Research Grants Using the Resources from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) (R01) - Clinical Trial Not Allowed | PA 18 409

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 409

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced this discretionary grant opportunity, PA-18-409, to support R01 research projects that make direct use of the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) resources, specifically its established database, associated clinical datasets, and imaging collections. The central purpose is to broaden and deepen scientific use of the OAI by encouraging investigators, including those who may not have previously worked with OAI data, to develop independent research questions that can be answered using these existing materials. By explicitly highlighting the OAI as the foundation for proposed studies, the announcement signals that NIH leadership, including the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and other partners, views the OAI as an important shared national research asset and wants to see it leveraged more widely across the osteoarthritis research community.

This is an R01 mechanism, which generally supports substantial, hypothesis-driven projects with clear aims, rigorous analytic plans, and meaningful expected impact. The announcement is labeled “Clinical Trial Not Allowed,” meaning applications should not propose a prospective interventional clinical trial. Instead, the work is expected to be based on secondary analyses, methodological development, biomarker or imaging analyses, epidemiologic modeling, progression prediction, phenotyping, risk stratification, or other research approaches that rely on the already collected OAI clinical information and images. In practical terms, the emphasis is on extracting new knowledge from existing participant data and imaging rather than enrolling participants or testing interventions.

The scope is broad as long as the proposed science is tightly connected to the OAI resource. Projects might focus on osteoarthritis onset or progression, imaging-derived measures and their relationship to symptoms and outcomes, identification of prognostic factors, development or validation of analytic methods for musculoskeletal imaging, or integrative analyses that combine clinical variables with imaging features. The announcement’s framing is essentially an invitation for researchers to treat OAI as a platform for high-value, cost-efficient discovery, where the major investment in data collection has already been made and the next step is maximizing what can be learned from it.

Eligibility is intentionally expansive and includes a wide range of domestic and non-domestic organizations. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or township 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education where specified); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other applicant types. The opportunity also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant categories 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; tribal governments that are not federally recognized; and foreign (non-U.S.) entities. This wide eligibility reinforces the program’s goal of expanding OAI usage beyond a narrow set of traditional users and into a broader research ecosystem.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding instrument is a grant, the activity category is health, and the associated CFDA numbers are 93.846 and 93.866. The announcement was created on 2017-10-26, and the original closing date listed in the source data is 2021-05-07. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided listing, which typically means applicants must rely on standard NIH R01 budgeting rules and the specific FOA text in NIH’s full posting for any additional constraints or expectations.

In short, this FOA is designed to fund robust R01-level research that delivers new, publishable insights about osteoarthritis by mining and analyzing the OAI’s rich clinical and imaging datasets, without conducting a clinical trial. The program’s emphasis is less on creating new cohorts and more on making the most of a major existing national resource, while opening the door to a very broad set of institutions and organizations, including minority-serving institutions, tribal entities, community-based groups, federal agencies, U.S. territories, and international applicants.

• 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) (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): 93.846, 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.)
• 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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