Limited Competition: Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Chemical Analysis Sites (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA RM 23 009

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 23 009

The NIH funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Chemical Analysis Sites (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (RFA-RM-23-009) is a discretionary health research grant mechanism designed to continue and support specialized laboratory sites that perform chemical and omics analyses for the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC). It uses a cooperative agreement (U24) structure, which means awardees are expected to work closely with NIH and other consortium partners in a coordinated, team-science environment rather than operating as fully independent, stand-alone projects. The FOA is explicitly marked as "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," signaling that the funded work is not meant to run or test clinical interventions; instead, it supports analysis of samples and data generated by MoTrPAC's existing human physical activity intervention studies.

This announcement is a limited competition, and eligibility is narrowly restricted. Only organizations that were previously funded as MoTrPAC Chemical Analysis Sites under the earlier FOAs RFA-RM-15-010 and RFA-RM-15-011 are allowed to apply. In addition, the opportunity excludes non-U.S. organizations and foreign involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities cannot apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not permitted. In other words, this is a continuation-style consortium support opportunity aimed at maintaining capacity and continuity among a pre-selected set of established MoTrPAC analysis sites.

The core purpose of the award is to support the continued analysis of tissues collected through MoTrPAC, specifically from human participants undergoing a physical activity intervention. The funded Chemical Analysis Sites are expected to conduct omics and chemical analyses across collected tissues, produce high-quality and well-curated datasets, and contribute those datasets to a public consortium database. Beyond generating data, awardees are also expected to participate directly in cross-consortium data integration and analysis efforts. The overall scientific goal is to help identify and characterize the molecular "fingerprints" and candidate molecular transducers that explain how physical activity produces systemic biological effects, potentially across multiple organs and pathways. In practice, that means these sites function as key production and interpretation hubs: they generate standardized molecular measurements, ensure data quality and harmonization, and collaborate with the broader consortium to translate raw measurements into interpretable signatures linked to exercise or physical activity.

Because this is a U24 cooperative agreement within a large consortium, funded sites are not just service providers. They are expected to participate in consortium-wide activities, which typically include coordination meetings, shared planning, adherence to common protocols and quality-control standards, timely data sharing, and collaborative authorship and analysis practices consistent with a consortium model. The emphasis on depositing data into a public database also reflects NIH's expectation that MoTrPAC outputs become broadly usable community resources, enabling downstream reanalysis, method development, and hypothesis generation by other researchers.

Key administrative details from the listing include an original closing date of April 21, 2023, a listed award ceiling of $350,000, and an NIH Common Fund scientific context (MoTrPAC is a Common Fund program). The opportunity category is discretionary, the activity category is health, and the CFDA (Assistance Listing) number provided is 93.310. While the excerpted source data mentions "Small businesses" under eligible applicants, the controlling eligibility statement in the narrative is the limited competition restriction to previously funded MoTrPAC Chemical Analysis Sites under the specified prior RFAs, along with the explicit prohibition on foreign entities and foreign components.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as targeted continuation funding to keep MoTrPAC's specialized chemical/omics analysis infrastructure operating, ensure standardized generation and curation of high-value molecular datasets from exercise-intervention biospecimens, and support the collaborative, consortium-driven work needed to map how physical activity is transduced into molecular and physiological changes in humans.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Chemical Analysis Sites (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-03-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-21. (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 $350,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

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