Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 104
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Exploratory/Developmental Clinical Research Grants in Obesity (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PA 18-104) is designed to support early-stage, exploratory work that can move the field closer to effective ways to prevent or treat overweight and obesity. It uses the R21 mechanism, which is typically meant for development and proof-of-concept style projects that are not yet ready for larger, definitive trials but have clear potential to generate the kind of evidence needed to justify the next step. A key feature of this announcement is that clinical trials are optional, meaning applicants may propose a small clinical study if it fits the aims, but they are not required to run a clinical trial to be competitive.
The program’s main emphasis is on exploratory or developmental clinical studies that can speed up the creation, improvement, or refinement of interventions for obesity. These interventions may target adults, children, or both, and can be oriented toward prevention (stopping excess weight gain or progression to obesity) or treatment (reducing weight, improving metabolic health, or addressing obesity-related complications). The scope is intentionally broad in terms of the types of approaches that might be tested, as long as the work is clearly positioned to accelerate intervention development. In addition to intervention-focused clinical work, the FOA also supports exploratory epidemiological research when the purpose is to inform translational or clinical research. In other words, observational or population-based studies are a fit when they are clearly aimed at identifying actionable targets, risk factors, mechanisms, subgroups, or implementation considerations that will directly guide the design of future interventions or clinical studies.
As a discretionary grant program within NIH, the opportunity spans multiple federal activity areas, including education, food and nutrition, health, and income security and social services, reflecting obesity’s cross-cutting public health impact. The announcement is associated with several CFDA numbers (93.321, 93.393, 93.399, 93.847, 93.865), which signals that multiple NIH components or related programs may be involved in supporting awards under this umbrella, depending on the scientific focus of the application.
On the funding side, the listed award ceiling is $200,000. While the provided source data does not specify the number of expected awards, the R21 format generally supports smaller, time-limited projects intended to produce strong preliminary data, feasibility results, or early efficacy signals. Applicants considering this FOA would typically frame their work around a focused set of aims that can be accomplished with limited resources and within the exploratory nature of the mechanism, rather than proposing a large-scale, long-duration clinical trial.
Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. governmental entities and organizations. Eligible applicants explicitly include state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts, as well as public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education. The FOA also allows applications from Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities, and Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. Both nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (in each case, other than institutions of higher education) are eligible, and the opportunity also permits applications from for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses. The listing also includes a general "Others" category, indicating flexibility for additional organizational types that meet NIH eligibility rules.
Beyond the standard eligibility categories, the FOA calls out additional eligible applicant types to encourage broad participation and to support research capacity and relevance in diverse communities. These include 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), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). It also includes faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized tribes. Notably, the FOA also allows non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) to apply, which opens the door to international research groups or collaborations proposing obesity-related exploratory clinical or translationally relevant epidemiologic work.
The opportunity was created on November 15, 2017, and the original closing date listed in the source data is March 27, 2018. Overall, the FOA is best understood as an NIH pathway for generating the early clinical or translational evidence needed to move promising obesity prevention or treatment ideas from concept toward more definitive testing, while also encouraging participation from a wide range of institutions and community-centered organizations that can contribute to impactful, real-world obesity research.Apply for PA 18 104
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Exploratory/Developmental Clinical Research Grants in Obesity (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.321, 93.393, 93.399, 93.847, 93.865.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-15.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-03-27. (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 $200,000.00 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.
[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal:
Browse more opportunities from the same category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services
Next opportunity: Epidemiology and Prevention in Alcohol Research (R03 - Clinical Trial - Optional)
Previous opportunity: Research on Transgender Health (R21)
Applicant Portal:
Are you interested in learning about about how to apply for this government funding opportunity? You can create a free applicant account and receive instant access to our applicant portal that many business owners like you have benefited from.
