Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub/Resource Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA HD 23 036

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HD 23 036

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity RFA-HD-23-036 invites applications for a cooperative agreement (U24; clinical trial not allowed) to establish a Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub/Resource Center, referred to in the announcement as the Innovation and Data Hub. This award is designed to function as the central coordinating and data-focused backbone for the broader Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence initiative. It is being run alongside companion opportunities that fund the Research Centers of Excellence and a separate Implementation Science Hub/Resource Center, with the expectation that all three components operate as an integrated, collaborative network.

At its core, the Innovation and Data Hub is meant to solve practical, network-wide problems that can limit the impact of multi-site maternal health research: fragmented data practices, inconsistent definitions and measures across projects, uneven data quality, and limited shared infrastructure for collaboration. The Hub is expected to provide a coordination structure that actively supports communication and collaboration among the funded Research Centers and the Implementation Science Hub. In practice, this coordination role typically includes organizing cross-site meetings and working groups, maintaining shared documentation and standard operating procedures, facilitating common decision-making processes, and creating mechanisms for regular information exchange so that lessons learned in one place can be rapidly adopted across the network.

A second major expectation is that the Hub serves as a centralized resource for data-related operations across the initiative. Rather than each Center inventing its own approach, the Innovation and Data Hub is positioned to support consistent data collection approaches, manage or support data curation workflows, and help ensure that incoming data meet strong quality standards. This includes activities such as developing and promoting common data elements, creating uniform data dictionaries, standardizing variable definitions, supporting data validation and quality assurance processes, and making it easier to compile and understand datasets produced by different projects without losing meaning or introducing bias through inconsistent measurement.

A third emphasis is advanced informatics and data science capacity aimed at improving comparability and harmonization across studies. The announcement highlights the need for cutting-edge biomedical research informatics and data science expertise, which signals that the Hub is not just an administrative coordinating center but also an analytical and methodological resource. The intent is to maximize data comparability, enable high-quality harmonization across participating sites, and reduce the barriers that usually prevent pooled analyses or cross-site synthesis. This can involve recommending or implementing shared data standards, supporting metadata best practices, enabling secure and appropriate data exchange, and providing tools or guidance that make multi-site analyses more reliable and reproducible.

Importantly, the Innovation and Data Hub is not expected to generate new experimental data itself. Its role is to function as a resource center, analytical platform, and portal for analytical and data tools that the network can use. In other words, the Hub strengthens and connects what the Research Centers and Implementation Science Hub produce, rather than acting as a separate research site. The U24 mechanism and the cooperative agreement structure also imply substantial NIH involvement and ongoing collaboration between awardees and the funding Institute, with shared responsibility for meeting the initiative goals.

Eligibility for this opportunity is broad across U.S.-based organizations and government entities. 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; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other applicant types listed in the notice. The opportunity also explicitly notes additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, there are firm restrictions on non-U.S. participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply. In addition, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed under this FOA. These restrictions make clear that the Hub’s operations, staffing, and supported components must remain fully domestic.

Administratively, the sponsor is NIH, the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, and the opportunity is categorized as discretionary. The original closing date listed is December 5, 2022. The opportunity is associated with multiple CFDA (assistance listing) numbers, reflecting NIH’s broad authorities and the cross-cutting nature of maternal health, biomedical informatics, and health services research activities that may be supported through the Hub’s coordinating and data-focused mission.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub/Resource Center (U24 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): 93.113, 93.121, 93.172, 93.213, 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.307, 93.313, 93.350, 93.361, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.847, 93.853, 93.855, 93.865, 93.879.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-08-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-12-05. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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 HD 23 036

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