NIAID invites applications from single institutions or consortia of institutions to participate in the Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Centers (AADCRC) program through the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Centers (U19, Clinical Trial Optional).
The AADCRC program will support centers that integrate clinical and translational research to conduct studies on mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of asthma and allergic diseases, as aligned with programmatic research priorities listed below. The overall goal of this program is to improve understanding of the pathogenesis of these conditions and provide a rational foundation for new, effective treatments and prevention strategies.
NIAID Programmatic Research Priorities
NIAID is particularly interested in research that can evaluate the following:
- The role of innate and adaptive immune functions in the development and pathogenesis of asthma and allergic diseases with a focus on severe asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis, allergic rhinitis, food allergy, atopic dermatitis, and drug allergy.
- The impact of the microbiome on immune responses as they pertain to the development, prevention, and management of asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, food allergy, and atopic dermatitis.
- The impact of pollution, or acute or chronic climate events on immune responses as they pertain to the development, prevention, and management of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and chronic rhinosinusitis.
- Epithelial biology/immunobiology or neuroimmune interactions and how they relate to development, persistence, and severity of allergic diseases including asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, food allergy, and atopic dermatitis.
- The interaction between infections and allergic diseases, and the role of immune responses to infections in the development and exacerbations of asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, and atopic dermatitis.
- The mechanisms of allergen immunotherapy-induced clinical desensitization and tolerance for the treatment of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food allergy and improving the efficacy, safety, and ease of use of this therapeutic modality.
- The genetic variations and epigenetic alterations affecting host immune responses to aeroallergens, food allergens, and drug allergens, and patient responses to therapeutic interventions in asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, food allergy, atopic dermatitis, and drug allergy.
- Clinical, immunologic, and physiologic phenotypes and endotypes of understudied diseases including non-Type 2 asthma, drug or vaccine allergy, chronic rhinosinusitis, non-allergic rhinitis syndromes, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome, alpha-gal syndrome, and chronic spontaneous urticaria that provide mechanistic insights for disease etiology or management.
To ensure the focus of the applications is on human disease, the majority of the proposed research within each application must be defined as human subjects research (refer to Definition of Human Subjects Research) or utilize human material (including primary human cells, biologic samples, and clinical data).
Nonresponsive Research Areas
Keep in mind that NIAID will consider applications proposing the following topics to be nonresponsive and will not review them:
- Research on autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases.
- Research on primary immune deficiency diseases.
- Research with a primary focus on chronic respiratory diseases other than asthma, rhinitis, or rhinosinusitis.
- Demonstration and Education Research Projects.
- Multi-center clinical trials.
- Phase III clinical trials.
- Clinical trials at foreign sites; however, foreign components conducting mechanistic projects, observational studies, specialized assay(s), etc. will be allowed.
- Continuation of ongoing (active) clinical trials.
- Applications in which the majority of the proposed research does not meet the human subjects research definition or does not utilize human material (including primary human cells, human biologic samples, or clinical data).
- Research involving only healthy volunteers.
- Research on HIV/AIDS.
AADCRC Components
For the AADCRC program, your proposed research center should be highly integrated and synergistic. AADCRCs funded under this NOFO will be comprised of multiple components to carry out the broad scope of research delineated above. Component Projects and Cores within a single application should not only relate to a central theme relevant to the specified diseases of interest but must also be integrated with the other components within the same application.
Below are the required components in each AADCRC application. Additionally, refer to the NOFO linked above for descriptions of several optional components.
- Administrative Core: Each application must contain an Administrative Core that is responsible for the overall management, communication, coordination, and supervision of the Center. Duties of the Administrative Core must include a plan of administering the AADCRC Infrastructure and Opportunity Fund (IOF).
- AADCRC IOF: A single IOF of up to $350,000 direct costs per year will be established under this NOFO to support new and pilot research projects led by investigators within the AADCRCs, as well as for the development of necessary resources.
- Data Stewardship Core: Your application must include a data stewardship core that will provide central data management and analysis services (e.g., database establishment, data collection and cleaning, data storage) to the Cores and Research Projects. This Core is responsible for carrying out the Data Management and Sharing Plan, as well as information security services to all researchers within the Center. The Data Stewardship Core must support all research projects and scientific and Clinical Cores, as needed, in the Center.
- Research Projects: Your application must contain at least two research projects organized around a common theme or hypothesis. The application can include one or more single-site pilot clinical trials (interventions) or clinical studies (cross-sectional or short-term longitudinal observational studies, genetic studies) that test a novel therapeutic approach, novel mechanistic hypothesis, or aim at elucidating disease phenotypes and endotypes in a condition of interest to this NOFO.
Award Budgets and Project Periods
Application budgets are not expected to exceed $900,000 in annual direct costs, excluding the IOF budget, and should reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The IOF budget is not expected to exceed $350,000 in direct costs per year.
The total project period must be 5 years.
Application and Submission Information
Only one application per institution is allowed.
Applications are due on June 13, 2025, by 5:00 p.m. local time of the applicant organization.
Contact Information
Address your scientific and research questions to Dr. Gang Dong at gdong@niaid.nih.gov or 240-627-3508. For matters related to peer review, direct questions to Dr. Poonam Tewary at Poonam.tewary@nih.gov or 240-532-9777.