The National Health and Aging Trends Study (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 19 019

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 19 019

The National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) grant opportunity (RFA-AG-19-019) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding announcement that seeks applications to run the next five-year cycle of NHATS, a major U.S. longitudinal study focused on aging, disability, and the real-world consequences of late-life functional decline. NHATS is described as the leading nationally representative data resource for tracking trends, dynamics, and disparities in disability among older adults, and for understanding how disability affects individuals, families, and society more broadly. It also supports research on caregiving and end-of-life issues, and it is linked to the separately funded National Study of Caregiving (NSOC), which adds depth on caregiving experiences tied to NHATS participants.

This award is structured as a cooperative agreement (U01), meaning the funded team would not just receive money and operate independently, but would work in close coordination with NIH staff in carrying out the study. The announcement specifies that clinical trials are not allowed, which is consistent with NHATS being a population-based observational data infrastructure rather than an intervention study. The project’s emphasis is on maintaining and improving an existing national resource that many researchers rely on, rather than testing a new treatment or program.

A central goal of the next cycle is continuity: the funded project is expected to preserve the current structure and design elements of NHATS so that findings remain comparable across years. That continuity matters because one of the explicit priorities is enabling studies of long-term trends in disability prevalence, which requires stable sampling and measurement approaches over time. At the same time, the next cycle is meant to strengthen the study in targeted ways by expanding and improving measurement in key domains. Specifically, the FOA calls for enriched measurement of cognitive capacity, reflecting the growing need to understand cognitive aging, impairment, and dementia-related outcomes within the broader context of disability and daily functioning. It also calls for enhanced measurement of physical activity and sedentary behavior, signaling interest in more precise, policy- and health-relevant indicators of how older adults move through their environments and how movement patterns relate to health, independence, and care needs.

The FOA also emphasizes continuing and expanding linkages to administrative records. These linkages are valuable because they can validate self-reported information, reduce respondent burden, and enable analyses of health care use, costs, program participation, and outcomes using more complete longitudinal data than surveys alone can provide. Alongside the data collection and linkage work, a major expectation is to augment data dissemination and user support. In practice, that means the NHATS team is expected not only to collect high-quality data, but also to ensure that the broader research community can access, understand, and use the data effectively through documentation, tools, and responsive support structures. Since NHATS functions as a public-facing research infrastructure, dissemination and user services are treated as core deliverables, not optional add-ons.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit entities (including small businesses and other for-profit organizations that are not small businesses). The announcement also highlights additional categories often emphasized in federal funding, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies.

The foreign eligibility rules are specific. Non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S. applicant may include certain foreign collaborations or elements when justified and permitted under NIH policy, even though the main applicant must be U.S.-based.

Administratively, the opportunity falls under the Health activity category and is associated with CFDA number 93.866. The original closing date listed is October 1, 2018, and the opportunity was created on July 3, 2018. The listed award ceiling is $550,000. The FOA indicates expected awards but does not provide a number in the provided text. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as support for a large, continuing national research platform: maintaining the rigor and comparability of NHATS over time, modernizing measurement where it matters most (especially cognition and physical activity/sedentary behavior), strengthening administrative data linkages, and improving the way data and support are delivered to the many investigators, policymakers, and stakeholders who depend on this resource.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "The National Health and Aging Trends Study (U01 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): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-07-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-10-01. (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 $550,000.00 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 AG 19 019

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