Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 26 001
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering a single-source cooperative agreement to support Wave VII of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). This funding opportunity (RFA-AG-26-001) continues and extends a landmark, nationally representative cohort study that began in 1994-1995 with adolescents in grades 7-12 (roughly ages 12-19). The original participants were primarily born between 1976 and 1982, and they are now reaching midlife, which makes this wave especially important for examining how early-life and life course exposures shape health and functioning as people age. A central emphasis of the opportunity is to leverage this midlife timepoint to better understand risk and resilience factors for Alzheimers disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), including how these factors contribute to inequities across populations over time.
The grant is structured as a U01 cooperative agreement, which means the NIH expects substantial scientific and programmatic involvement from the agency in addition to the awardee carrying out the work. The notice specifies "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," signaling that the award is intended for observational and data resource activities rather than interventional clinical trials. The project aims to preserve the core elements that have made Add Health valuable for decades, while also strengthening its role as a population-representative platform for studying aging, cognition, and dementia-related outcomes through a life course lens.
Key activities to be supported include continuing the study's mixed-mode survey approach, maintaining the in-home health visit component, conducting venous blood collection, and sustaining the full set of data dissemination activities. In practice, this means the award will fund the infrastructure and operations needed to recontact and assess the cohort, collect questionnaire and health data using multiple collection modes, and gather biologic specimens that can support future biomarker and mechanistic research relevant to aging and AD/ADRD. Just as importantly, it supports the curation, documentation, and distribution of data so that the broader research community can use Add Health to investigate how social, behavioral, environmental, and biological factors interact across decades to influence cognitive aging and dementia risk, including disparities and inequities in outcomes.
Eligibility is limited in specific ways. The opportunity lists public and state-controlled institutions of higher education as eligible applicants. Foreign organizations (non-U.S. entities) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. At the same time, the announcement allows foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which generally refers to discrete project elements performed outside the U.S. under the direction of a U.S. applicant organization, when well-justified and permitted under NIH policy. This combination of restrictions and allowances matters for teams that collaborate internationally: the applicant organization must be U.S.-based and eligible, and any foreign involvement would need to fit NIH's definition of an allowable foreign component rather than a non-domestic applicant or non-domestic organizational component.
Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity under NIH, using the cooperative agreement funding instrument, with an activity focus in the broad area of education, health, income security, and social services. It is associated with CFDA numbers 93.279, 93.865, and 93.866. The opportunity was created on 2025-06-16, and the original closing date is 2025-10-17. The public summary provided does not list an award ceiling or expected number of awards, but the "single source" framing indicates NIH intends to support one primary awardee to carry out Wave VII, consistent with maintaining continuity and standardization for a long-running national cohort study.
Overall, the purpose of this NOFO is to keep Add Health operating as a high-value national research asset at a pivotal stage in participants' lives, while sharpening its capacity to answer questions about the origins of aging-related outcomes and AD/ADRD risk. By continuing standardized surveys, in-home measurements, biospecimen collection, and robust dissemination, Wave VII is positioned to help researchers connect adolescent and young-adult exposures to midlife health trajectories and later-life dementia vulnerability, including the structural and social drivers that shape unequal risks and outcomes across groups.Apply for RFA AG 26 001
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Single Source: National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult (Add) Health Wave VII (U01 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, 93.865, 93.866.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2025-06-16.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-17. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.
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FAQs: NIH Add Health Wave VII Cooperative Agreement (RFA-AG-26-001)
1. What is this funding opportunity supporting?
This opportunity supports Wave VII of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a landmark nationally representative cohort study that began in 1994-1995. The award is intended to continue and extend Add Health as a long-running research asset by funding the infrastructure and operations needed to recontact and assess participants, collect survey and health data, collect biospecimens, and disseminate data to the broader research community.
2. What is Add Health, and why is Wave VII significant?
Add Health is a nationally representative cohort study that first enrolled adolescents in grades 7-12 (roughly ages 12-19) in 1994-1995. Many original participants were born between 1976 and 1982 and are now reaching midlife. Wave VII is significant because midlife is a pivotal timepoint for studying how early-life and life course exposures shape later health and functioning, including pathways relevant to cognitive aging and dementia-related outcomes.