Apply for PA 18 104
Applicants also applied for:
Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (PA 18 104) also looked into and applied for these:
| Funding Opportunity |
|---|
| Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 - Clinical Trial Required) Apply for PA 18 374 Funding Number: PA 18 374 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award (Parent K25 - Clinical Trial Required) Apply for PA 18 395 Funding Number: PA 18 395 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 - Clinical Trial Required) Apply for PA 18 397 Funding Number: PA 18 397 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Opportunities for Collaborative Research at the NIH Clinical Center (U01 - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 18 646 Funding Number: PAR 18 646 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Research on the Health of Women of Understudied, Underrepresented and Underreported (U3) Populations An ORWH FY18 Administrative Supplement (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PA 18 676 Funding Number: PA 18 676 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| Exploratory/Developmental Clinical Research Grants in Obesity (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PA 18 720 Funding Number: PA 18 720 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| Rare Diseases Clinical Research Consortia (RDCRC) for Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (U54 Clinical Trials Optional) Apply for RFA TR 18 020 Funding Number: RFA TR 18 020 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| Time-Sensitive Obesity Policy and Program Evaluation (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 18 854 Funding Number: PAR 18 854 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Discovery of Biomarkers, Biomarker Signatures, and Endpoints for Pain (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 18 041 Funding Number: RFA NS 18 041 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Discovery and Validation of Novel Targets for Safe and Effective Pain Treatment (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA NS 18 042 Funding Number: RFA NS 18 042 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| Analytical and/or Clinical Validation of a Candidate Biomarker for Pain (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 18 046 Funding Number: RFA NS 18 046 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Discovery and Validation of Novel Targets for Safe and Effective Pain Treatment (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA NS 18 043 Funding Number: RFA NS 18 043 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Predoctoral Training in Advanced Data Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) - Institutional Research Training Program [T32] Apply for RFA OD 19 011 Funding Number: RFA OD 19 011 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Optimization of Non-addictive Therapies [Small Molecules and Biologics] to Treat Pain (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA NS 19 010 Funding Number: RFA NS 19 010 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| HEAL Initiative: Translational Development of Devices to Treat Pain (U18 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA EB 18 003 Funding Number: RFA EB 18 003 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| HEAL Initiative: Translational Devices to Treat Pain (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 19 016 Funding Number: RFA NS 19 016 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| HEAL Initiative: Optimization of Non-addictive Therapies [Small Molecules and Biologics] to Treat Pain - (U44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA NS 19 020 Funding Number: RFA NS 19 020 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| HEAL Initiative: Translational Devices to Treat Pain (U44 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 19 017 Funding Number: RFA NS 19 017 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $1,000,000 |
| Administrative Supplement for Research on Bioethical Issues Apply for PA 19 217 Funding Number: PA 19 217 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| HEAL Initiative: Development of Therapies and Technologies Directed at Enhanced Pain Management (R41/R42 Clinical Trial Required) Apply for RFA NS 20 008 Funding Number: RFA NS 20 008 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
Grant application guides and resources
It is always free to apply for government grants. However the process may be very complex depending on the funding opportunity you are applying for. Let us help you!
Apply for Grants
Inside Our Applicants Portal
Access Applicants Portal
- Grants Repository - Access current and historic funding opportunities with ease. Thousands of funding opportunities are published every week. We can help you sort through the database and find the eligible ones to apply for.
- Applicant Video Guides - The grant application process can be challenging to follow. We can help you with intuitive video guides to speed up the process and eliminate errors in submissions.
- Grant Proposal Wizard - We have developed a network of private funding organizations and investors across the United States. We can reach out and submit your proposal to these contacts to maximize your chances of getting the funding you need.
Premium leads for funding administrators, grant writers, and loan issuers
Thousands of people visit our website for their funding needs every day. When a user creates a grant proposal and files for submission, we pass the information on to funding administrators, grant writers, and government loan issuers.
If you manage government grant programs, provide grant writing services, or issue personal or government loans, we can help you reach your audience.
Learn More
Request more information:
Would you like to learn more about this funding opportunity, similar opportunities to "PA 18 104", eligibility, application service, and/or application tips? Submit an inquiry below:
Don't forget to subscribe to our grant alerts mailing list to receive weekly alerts on new and updated grant funding opportunities like this one in your email.