Systems Biology: The Next Generation for Infectious Diseases (U19) | RFA AI 16 080

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 16 080

Systems Biology: The Next Generation for Infectious Diseases (U19) (RFA AI 16-080) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aimed at creating a small number of multidisciplinary Systems Biology Centers focused on infectious diseases. The central goal is to support centers that can use modern systems biology to build predictive, testable models of infectious disease processes, especially models that explain and forecast how hosts and pathogens interact at the molecular and cellular levels during infection and during treatment. Rather than funding isolated experiments or purely computational work, the FOA emphasizes tightly coupled experimental and computational efforts that iterate together to generate, refine, and validate hypotheses that matter to the broader infectious disease research community.

A defining feature of this opportunity is the expectation that applicants will integrate high-throughput experimental data generation with advanced computational modeling in a single coordinated center. The FOA points to integrated datasets produced by approaches such as omics technologies (for example, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and related high-dimensional assays) combined with computational and statistical methods capable of handling complex, multi-layer biological systems. The intent is that the data are not collected as an end in themselves; they are collected to feed models that can make predictions, identify key drivers of disease outcomes, and guide follow-on experiments. In practice, this means proposing a framework where experiments inform models, models generate new hypotheses or predictions, and additional experiments are designed specifically to test those predictions, closing the loop between measurement and mechanism.

The scientific emphasis is on systems-level host-pathogen molecular interactions, meaning the center should address infection as a dynamic system involving both the pathogen and the host response across time, tissues, and biological scales. Projects are expected to start from clear hypotheses relevant to infection or treatment (including, for instance, mechanisms of pathogenesis, immune evasion, correlates of protection, treatment response, or reasons for treatment failure) and then use integrated data and modeling to evaluate those hypotheses. A strong application, as implied by the FOA, would not treat “systems biology” as simply collecting large datasets; it would make a case for why specific datasets, collected under well-justified experimental designs, are necessary to parameterize and challenge models that can ultimately predict disease trajectories or therapeutic outcomes.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using the cooperative agreement mechanism (U19), which typically indicates substantial NIH programmatic involvement compared with a standard research project grant. The activity category is Health, and the CFDA numbers listed are 93.855 and 93.856. The FOA was created on November 16, 2016, with an original closing date of March 15, 2017. The expected number of awards is five, and the award ceiling is $2,000,000 (as listed in the source data), signaling support for center-scale efforts rather than single-investigator projects.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can assemble the required interdisciplinary capabilities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; 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 and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions where specified); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities as described in the FOA’s additional eligibility information. This wide eligibility aligns with the FOA’s center model, which often depends on collaboration among universities, research institutes, hospitals, and sometimes industry partners with specialized technology or modeling expertise.

Overall, the opportunity is designed to move infectious disease research toward integrated, predictive science. It supports centers that can combine rigorous hypothesis-driven biology, high-throughput data generation, and computational modeling into a coherent program that produces validated models with real explanatory and predictive power for infectious disease mechanisms and treatment responses.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Systems Biology: The Next Generation for Infectious Diseases (U19)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.855, 93.856.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 16, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 15, 2017. (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 $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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