Behavioral and Social Research on the Role of Immigration on Life Course Health and Aging, including AD/ADRD?(R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 24 029

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 24 029

The National Institutes of Health is offering this discretionary grant opportunity (RFA-AG-24-029) to support behavioral and social science research on how immigration shapes health across the life course for middle-aged and older adults, with explicit attention to health disparities and to Alzheimers disease and Alzheimers disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD). The focus is on first-generation immigrant populations in the United States, including Latino/a, Black, Asian, and other immigrant groups, and on understanding the pathways that help explain why health outcomes differ across groups as people age. The mechanism is an R21 (exploratory/developmental) and clinical trials are not allowed, signaling that the agency is looking for early-stage, innovative projects that may test new ideas, data resources, or analytic approaches rather than run intervention trials.

A central theme of the announcement is the idea that health in later life is shaped by layered influences that operate over time. The NOFO encourages studies that examine structural mechanisms (for example, immigration policy context, labor markets, discrimination, legal status-related constraints, access to health and social services, neighborhood segregation, and other institutional factors), community mechanisms (such as social cohesion, ethnic enclaves, community resources, and local service environments), and interpersonal mechanisms (including family dynamics, caregiving networks, social support, intergenerational relationships, and stress processes). The intention is to fund research that clarifies how these forces accumulate, interact, and produce measurable differences in health trajectories for immigrant groups as they move through midlife into older age.

In addition to general aging and health outcomes, the NOFO explicitly invites work that connects immigration experiences and contexts to cognitive aging and dementia outcomes, including AD/ADRD. This can include studies that tackle the practical and scientific challenges of doing immigration-focused AD/ADRD research, such as identifying appropriate data sources, improving measurement of immigration-related exposures (nativity, age at migration, duration in the US, documentation-related barriers, acculturation and language context, transnational ties), and addressing methodological issues that commonly arise in these populations. Examples of methodological needs implied by the NOFO include strategies for studying hard-to-reach groups, dealing with selection effects (who migrates and who remains), accounting for heterogeneous immigrant histories, improving culturally and linguistically appropriate cognitive measurement, and refining approaches to isolate the effects of immigration-related experiences from correlated socioeconomic and environmental factors.

This R21 announcement is described as a companion to RFA-AG-24-028, which uses the R01 mechanism. The agency is drawing a practical distinction between the two: projects with stronger preliminary data and readiness for a larger, more definitive study are steered toward the R01, while projects that are more exploratory, higher-risk/high-payoff, or earlier in development (and therefore may not yet have extensive preliminary findings) are framed as a better fit for this R21. In other words, this NOFO is positioned as a way to incubate new directions, generate foundational evidence, develop new measures or methods, or demonstrate feasibility that could later scale into larger R01-level work.

Key administrative details included in the source information are as follows. The funding instrument is a grant and the activity category is health (CFDA 93.866). The award ceiling is listed as $275,000. The original closing date shown is 2023-11-03. The expected number of awards is not specified in the provided text. Because it is an R21, applicants typically propose a tightly scoped project designed to produce a clear proof-of-concept, a novel dataset, a methodological advance, or initial findings that justify a subsequent larger study, while staying within the budget and time constraints associated with exploratory awards.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common applicant types: state, county, 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 and other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses. The NOFO also highlights additional eligible applicant categories that NIH wants to encourage, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, non-domestic (non-US) entities/foreign organizations, and US territories or possessions. This wide eligibility is consistent with the topic area, since meaningful immigration and aging research often benefits from partnerships that include community-based organizations, minority-serving institutions, and organizations serving immigrant communities.

Overall, the opportunity is aimed at strengthening the evidence base on how immigration-related experiences and contexts shape aging, health disparities, and dementia risk and outcomes, and at improving the data and methods needed to study these relationships rigorously. The R21 format is meant to give investigators room to pursue innovative questions and approaches that are not yet ready for a full-scale R01, while still producing actionable knowledge about mechanisms, measurement, and analytic strategies for understanding immigrant health and aging in the United States.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Behavioral and Social Research on the Role of Immigration on Life Course Health and Aging, including AD/ADRD?(R21 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 2023-08-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-11-03. (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 $275,000.00 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.

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