Investigating the Effects of Addictive Substances on Brain Developmental Trajectories Using Innovative Scalable Methods for Quantification of Cell Identity, Lineage and Connectivity (R01 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DA 23 036

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 23 036

This NIH grant opportunity (RFA-DA-23-036) is an R01 research funding announcement focused on how exposure to addictive substances alters brain development. The core idea is to move beyond broad, coarse measures of brain change and instead produce systematic, highly detailed maps of what happens to specific, molecularly defined cell types and the circuits they form as the brain develops. The program is aimed at understanding both prenatal (in utero) and postnatal exposures, with an emphasis on quantifying how substances affect the number of cells, where those cells end up in the brain (their spatial distribution), and how they wire up to other cells (connectivity). Rather than looking at the brain as a single unit, the FOA encourages whole-brain analyses or studies of distributed circuits that are especially relevant to clinical outcomes, meaning circuits implicated in cognition, reward, stress, executive function, and other domains commonly affected by substance exposure.

A major priority in this FOA is the use of innovative, scalable methods that can generate granular, quantitative information about cell identity, lineage, and connectivity. In practical terms, the projects supported under this announcement are expected to take advantage of modern approaches that can classify cell types based on molecular signatures and then measure how those cell populations and their connections shift across development after substance exposure. The emphasis on scalability signals that NIH is looking for approaches that can be applied broadly and systematically, not just in small, narrowly sampled experiments. The end product NIH is pushing for is a clear, data-rich picture of how specific substances disrupt developmental trajectories at the level of defined cell populations and circuits, and how those disruptions unfold over time.

The long-term goals are explicitly translational, even though the work supported here is not a clinical trial. The FOA seeks to identify critical developmental windows when the brain is most vulnerable to substance exposure, and to uncover cellular and circuit mechanisms that explain why the effects of exposure can be long-lasting or emerge later in development. A key motivation is to complement and help interpret large human longitudinal neuroimaging efforts, specifically calling out the ABCD (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development) study as an example. Human imaging can show large-scale structural and functional differences across time, but it often cannot pinpoint which cell types, developmental programs, or wiring rules were altered. This program is designed to fill that mechanistic gap so that insights from cellular and circuit-level studies can inform clinical thinking about risk, timing, prevention, and potentially intervention strategies.

Administratively, this is a discretionary NIH grant using the R01 mechanism and is labeled “Clinical Trial Not Allowed,” meaning applications should not propose clinical trial activities as defined by NIH. The activity areas include health (and is listed under education/health categories in the opportunity metadata), and it aligns with NIH interests in substance use and addiction research. The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $700,000 (as provided in the source data). The original closing date shown is February 2, 2023, and the opportunity was created on November 8, 2022.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. 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 as well as other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other entities. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). Overall, NIH is signaling a strong interest in bringing in a wide range of institutions and research environments to tackle the problem of how addictive substances reshape brain development at the level of defined cells and circuits.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Investigating the Effects of Addictive Substances on Brain Developmental Trajectories Using Innovative Scalable Methods for Quantification of Cell Identity, Lineage and Connectivity (R01 - 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): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-11-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-02-02. (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 $700,000.00 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 DA 23 036

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