Human Studies of Target Identification, Biomarkers and Disease Mechanisms Specific to CNS Small Blood and Lymphatic Vessels (R01) | RFA NS 18 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 18 004

The Human Studies of Target Identification, Biomarkers and Disease Mechanisms Specific to CNS Small Blood and Lymphatic Vessels (R01) funding opportunity (RFA-NS-18-004) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant announcement issued under the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research. The Blueprint is a partnership across 14 NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices designed to speed up neuroscience discoveries and ultimately reduce the burden of disorders that affect the nervous system. This particular R01 call is centered on a specific and increasingly important area of human neuroscience: the small blood vessels and lymphatic vessels of the central nervous system (CNS), explicitly including the retina, and how these vascular and lymphatic systems contribute to normal function, disease development, recovery/repair, and treatment response.

At its core, the FOA is looking for human-focused research projects that advance the ability to study CNS small vessels in living people, especially through non-invasive or minimally invasive imaging and profiling approaches. The emphasis on translation means the NIH is not only interested in basic concept demonstrations, but also in research that helps move tools and technologies toward practical use in real-world human studies. The overall goal is to enable investigators to observe, measure, and characterize small vessel biology in the human CNS more effectively, then use those measurements to clarify disease mechanisms and identify actionable targets or measurable biomarkers that can inform diagnosis, prognosis, patient stratification, or therapeutic monitoring.

The scope is intentionally broad in terms of what kinds of projects fit, as long as they remain anchored to CNS small blood and lymphatic vessels and are relevant to human biology across the lifespan. Applications may focus primarily on technology and tool development, such as creating or improving methods for non-invasive imaging of microvasculature or CNS lymphatic structures, developing profiling tools that can capture vessel-specific molecular or functional signatures, or refining analysis pipelines that turn imaging or profiling data into reliable, interpretable biological readouts. Other applications may focus more on discovery and validation, for example identifying new biological targets, pathways, or candidate biomarkers linked to small vessel dysfunction or lymphatic impairment, and then validating those findings in human cohorts or human-derived data. The FOA also allows combined projects that pair mechanistic investigation with technology development, reflecting the idea that better tools often unlock better mechanistic understanding, and that mechanistic questions can drive the requirements for next-generation measurement methods.

The research themes highlighted by the announcement include understanding the role of CNS small blood vessels and lymphatic vessels in normal physiology, in disease processes, in repair and recovery, and in responses to therapy. This frames CNS microvascular and lymphatic biology as relevant not just to a single condition, but as a cross-cutting contributor to many neurological and neuro-ophthalmic disorders where blood flow, barrier function, immune trafficking, clearance pathways, and vascular integrity can shape outcomes. By emphasizing biomarkers and target identification, the FOA signals interest in deliverables that can be measured in people and potentially used to guide clinical research and, eventually, clinical decision-making.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, this is a discretionary grant mechanism using the NIH Research Project Grant (R01) instrument. The agency is NIH, and the opportunity sits within a broader set of NIH neuroscience-related funding activities captured under multiple CFDA numbers (including 93.113, 93.121, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.350, 93.361, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, and 93.867). The source data lists an award ceiling of $499,000. The original closing date shown is 2017-12-11, and the posting creation date is 2017-09-18, which indicates this was a time-limited call as presented in the provided record.

Eligibility is wide and includes many types of U.S. organizations and governments, along with certain non-U.S. entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/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; other Native American tribal organizations (not federally recognized); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education, since those are listed separately); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized ones, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities/foreign organizations. This breadth suggests an intent to draw in multidisciplinary teams across academia, healthcare-related research settings, community-connected institutions, and technology developers, including international collaborators where appropriate.

Taken together, the opportunity is essentially a targeted push to make human CNS microvascular and lymphatic biology more measurable and clinically meaningful. It encourages applicants to either build the next generation of non-invasive imaging/profiling capabilities, apply such capabilities to uncover and validate biomarkers and therapeutic targets, or integrate both into cohesive projects that explain disease mechanisms and track how the CNS small vessel and lymphatic systems change with age, disease, recovery, or treatment.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Human Studies of Target Identification, Biomarkers and Disease Mechanisms Specific to CNS Small Blood and Lymphatic Vessels (R01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.113, 93.121, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.350, 93.361, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-09-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-12-11. (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 $499,000.00 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.

Apply for RFA NS 18 004

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