Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging and Alzheimers Disease and Alzheimers Disease-Related Dementias Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA AG 25 008

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 25 008

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is soliciting applications under RFA-AG-25-008 to establish a Demography and Economics of Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease/Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias Coordinating Center (often described as the D and E Coordinating Center, or D and E CC). This is a U24 cooperative agreement (clinical trial optional) intended to function as a central hub that supports and connects the NIA-funded Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging, including those focused on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (the D and E Centers), while also directly supporting the operational and strategic needs of NIA program staff. In practical terms, the Coordinating Center is meant to be the connective tissue for a national program of research centers, helping the whole network operate more effectively and amplifying its scientific and public impact.

The core purpose of the D and E CC is coordination, integration, and field-building across the demography and economics of aging research landscape, with explicit attention to AD/ADRD where relevant. The D and E Centers Program itself is focused on advancing population-based, interdisciplinary social science research in demography, economics, and closely related areas that inform how societies age, how resources and risks are distributed across older populations, and how these patterns intersect with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The Coordinating Center is expected to strengthen collaboration among the individual D and E Centers, create efficiencies by sharing resources and practices, and help align work across centers so that the overall program produces more than the sum of its parts.

A key emphasis in the announcement is that the Coordinating Center should serve as a bridge across multiple communities: the D and E Centers, their host institutions, individual scholars (including those not directly funded through a center), NIA leadership and program staff, and the wider research and policy communities that use evidence on aging and dementia to guide decisions. That means the CC is not simply an administrative office; it is expected to actively facilitate communication, convene stakeholders, and translate a distributed set of center activities into a coherent, visible, and policy-relevant research enterprise. This includes helping researchers and centers connect with decision-makers and audiences who can use findings in real-world settings, especially around the social and economic dimensions of aging and dementia.

Another major goal is to enhance scientific impact by fostering synergies across the D and E Centers and across other NIA-funded infrastructure. The NOFO specifically points to building connections with other NIA-funded P30 Centers programs and leveraging research infrastructure such as longitudinal datasets and contextual data repositories. In other words, the CC is expected to help the network take fuller advantage of major data resources and to encourage cross-center projects or comparative work that might not emerge without deliberate coordination. This kind of role often includes harmonizing approaches, sharing tools and documentation, supporting data discoverability, and promoting best practices for using large-scale population data in aging and AD/ADRD research.

The opportunity also highlights inclusion and representation as a program priority. The Coordinating Center is expected to help promote a more inclusive and representative community of scholars and institutions involved in the demography and economics of aging, including AD/ADRD-focused work. The NOFO explicitly mentions shared mentorship and training activities as a mechanism for accomplishing this. In practice, that implies the CC should help broaden participation, cultivate the next generation of researchers, and create opportunities for scholars from a wide range of backgrounds and institutions to access mentorship, professional development, and connections to the D and E Centers network.

In addition to coordination and inclusion, the Coordinating Center is tasked with raising the profile of the D and E Centers Program and the broader field of demography and economics of aging, including research related to AD/ADRD. This “visibility” function suggests an expectation for proactive outreach and communications efforts that can spotlight center outputs, communicate the value of population-based social science insights, and make it easier for stakeholders to understand what the D and E Centers collectively contribute. The NOFO frames this as building and executing approaches, which implies a deliberate strategy rather than ad hoc dissemination.

From an eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is broadly open to a wide range of domestic organizations, including state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments, tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments), nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses, among others. The NOFO also calls out additional eligible applicant types such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal 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, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. However, foreign components are allowed when they meet the NIH Grants Policy Statement definition, meaning certain parts of the work may be carried out internationally under an eligible U.S.-based applicant, subject to NIH rules.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity under the NIH umbrella, with the funding instrument listed as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the award involves substantial involvement by NIH program staff compared to a standard grant. The CFDA number is 93.866, the sponsoring agency is NIH/NIA, and the listed original application due date is 2024-11-01 (with the posting created on 2024-10-04). The notice does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided text, so applicants would need to consult the full NOFO for budget limits, project period expectations, and any additional submission or review details.

Overall, the grant is aimed at building a strong, visible, and collaborative national coordination function for a network of centers working at the intersection of population aging, social and economic conditions, and AD/ADRD. The Coordinating Center’s success is framed in terms of improving connectivity, boosting scientific and real-world impact, leveraging shared infrastructure and data resources, expanding mentorship and training, and ensuring that the field benefits from broader inclusion of scholars and institutions.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging and Alzheimers Disease and Alzheimers Disease-Related Dementias Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-01. (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.

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