Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 16 003
Apply for RFA OD 16 003
- The HHS-NIH11 in the education, environment, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes: Patient Reported Outcomes Research Resource Center Core (ECHO PRO Core) (U24)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.113, 93.121, 93.172, 93.173, 93.213, 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.307, 93.310, 93.313, 93.350, 93.361, 93.393, 93.395, 93.399, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.846, 93.847, 93.853, 93.855, 93.856, 93.859, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867, 93.879,.
- This funding opportunity was created on Dec 07, 2015 and posted on Dec 07, 2015.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 15, 2016. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 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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Opportunity Summary:
This funding opportunity (RFA-OD-16-003) is a cooperative agreement (U24) from HHS/NIH that supports the creation of a centralized Patient Reported Outcomes Research Resource Center Core for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. The core aim is to strengthen how ECHO measures health and disease outcomes that are best captured directly from patients and families, by building shared expertise, tools, and services around patient-reported outcomes (PROs). In practice, the ECHO PRO Core is meant to function as a consortium-wide resource that helps ECHO sites collect high-quality, comparable PRO data across many studies and populations, improving the consistency and scientific value of the broader ECHO effort.
The ECHO PRO Core is expected to work collaboratively with two major groups: the ECHO Consortium itself (which includes cohort sites and coordinating infrastructure) and the Pediatric Patient Reported Outcomes in Chronic Diseases (PEPR) Consortium. Its responsibilities go beyond simple consultation. The FOA emphasizes active research and development, including the creation, refinement, and validation of new instruments when existing measures are inadequate. A key focus is providing psychometric expertise (how to design and test measures so they are reliable, valid, and sensitive to change) along with medical and clinical insight so that selected instruments are meaningful in real pediatric health contexts.
A central deliverable is support for three related measurement areas: PROs broadly, child patient-reported outcomes (cPROs) specifically (where children report on their own symptoms, functioning, or well-being when developmentally appropriate), and proxy PROs (where caregivers report on behalf of children when self-report is not feasible). The core is meant to guide ECHO investigators in selecting the right tools, using them correctly, and interpreting the resulting data responsibly. This includes helping define what should be measured, standardizing how it is measured across sites, advising on age-appropriate approaches, addressing cultural and language considerations, and ensuring measures perform well across diverse populations and settings.
This FOA is one of seven companion announcements that together establish the larger ECHO Consortium structure. While ECHO Clinical Sites are responsible for collecting clinical data and biospecimens from well-characterized participants, and a Data Analysis Center (DAC) is responsible for data standardization, integration, storage, and computational tools for sharing and analysis, the PRO Core fills a specialized gap by ensuring that participant- and caregiver-reported data are scientifically rigorous and harmonized. A Coordinating Center (CC) provides overall operational coordination across the consortium, and the PRO Core is expected to integrate smoothly into that collaborative model, contributing expertise that supports consortium-wide study execution rather than operating as a standalone project.
The broader purpose of ECHO is to plan and execute large-scale research that identifies and characterizes how environmental factors influence child health and disease. Within that mission, the PRO Core supports outcomes measurement that often cannot be captured fully through lab tests, imaging, or clinician ratings alone, such as pain, fatigue, mental health symptoms, daily functioning, quality of life, and other lived-experience outcomes. By improving the design and comparability of these measures across the cohort, the core helps make ECHO findings more interpretable and more useful for downstream science and, potentially, clinical translation.
The FOA indicates that the intended product of the overall ECHO effort is a publicly available data resource. The PRO Core contributes to that end by improving the quality, standardization, and documentation of PRO-related data elements so they can be combined across studies and reused by other researchers. The expectation is that these shared data will enhance and accelerate future mechanistic research into childhood diseases and conditions influenced by environmental exposures, because researchers can more confidently link exposures to well-measured outcomes that reflect real-world health impacts.
From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was posted December 7, 2015, with an application closing date of April 15, 2016. NIH anticipated making a single award under this announcement. Eligibility was broad, including various levels of government, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), tribal governments and organizations, and other entities as permitted by NIH policy and the FOA text. The agency listed is HHS-NIH (specifically indicated as NIH11 in the source data), and the activity areas span multiple health and social service-related CFDA numbers, reflecting the cross-cutting nature of ECHO and its child health focus.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): RFA-OD-16-003 (ECHO Patient Reported Outcomes Resource Center Core, U24)
What is RFA-OD-16-003?
RFA-OD-16-003 is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity announcement for a cooperative agreement (activity code U24). It supports creating a centralized Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) Research Resource Center Core for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program.
