Limited Competition: Follow-up on Subjects and Immunological Assessments in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes In The Young Study (TEDDY) (UC4) | RFA DK 16 504

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The 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 intended to support continued work within the long-running TEDDY epidemiological study. TEDDY focuses on understanding environmental and other determinants that contribute to diabetes development in children, and this announcement is specifically designed to keep the study infrastructure moving forward so that enrolled children can continue to be followed over time and so that valuable biological samples can continue to be used for advanced immunological research.

A central feature of this opportunity is that it is a limited competition. Rather than being open to the broader research community, the FOA invites an application only from the Program Director/Principal Investigator of the current TEDDY Data Coordinating Center (DCC). The rationale is that the DCC has been embedded in the consortium since the beginning and already holds the operational knowledge, systems, and continuity required to manage complex longitudinal follow-up, coordinate multi-site activities, and maintain the integrity of data and biospecimen processes. In practical terms, the NIH is prioritizing continuity of leadership and infrastructure because TEDDY data and samples are uniquely valuable, and disruptions in coordination could jeopardize long-term scientific utility.

The primary purpose of the funding is to enable the TEDDY DCC to continue following TEDDY participants (the "TEDDY children") and to support downstream collaborative studies that use TEDDY samples to measure and analyze immune markers. That means the award is aimed at maintaining and extending the backbone functions that make TEDDY useful as a platform for immunological discovery: ongoing participant follow-up, continued data capture and management, and biosample acquisition and tracking. By ensuring the cohort remains well-characterized over time, the DCC makes it possible for researchers to test new hypotheses about immune development, immune dysregulation, and early biological signals associated with diabetes-related outcomes using consistently collected, well-documented specimens.

This FOA uses a cooperative agreement mechanism (UC4), which signals that NIH expects substantial involvement in the conduct of the work beyond what is typical for a standard research grant. Cooperative agreements are commonly used for large, complex, multi-center programs where NIH program staff play an active partnership role in oversight, coordination, and strategic direction. In the context of TEDDY, that generally aligns with the need for harmonized procedures, standardized data and specimen governance, and coordinated decision-making across participating entities and investigators.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and falls under NIH activity areas connected to food and nutrition and health. The CFDA numbers associated with the announcement are 93.847, 93.855, and 93.856, reflecting NIH program areas relevant to diabetes and related biomedical research. The eligible applicant type listed is public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, consistent with the typical institutional home for a major data coordinating center that manages large-scale research operations.

Eligibility is also constrained by restrictions on non-U.S. applicants. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities, meaning foreign institutions, are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which generally means that while the prime applicant must be a U.S.-based eligible institution, certain project elements may involve foreign collaborations or performance sites when appropriately justified and compliant with NIH policy. This structure allows the project to maintain U.S.-based stewardship of the award while still permitting international scientific contributions when they are part of the overall research enterprise.

The announcement was created on December 15, 2016, and had an original closing date of March 15, 2017. NIH anticipated making a single award (expected awards: 1), reinforcing the idea that this is meant to fund the existing TEDDY DCC as the sole coordinating hub rather than create multiple competing centers. Although an award ceiling is referenced, the specific dollar amount is not provided in the supplied source text, suggesting applicants would need to consult the full FOA for budget limits, allowable costs, and any cost-sharing or budget format requirements.

Overall, this funding opportunity is best understood as NIH support for sustaining and extending a critical national research resource. It is designed to preserve continuity in TEDDY participant follow-up and to ensure that the data and biospecimen infrastructure remains strong enough to support sophisticated immunological assessments. The end result NIH is aiming for is a well-maintained longitudinal cohort and a coordinated data and sample ecosystem that enables investigators to continue generating insights into immune markers and early biological pathways relevant to diabetes in children.

• The 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 2016-12-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-03-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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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