Understanding the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Gastroparesis in Adults and Children (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DK 20 030

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 20 030

This funding opportunity is an NIH/NIDDK R01 solicitation (RFA-DK-20-030) focused on uncovering the cellular and molecular causes of gastroparesis in both adults and children, with the explicit restriction that clinical trials are not allowed. The scientific premise is that, since 2006, the NIDDK-funded Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium (GpCRC) has built a uniquely valuable foundation for discovery by pairing deep clinical phenotyping with what is described as the largest gastroparesis tissue repository. The program is designed to capitalize on that infrastructure to move beyond descriptive clinical observations and into mechanism-level understanding that can ultimately point to actionable therapeutic targets.

The central goal is to stimulate basic and translational research that explains how gastroparesis develops and persists at the level of cells, tissues, and molecular pathways. The announcement emphasizes cross-disciplinary work and explicitly calls for investigators with expertise in areas like neuroscience (for example, enteric and autonomic neural regulation of motility), immunology (including inflammatory or immune-mediated injury and repair), microbiology (such as microbial influences on gut function or host response), and physiology (covering smooth muscle, pacemaker activity, neuromuscular signaling, and integrative gastric function). While the text does not list specific aims, the theme is clear: studies should use modern mechanistic approaches to identify what is changing in the stomach and related control systems in gastroparesis, why those changes occur, and which pathways might be most promising to target for new therapies.

A defining feature of the opportunity is its connection to the GpCRC resource environment. By highlighting the tissue repository and linked phenotypic data, NIDDK is signaling strong interest in projects that can take advantage of well-characterized human samples and rigorously annotated clinical information. In practical terms, that suggests proposals may be especially competitive if they leverage existing consortium resources to correlate cellular or molecular findings with patient characteristics, disease subtypes, symptom patterns, or other measured clinical features, thereby improving the chances that mechanistic discoveries translate into clinically meaningful targets.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant under the NIH umbrella, categorized within food, nutrition, and health (CFDA 93.847). The award ceiling listed is $250,000 (as provided in the source information), and the original application closing date was March 3, 2021, with a creation date of November 13, 2020. The funding instrument is an R01, which typically supports substantial, hypothesis-driven projects rather than small pilot studies, and the "Clinical Trial Not Allowed" label means the proposed research must not include a prospective intervention assignment intended to evaluate effects on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes. Projects can still be human-focused and translational, but they must remain on the mechanistic side (for example, analyses of human tissues, observational studies tied to biospecimens, and experimental work in models that informs human disease), rather than testing treatments in participants.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizational types and includes state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; special district governments; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The opportunity also explicitly includes and encourages applications from a range of institution types often targeted for inclusion in federal research funding, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, foreign involvement is tightly restricted: non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined by NIH policy are not allowed.

In plain terms, NIDDK is using this R01 call to pull together multidisciplinary mechanistic science around gastroparesis, anchored by the GpCRC's tissue and data assets, with the expectation that a clearer map of the underlying biology will reveal specific, testable therapeutic targets for future development.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Understanding the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Gastroparesis in Adults and Children (R01 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): 93.847.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-11-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-03-03. (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 $250,000.00 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 DK 20 030

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