What is the funding mechanism for this opportunity?
The mechanism is a cooperative agreement (U24). This indicates a collaborative model where the awardee is expected to work closely with the broader ECHO consortium structure rather than operating as a standalone effort.
What is the overall purpose of the ECHO PRO Core?
The ECHO PRO Core is intended to strengthen how the ECHO program measures health and disease outcomes that are best captured directly from patients and families. It does this by building shared expertise, tools, and services around patient-reported outcomes so that PRO data are high-quality, comparable across sites, and more scientifically valuable across many studies and populations.
What does "patient-reported outcomes (PROs)" mean in this FOA?
In this FOA, PROs are outcomes reported directly by patients and families that may not be captured fully through laboratory tests, imaging, or clinician ratings. Examples described include lived-experience outcomes such as pain, fatigue, mental health symptoms, daily functioning, and quality of life.
What measurement areas must the core support?
The FOA identifies three related measurement areas the core is expected to support: (1) PROs broadly, (2) child patient-reported outcomes (cPROs), and (3) proxy PROs (caregiver-reported outcomes when child self-report is not feasible).
What are child patient-reported outcomes (cPROs) in this context?
cPROs are patient-reported outcomes where children report on their own symptoms, functioning, or well-being when it is developmentally appropriate for them to do so.
What are proxy PROs in this context?
Proxy PROs are outcomes reported by caregivers on behalf of children when child self-report is not feasible.
Is the PRO Core only a consultation service?
No. The FOA emphasizes that responsibilities go beyond simple consultation. The core is expected to include active research and development activities, including creation, refinement, and validation of new instruments when existing measures are inadequate.
What kind of expertise is the PRO Core expected to provide?
The core is expected to provide psychometric expertise (designing and testing measures so they are reliable, valid, and sensitive to change) and to pair that with medical and clinical insight so selected instruments are meaningful in real pediatric health contexts.
What does the FOA mean by "psychometric expertise"?
Psychometric expertise, as described in the FOA, refers to the ability to design and test measurement instruments to ensure they are reliable, valid, and sensitive to change.
How is the PRO Core expected to help ECHO investigators?
The core is intended to guide ECHO investigators in selecting the right tools, using them correctly, and interpreting the resulting data responsibly. This includes helping define what should be measured, standardizing how it is measured across sites, advising on age-appropriate approaches, and addressing cultural and language considerations.
Why is standardization across ECHO sites important for PRO data?
The FOA indicates that standardization and harmonization improve the consistency and scientific value of ECHO by enabling high-quality, comparable PRO data across many studies and populations, which makes ECHO findings more interpretable and more useful for downstream science.
How does the PRO Core fit into the larger ECHO consortium structure?
The PRO Core fills a specialized gap by ensuring participant- and caregiver-reported data are scientifically rigorous and harmonized. It is expected to integrate smoothly into ECHO's collaborative model and support consortium-wide study execution rather than functioning as a standalone project.
Which groups is the PRO Core expected to work with?
The PRO Core is expected to work collaboratively with two major groups: the ECHO Consortium (including cohort sites and coordinating infrastructure) and the Pediatric Patient Reported Outcomes in Chronic Diseases (PEPR) Consortium.
How does this FOA relate to other ECHO funding announcements?
This FOA is described as one of seven companion announcements that together establish the larger ECHO Consortium structure.
What is the role of ECHO Clinical Sites compared to the PRO Core?
ECHO Clinical Sites are responsible for collecting clinical data and biospecimens from well-characterized participants. The PRO Core is focused on ensuring that participant- and caregiver-reported outcomes data are rigorous and harmonized.
What is the role of the Data Analysis Center (DAC) compared to the PRO Core?
The DAC is responsible for data standardization, integration, storage, and computational tools for sharing and analysis. The PRO Core is focused specifically on PRO measurement rigor, instrument selection and development, harmonization, and related documentation for participant- and caregiver-reported data.
What is the role of the Coordinating Center (CC) compared to the PRO Core?
The Coordinating Center provides overall operational coordination across the consortium. The PRO Core is expected to integrate into that coordinated model by contributing PRO-specific expertise that supports consortium-wide study execution.
What types of outcomes does the PRO Core help capture that might not be captured otherwise?
The FOA highlights outcomes that can be difficult to capture fully through lab tests, imaging, or clinician ratings alone, such as pain, fatigue, mental health symptoms, daily functioning, quality of life, and other lived-experience outcomes.
