Immunity in Older Adults (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AI 22 060

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 22 060

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Immunity in Older Adults (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-AI-22-060) is a discretionary grant program that uses the cooperative agreement mechanism (U01). It is designed to fund research that digs into the biological and cellular mechanisms behind how the immune system changes with age. The emphasis is on generating mechanistic insights into both innate immunity (the body s immediate, non-specific defenses) and adaptive immunity (the targeted responses involving T cells, B cells, and immune memory) as people grow older. Importantly, this FOA specifies that clinical trials are not allowed, which generally means applications should focus on mechanistic, hypothesis-driven research rather than interventional studies that prospectively assign human participants to receive a treatment or preventive strategy.

The core scientific goal is to define how age-related alterations across different immune components contribute to real-world functional outcomes. In practical terms, the NIH is looking for studies that connect specific age-associated immune changes to consequences such as increased susceptibility to infections, weaker or altered vaccine responses, and the development or persistence of chronic inflammatory conditions. This framing encourages proposals that go beyond description (for example, simply observing that a marker changes with age) and instead explain causality or biological pathways, ideally clarifying which immune changes matter most and why. The program is therefore geared toward strengthening the evidence base for how immunosenescence and age-linked inflammation influence health, with the expectation that clearer mechanisms can eventually inform better prevention or treatment strategies, even though testing interventions directly is outside the scope of this particular announcement.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized under the NIH health research umbrella and is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.313, 93.855, 93.866), reflecting the NIH programs and accounts that can support the work. The award instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically means NIH program staff will have more active involvement than with a standard research project grant, such as assisting with coordination, milestones, or programmatic oversight. The listed award ceiling is $400,000, indicating the maximum funding level anticipated per award under the terms described in the source information. The original closing date for applications was February 14, 2023, and the opportunity record shows a creation date of October 4, 2022.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic applicants across government, academia, nonprofit, and industry. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local 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 as tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs); Hispanic-serving Institutions; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs); faith-based or community-based organizations; eligible agencies of the federal government; regional organizations; U.S. territories or possessions; and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities, meaning foreign organizations may apply as well. This wide eligibility signals an interest in attracting diverse scientific teams and institutions that can contribute expertise in aging, immunology, infectious disease, vaccinology, and inflammation biology.

Overall, this FOA is aimed at advancing a clearer, more causally grounded understanding of how aging reshapes immune function and how those shifts translate into vulnerability or resilience in older adults. The best-fitting applications would be expected to tightly connect immune mechanisms to outcomes relevant to infections, vaccine responsiveness, and chronic inflammation, while staying within the non-clinical-trial boundary laid out in the announcement and leveraging the collaborative expectations typical of a U01 cooperative agreement.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Immunity in Older Adults (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): 93.121, 93.313, 93.855, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-10-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-02-14. (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 $400,000.00 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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