The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), has issued a funding opportunity for the Translational Resource Centers initiative (Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-DA-25-085). This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeks to establish a Translational Resource Center to support cross-disciplinary research bridging the fields of substance use epidemiology and prevention intervention. This center will facilitate collaborative research by connecting experts from epidemiology and prevention to create research questions, analyze data, and develop actionable insights for the prevention of substance use. The ultimate goal is to enable translation of epidemiological findings into preventive interventions and inform epidemiology with prevention research, advancing both fields. The NOFO emphasizes a clear structure for collaboration, accountability, and the production of concrete outcomes such as publications, grant proposals, or intervention development.

The center will focus on recruiting and supporting Affiliate Researchers, who will participate in activities designed to foster cross-disciplinary research. Key components required by the NOFO include a plan to engage researchers, including early-career and underrepresented investigators, interactive convenings to foster multidisciplinary teams, and “active-data” events where participants work collaboratively on data analysis. At least one in-person data event is required, planned for the Washington, D.C., area. Additionally, the center must provide ongoing support for collaboration, offer educational resources to foster innovative research questions, and implement a dissemination plan to document and share Center outputs widely to ensure replication and field advancement. Applicants must propose methods to evaluate the success of the Center in fostering collaboration and achieving translational research goals.

The center will be funded through a U24 cooperative agreement, which includes significant involvement from NIDA’s scientific staff. NIDA plans to commit $500,000 in FY 2025 for one award, with an annual budget cap of $350,000 in direct costs. The maximum project period is four years. Applications are due by November 13, 2024, with reviews occurring in March 2025 and potential project start dates as early as July 2025. This initiative does not allow clinical trials and excludes research focused on those with substance use disorder (SUD) or those in recovery from SUD. The NOFO specifically includes overdose prevention for those at risk but without SUD and excludes projects exclusively on alcohol.

Eligible applicants include higher education institutions, nonprofits, for-profit organizations, various government entities, and certain foreign entities. Applications must use the NIH ASSIST system, Grants.gov Workspace, or institutional system-to-system solutions for submission. Prior to application, organizations must complete several registrations (e.g., SAM, Grants.gov, eRA Commons). Applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of intent by October 13, 2024, to assist NIH in estimating review workload.

The review process for applications will assess factors such as significance, innovation, approach, investigator qualifications, and institutional environment. NIH’s peer review will focus on each core component’s potential to advance translational research and the effectiveness of recruitment plans for engaging diverse Affiliate Researchers. The proposal must also demonstrate a sustainable structure for long-term collaboration across epidemiology and prevention fields.

Interested applicants should ensure their proposals adhere strictly to NOFO and NIH submission guidelines, as noncompliance may result in application rejection. Additional contacts for scientific, peer review, and grants management questions are available within the NOFO, providing direct access to NIH support for specific application requirements and queries.