How does the PRO Core support the broader mission of ECHO?
ECHO aims to identify and characterize how environmental factors influence child health and disease. The PRO Core supports this mission by improving how outcomes are measured across cohorts so researchers can more confidently link environmental exposures to well-measured outcomes that reflect real-world health impacts.
Does the FOA mention creating a public data resource?
Yes. The FOA indicates that the intended product of the overall ECHO effort is a publicly available data resource.
How does the PRO Core contribute to a publicly available data resource?
The PRO Core contributes by improving the quality, standardization, and documentation of PRO-related data elements so they can be combined across studies and reused by other researchers.
What is expected when existing PRO measures are not adequate?
The FOA anticipates active research and development by the core, including creating, refining, and validating new instruments when existing measures are inadequate.
How does the FOA address diverse populations and settings?
The FOA indicates the core should address cultural and language considerations and help ensure measures perform well across diverse populations and settings.
When was this funding opportunity posted and when did it close?
The opportunity was posted on December 7, 2015, and had an application closing date of April 15, 2016.
How many awards did NIH anticipate making under this announcement?
NIH anticipated making a single award under this announcement.
Who is the funding agency?
The agency listed is HHS-NIH (specifically indicated as NIH11 in the source data).
Who was eligible to apply?
Eligibility was described as broad, including various levels of government, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), tribal governments and organizations, and other entities as permitted by NIH policy and the FOA text.
What activity areas or program areas are associated with this FOA?
The activity areas span multiple health and social service-related CFDA numbers, reflecting the cross-cutting nature of ECHO and its child health focus.
Is the PRO Core expected to focus on pediatric contexts specifically?
Yes. The FOA repeatedly emphasizes pediatric relevance, including child self-report (cPROs), caregiver proxy reporting, and the need for clinical and medical insight to ensure instruments are meaningful in pediatric health contexts.
What is the intended impact of improving PRO measurement across ECHO?
The FOA frames the impact as making ECHO findings more interpretable and more useful for downstream science and potentially clinical translation, while also accelerating future mechanistic research by enabling confident linkage of exposures to well-measured outcomes.
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Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (RFA OD 16 003) also looked into and applied for these:
| Funding Opportunity |
|---|
| Clinical Sites for the IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (UG1) Apply for RFA OD 16 001 Funding Number: RFA OD 16 001 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $315,000 |
| Administrative Supplements for Research on Sex/Gender Differences (Admin Supp) Apply for PA 16 066 Funding Number: PA 16 066 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00) Apply for PA 16 077 Funding Number: PA 16 077 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grant (Parent T32) Apply for PA 16 152 Funding Number: PA 16 152 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01) Apply for PA 16 160 Funding Number: PA 16 160 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21) Apply for PA 16 161 Funding Number: PA 16 161 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23) Apply for PA 16 198 Funding Number: PA 16 198 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08) Apply for PA 16 191 Funding Number: PA 16 191 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00) Apply for PA 16 193 Funding Number: PA 16 193 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program (Si2/R00) Apply for PAR 16 203 Funding Number: PAR 16 203 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Academic Research Enhancement Award (Parent R15) Apply for PA 16 200 Funding Number: PA 16 200 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $300,000 |
| Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award (Parent K25) Apply for PA 16 194 Funding Number: PA 16 194 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BD2K Mentored Career Development Award in Biomedical Big Data Science for Intramural Investigators (K22) Apply for RFA ES 16 003 Funding Number: RFA ES 16 003 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BD2K Mentored Career Development Award in Biomedical Big Data Science for Clinicians and Doctorally Prepared Scientists (K01) Apply for RFA ES 16 002 Funding Number: RFA ES 16 002 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BD2K Predoctoral Training in Biomedical Big Data Science (T32) Apply for RFA LM 16 002 Funding Number: RFA LM 16 002 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BD2K Open Educational Resources for Skills Development in Biomedical Big Data Science (R25) Apply for RFA HG 16 016 Funding Number: RFA HG 16 016 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| Change of Grantee Organization (Type 7 Parent) Apply for PA 16 285 Funding Number: PA 16 285 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Successor-in-Interest (Type 6 Parent) Apply for PA 16 286 Funding Number: PA 16 286 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp) Apply for PA 16 288 Funding Number: PA 16 288 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Research Supplements to Promote Re-Entry into Biomedical and Behavioral Research Careers (Admin Supp) Apply for PA 16 289 Funding Number: PA 16 289 Agency: HHS-NIH11 Category: Education, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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