3. What is the main scientific emphasis of this wave?
A central emphasis is leveraging the cohort's midlife timepoint to better understand risk and resilience factors for Alzheimers disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). This includes examining how these factors contribute to inequities across populations over time and how social, behavioral, environmental, and biological influences interact across decades.
4. What is the funding mechanism, and what does it imply for project management?
The award uses a U01 cooperative agreement mechanism. This means NIH expects substantial scientific and programmatic involvement from the agency in addition to the awardee carrying out the work. In practice, a cooperative agreement generally indicates an ongoing partnership structure where NIH will be actively involved in aspects of project direction and oversight consistent with the cooperative agreement model.
5. Are clinical trials allowed under this opportunity?
No. The opportunity explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," indicating it is intended for observational and data resource activities rather than interventional clinical trials.
6. What kinds of data collection activities are expected to be continued?
The supported activities include continuing Add Health's mixed-mode survey approach and maintaining the in-home health visit component. The intent is to preserve the core elements that have made Add Health valuable over decades while strengthening its role for studying aging, cognition, and dementia-related outcomes from a life course perspective.
7. Does the opportunity support biospecimen collection?
Yes. The award supports venous blood collection as part of Wave VII. This is intended to enable future biomarker and mechanistic research relevant to aging and AD/ADRD, in addition to the questionnaire and in-home health data.
8. What dissemination responsibilities are included?
The opportunity supports sustaining the full set of data dissemination activities. This includes the curation, documentation, and distribution of data so that the broader research community can use Add Health to investigate long-term relationships among social, behavioral, environmental, and biological factors and outcomes related to cognitive aging, dementia risk, and disparities/inequities.
9. Is this opportunity intended to create a new cohort or continue an existing one?
It is intended to continue and extend an existing cohort study. The emphasis is on preserving and strengthening Add Health as a long-standing, population-representative platform, including continuity and standardization appropriate for a decades-long national cohort resource.
10. Is NIH planning to make multiple awards?
The public summary does not list an expected number of awards. However, it is described as a "single-source" cooperative agreement, which indicates NIH intends to support one primary awardee to carry out Wave VII, consistent with the need for continuity and standardization in managing a long-running national cohort study.
11. Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education as eligible applicants, as listed in the opportunity.
12. Are foreign organizations eligible to apply?
No. Foreign organizations (non-U.S. entities) are not eligible to apply under this opportunity.
13. Are non-domestic components of U.S. organizations eligible to apply?
No. Non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply.
14. Can the project include any work performed outside the United States?
The announcement allows foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement. In general terms, this refers to discrete project elements performed outside the U.S. under the direction of a U.S. applicant organization, when well-justified and permitted under NIH policy. Any international collaboration would need to fit this definition rather than relying on a non-U.S. applicant organization or a non-domestic organizational component applying directly.
15. What type of research activities does this NOFO prioritize?
Based on the public summary, the priority is maintaining Add Health as a population-representative observational research platform at midlife, including surveys, in-home health assessments, venous blood collection, and robust data dissemination to enable broad research on aging, cognition, AD/ADRD risk and resilience, and inequities across populations over time.
16. What is the broader policy or program area associated with this opportunity?
Administratively, it is described as a discretionary funding opportunity under NIH, using a cooperative agreement funding instrument, with an activity focus in the broad area of education, health, income security, and social services.
17. What are the associated CFDA numbers?
The opportunity is associated with CFDA numbers 93.279, 93.865, and 93.866.
18. What are the key dates listed in the public summary?
The opportunity was created on 2025-06-16, and the original closing date is 2025-10-17.
19. Does the public summary provide an award ceiling or budget limit?
No. The public summary provided does not list an award ceiling.
20. What is the overall purpose of continuing Add Health at this stage?
The overall purpose is to keep Add Health operating as a high-value national research asset at a pivotal stage in participants' lives (midlife), while sharpening its capacity to answer questions about the origins of aging-related outcomes and AD/ADRD risk. By continuing standardized surveys, in-home measurements, biospecimen collection, and dissemination, Wave VII is positioned to help connect adolescent and young-adult exposures to midlife health trajectories and later-life dementia vulnerability, including structural and social drivers of unequal risks and outcomes across groups.
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