Research Grants Using the Resources from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) (R21) - Clinical Trial Not Allowed | PA 18 408

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 408

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued this discretionary grant opportunity, titled "Research Grants Using the Resources from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) (R21) - Clinical Trial Not Allowed" (Funding Opportunity Number: PA 18 408), to stimulate new research that makes direct use of the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) resources. In practical terms, the announcement is aimed at investigators who want to ask innovative osteoarthritis-related questions by analyzing existing OAI materials rather than building a brand-new cohort or collecting new clinical trial data. The funder highlights that expanding the number and diversity of researchers using the OAI database, clinical data, and imaging assets is a priority, and that the FOA serves as a signal to both applicants and peer reviewers that NIH (including NIAMS and partners) places clear value on secondary analyses and other studies driven by these established OAI datasets.

The scientific focus is straightforward: proposed projects should be centered on using the OAI database and its associated clinical and imaging data to advance osteoarthritis research. OAI is widely known for its rich, longitudinal structure and standardized measurements, which makes it especially useful for studies on disease progression, risk factors, imaging biomarkers, phenotype subgroups, and relationships between symptoms, structure, function, and outcomes. While the announcement text provided does not list specific example aims, it is clearly positioned for research that extracts new insights from existing OAI data and images, encourages broader community engagement with these resources, and increases the overall return on the original investment that built the OAI platform.

This opportunity uses the NIH R21 mechanism, which is commonly intended for exploratory or developmental research, often supporting early-stage ideas, proof-of-concept analyses, or novel approaches that can later justify a larger, more definitive grant. The FOA is explicitly marked "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning applicants cannot propose a study that meets NIH’s definition of a clinical trial (such as prospectively assigning human participants to an intervention to evaluate health-related outcomes). In other words, the work should rely on the existing OAI materials and similar non-interventional approaches rather than testing a new treatment or assigning participants to conditions.

Key administrative details included in the source data are that the sponsoring agency is the NIH, the activity category is Health, and the CFDA numbers associated with the opportunity are 93.846 and 93.866. The award ceiling listed is $200,000, indicating the maximum amount that can be requested under this announcement as presented in the provided record. The opportunity is categorized as a grant funding instrument. The record also shows an original closing date of 2021-05-07 and a creation date of 2017-10-26, which helps place the announcement in time, though applicants would typically confirm current submission windows or reissued versions on NIH/Grants.gov if preparing a real application.

Eligibility is intentionally broad, reflecting a goal of bringing more of the research community into OAI-based work. Eligible applicants include a wide range of U.S. government entities (state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments), certain education-related entities (independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and private institutions of higher education), and multiple categories of nonprofit organizations (including 501(c)(3) nonprofits and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status, in both cases other than institutions of higher education). The FOA also allows applications from for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and from small businesses, as well as federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. Beyond those standard categories, the announcement explicitly names additional eligible applicant types intended to broaden participation and inclusion, such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. (foreign) entities.

Taken together, the core message of the FOA is that NIH wants more investigators to mine and analyze the OAI’s high-value clinical and imaging resources to generate new, publishable findings and methodological advances in osteoarthritis research, using an exploratory R21 grant structure, without conducting a clinical trial, and with eligibility broad enough to include academic, nonprofit, government, for-profit, and international organizations.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Research Grants Using the Resources from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) (R21) - 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): 93.846, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-10-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-07. (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 $200,000.00 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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