Genomics Centers for Infectious Diseases (U19 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AI 23 015

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 23 015

Genomics Centers for Infectious Diseases (GCID) (RFA-AI-23-015) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity that renews and supports a coordinated network of genomics centers focused on infectious diseases. The central goal is to push forward innovative genomics and bioinformatics approaches that improve how the research community detects, understands, and responds to infectious threats, with a strong emphasis on human pathogens and their interactions with the human host and the broader microbiome. The FOA is designed to back centers that can do high-impact work spanning basic discovery through translational and clinically relevant questions, meaning the work should not stop at describing pathogens but should also help generate tools and insights that can be used to diagnose, prevent, and treat infectious diseases.

A defining feature of this program is outbreak readiness. The GCIDs are expected to be more than individual labs doing isolated projects; they are meant to function as a prepared, interoperable network that can rapidly pivot when urgent public health needs arise. During an infectious disease outbreak, these centers should be able to quickly apply their expertise, sequencing capacity, analytic pipelines, and collaborative structures to support a coordinated research response. In practical terms, that implies having mature workflows for generating and analyzing pathogen genomes, integrating host and microbiome data when relevant, and delivering interpretable outputs that can guide scientific and potentially public health decision-making. The program also emphasizes tool development, including methods and platforms that make genomics more actionable for infectious disease research, such as improved sequencing strategies, standardized and scalable bioinformatics pipelines, data integration frameworks, and approaches that clarify host-pathogen biology.

This FOA uses a cooperative agreement mechanism (U19), which typically indicates substantial NIH programmatic involvement compared with a standard research grant. Applicants should interpret that as an expectation of close coordination with NIH, adherence to network-level goals, and meaningful collaboration across participating sites. The title also specifies "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," signaling that the supported activities must not include clinical trials as defined by NIH policy. While projects can be clinically relevant and may involve clinical samples or clinically oriented research questions, the work cannot be structured as an NIH-defined clinical trial where human participants are prospectively assigned to interventions to evaluate effects on health-related outcomes.

The opportunity falls under the Health funding activity category with CFDA number 93.855 and is listed as a discretionary funding opportunity. The original application due date was June 2, 2023, and the opportunity was created on February 23, 2023. The award ceiling is listed as $2,850,000, indicating the maximum level of funding expected per award (as stated in the source data). Although the number of expected awards is not provided in the supplied listing, the program is framed as a network, which generally implies multiple funded centers working in parallel and in collaboration.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and government entities, reflecting an intent to draw on diverse institutional capabilities and to support inclusive participation across the research ecosystem. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or 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; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (outside higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISI institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). Taken together, that eligibility language signals an openness to multi-institutional and potentially international collaborations, which is often important for infectious disease genomics where pathogens and outbreaks do not respect borders.

Overall, this opportunity is aimed at building and sustaining advanced genomics centers that can both drive innovation in infectious disease genomics and serve as a standing, surge-capable resource during emerging outbreaks. Competitive applications would be expected to present a compelling scientific and tool-development agenda tied to host-pathogen and microbiome interactions, demonstrate robust bioinformatics and data-handling capabilities, and show credible plans for collaboration and rapid mobilization as part of a broader GCID network, all while staying within the non-clinical-trial scope of the FOA.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Genomics Centers for Infectious Diseases (U19 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): 93.855.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-02. (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 $2,850,000.00 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.

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