable earlier diagnosis of LBD, especially in stages where symptoms overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases. Second, the FOA seeks work that improves differential diagnosis, meaning clearer separation of LBD from related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease dementia, and other dementias or movement disorders that share cognitive, motor, sleep, psychiatric, or autonomic features. Third, applicants are encouraged to identify attributes that could point toward therapeutic targets, such as biological pathways, imaging signatures, or physiologic changes that might be actionable for treatment development or for stratifying patients in future clinical trials. In practice, this could include analyses that connect symptom profiles with imaging results, evaluate candidate biomarkers, or develop predictive models that distinguish subgroups or trajectories using multimodal data.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a grant (Funding Instrument Type: Grant) in the health research category, supported under CFDA numbers 93.853 and 93.866, and administered by the NIH. The posted award ceiling is $50,000, consistent with the R03 small grant approach that typically supports tightly scoped, exploratory or pilot-style analyses, feasibility work, or targeted secondary data analyses. The original closing date listed for the opportunity was 2017-02-10, and the opportunity record shows a creation date of 2016-12-02.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can carry out secondary analyses, such as public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and multiple levels of government (state, county, city/township, special district governments), as well as independent school districts and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The announcement explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (other than federally recognized), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility reflects an intent to broaden participation while tapping analytic expertise wherever it resides, as long as applicants can appropriately access and use the specified databases.

Overall, the opportunity is aimed at investigators who can pose strong, testable questions about Lewy Body Dementia and answer them by reanalyzing well-characterized, high-value datasets such as ADNI, NACC-linked resources, and PDBP. The FOA’s focus on no new data collection, required use of at least one named database, and emphasis on early diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and therapeutic target discovery makes it particularly suited to teams with expertise in biostatistics, neuroimaging, biomarker science, clinical phenotyping, and computational modeling who can generate meaningful advances efficiently using existing national research infrastructure.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Leveraging Existing Resources for Research on Lewy Body Dementia (R03)" 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 2016-12-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-02-10. (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 $50,000.00 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.

Apply for RFA NS 17 016

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: