The Research Collaboration Network in Structural Racism Measurement and Modeling funding opportunity (RFA-AG-25-003) is designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among scholars from diverse fields to improve the measurement and modeling of structural racism, with a specific focus on aging and life course health research. The aim is to advance research on how structural racism contributes to health disparities, particularly as they relate to aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

The funding will support a variety of activities, including the development of a publicly accessible data repository that collects and organizes measures of structural racism, coordination of educational workshops and conferences, and pilot research projects. The initiative emphasizes collaborations across disciplines such as public health, the behavioral and social sciences, the humanities, sociology, education, and political science to develop new measures and improve methods for analyzing the impact of structural racism on aging populations. Additionally, the program encourages partnerships with existing National Institute on Aging (NIA)-supported research centers and networks to broaden the impact and utility of the developed tools.

Applicants are expected to propose innovative governance structures, developmental and collaborative activities, and wide-ranging dissemination strategies to ensure the findings and resources generated by the network are accessible to researchers, policymakers, and the broader community. Key components include creating workshops and conferences to advance the science of structural racism measurement, leading pilot projects to test new measures, and coordinating efforts to include measures in existing NIA-supported studies.

This funding opportunity is intended to result in one award with a maximum budget of $1,000,000 per year for a period of up to five years. The application submission deadline is October 17, 2024, with the earliest start date for funded projects in July 2025.

Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education, nonprofits, and government entities. Collaborations between researchers in public health and disciplines such as the humanities and social sciences are particularly encouraged, as are efforts to include underrepresented populations in the research process.