Limited Competition: Follow-up on Subjects and Immunological Assessments in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes In The Young Study (TEDDY) (UC4) | RFA DK 17 508

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 17 508

This grant opportunity, titled "Limited Competition: Follow-up on Subjects and Immunological Assessments in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes In The Young Study (TEDDY) (UC4)," is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement funding announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services. It is built specifically around the ongoing TEDDY study, a large epidemiological research effort focused on understanding environmental contributors to diabetes in children, and it is designed to keep the TEDDY infrastructure operating so the study can continue generating high-quality longitudinal data and biospecimens for advanced immune-focused analyses.

A key feature of the announcement is that it is a limited competition, meaning it is not open to new applicants broadly. Instead, NIH is inviting an application only from the Program Director/Principal Investigator of the current TEDDY Data Coordinating Center (DCC). The rationale is practical and scientific: the existing DCC has been involved from the beginning of the TEDDY Consortium and already holds deep operational knowledge of the study design, standardized data systems, participant follow-up procedures, and the workflows required for acquiring, tracking, and managing biosamples. Because TEDDY is a long-running cohort study where consistency over time is critical, NIH is essentially prioritizing continuity and avoiding disruptions that could compromise data integrity or comparability across years.

The purpose of the funding is to support the TEDDY DCC in continuing follow-up of the TEDDY children and maintaining the coordinated infrastructure that makes the broader consortium possible. That includes ongoing oversight of study data and biosample acquisition and management, which are central to long-term cohort research. By keeping these core functions stable, the FOA enables TEDDY collaborators to carry out additional studies that focus specifically on immunological measurements and immune marker analyses using samples collected from TEDDY participants. In other words, this funding is meant to preserve and extend the scientific value of the existing cohort by making sure participants can still be followed and their data and samples remain well-curated, accessible, and usable for new immune-related research questions that build on the cohort.

Administratively, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and uses a cooperative agreement mechanism (UC4). A cooperative agreement typically indicates that NIH expects substantial involvement in the project beyond standard grant oversight, often through close coordination on priorities, milestones, data standards, and consortium-level governance. The activity category is listed under Food and Nutrition, Health, reflecting the diabetes and metabolic health focus and the broader public health relevance of identifying early-life determinants and immune pathways associated with disease development.

In terms of scale and expected outcomes, the FOA anticipates a single award, with an award ceiling of $27,000,000, underscoring that this is a major infrastructure and operations-focused award intended to support a large, multi-site longitudinal program rather than a small stand-alone research project. Eligible applicants are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, which aligns with the fact that DCC functions for major NIH consortia are typically housed at universities with the capacity to run complex data systems, manage regulatory and privacy requirements, and coordinate multi-center scientific operations.

The opportunity was created on April 26, 2017, with an original closing date of July 14, 2017, and it is associated with CFDA numbers 93.847, 93.855, and 93.856, which correspond to NIH program areas related to diabetes, digestive, and kidney diseases and related research support. Overall, the funding announcement is best understood as a continuation and enhancement mechanism for the TEDDY study infrastructure, ensuring sustained participant follow-up and high-quality data and biospecimen stewardship so that the scientific community involved in TEDDY can pursue deeper immunological investigations using the uniquely valuable longitudinal TEDDY resource.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Follow-up on Subjects and Immunological Assessments in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes In The Young Study (TEDDY) (UC4)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.847, 93.855, 93.856.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 26, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 14, 2017. (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 $27,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

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