Toward ElucidAting MechanismS Contributing to HIV Reservoirs in NIDDK-relevant Tissues (Cure TEAMS) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA DK 20 023

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 20 023

The NIH funding opportunity "Toward ElucidAting MechanismS Contributing to HIV Reservoirs in NIDDK-relevant Tissues (Cure TEAMS)" (RFA-DK-20-023) is an R01 grant program from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Its central goal is to push HIV cure research forward by funding multidisciplinary, team-based projects that can explain, in a detailed and mechanistic way, how latent HIV reservoirs are established and how they persist in anatomical sites and biological systems that fall within NIDDK's mission areas. In practice, this means the FOA is not just asking whether HIV can be found in certain tissues, but why it remains there, what cellular and physiological processes protect it, and which tissue-specific features make eradication difficult.

A key emphasis is the creation of research teams that combine complementary expertise. The FOA is designed for collaborations that bring HIV specialists together with experts in physiology, pathophysiology, pathobiology, and metabolism, particularly as these disciplines apply to organs and systems that NIDDK prioritizes. The expectation is that funded teams will deliver comprehensive mechanistic analyses, meaning work that connects observations to causal biological pathways and explains the processes that maintain latency and reservoir stability in those tissues. The overall direction is strongly translational in the sense that understanding mechanisms is framed as a necessary step toward designing strategies that could ultimately contribute to an HIV cure.

This opportunity uses the NIH R01 mechanism and is marked "Clinical Trial Optional," which generally means applicants may propose studies that include clinical trials if they are appropriate for the scientific aims, but a clinical trial is not required. The activity sits within health-related research (listed under Food and Nutrition, Health) and is associated with CFDA number 93.847. The award ceiling listed is $500,000, which signals the program is aiming to support substantial projects with enough resources to support multi-investigator, multi-method approaches.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common applicant types for NIH research funding. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and 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; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education when specified in the category); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories that NIH often calls out to encourage participation from diverse and underserved communities and organizational types, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, Hispanic-serving Institutions, HBCUs, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations), regional organizations, tribal governments that are not federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

From the administrative details provided, the opportunity was created on 2020-09-01, with an original closing date of 2021-11-17. The listing notes an "ExpectedAwards" field but does not provide a number in the source data you included, so the projected volume of awards is not stated there. Overall, the FOA is best understood as a targeted call for well-integrated teams to explain tissue- and system-level biology that enables HIV latency and persistence in NIDDK-relevant anatomical reservoirs, with the explicit intent that these mechanistic insights will accelerate progress toward curative interventions.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Toward ElucidAting MechanismS Contributing to HIV Reservoirs in NIDDK-relevant Tissues (Cure TEAMS) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.847.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-09-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-11-17. (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 $500,000.00 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 20 023

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