Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 10 002
Apply for RFA DK 10 002
- The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Human Brown Adipose Tissue Methods for Measurement of Mass and Activity (R21)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.286 Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health 93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research.
- This funding opportunity was created on Dec 4, 2009 and posted on Dec 4, 2009.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 11, 2010. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $3,450,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized) Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education County governments Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Special district governments Small businesses City or township governments For profit organizations other than small businesses Independent school districts State governments Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments) Private institutions of higher education Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- Other Eligible Applicants include the following Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government Faith based or Community based Organizations Hispanic serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized) Non domestic (non U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) Regional Organizations Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) U.S. Territory or Possession.
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Opportunity Summary:
The Human Brown Adipose Tissue Methods for Measurement of Mass and Activity (R21) funding opportunity (RFA-DK-10-002) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) call for exploratory and early-stage research aimed at improving how brown adipose tissue (BAT) is measured and studied in humans. Co-sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), the main goal is to spur development of practical tools, technologies, and biomarkers that can quantify BAT in real-world human populations and better capture how active or metabolically important that BAT is under different conditions.
A central emphasis of the announcement is the need for better methods to measure BAT mass, not just BAT activity. Applicants are encouraged to tackle problems like estimating how much BAT exists in different anatomical depots and distinguishing BAT that is intermingled with white adipose tissue (WAT) or even skeletal muscle. In other words, the FOA is looking for approaches that move beyond limited or indirect readouts and toward more accurate and scalable measurements that can work across diverse people, body types, and physiological states.
In addition to measuring tissue amount, the FOA also prioritizes new ways to modulate and measure the metabolic activity of human BAT. This can include developing tools that can detect or quantify how strongly BAT is contributing to energy expenditure, thermogenesis, glucose or lipid handling, or other metabolic outputs, as well as methods that can reliably track changes over time or in response to interventions. The announcement also explicitly welcomes work on additional markers of BAT tissue mass or activity, which could include imaging readouts, circulating biomarkers, molecular signatures, or other measurable indicators that can serve as more accessible proxies for BAT quantity and function in humans.
The funding mechanism is the NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant (R21), which is designed for higher-risk, earlier-stage ideas that may generate feasibility data, proof-of-concept, or prototype methods rather than fully mature systems. The award ceiling listed is $200,000, and the FOA states that cost sharing or matching is not required. Overall, the institutes anticipated committing up to $3.45 million total under this announcement, with an expected roughly 10 to 12 awards, signaling a moderate-sized program intended to seed multiple distinct technical approaches rather than fund only a small number of large projects.
Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with and without 501(c)(3) status), small businesses and other for-profit organizations (other than small businesses are also listed as eligible), local and state government entities (including counties, cities, townships, special districts, and independent school districts), public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities, and tribal governments and tribal organizations. The announcement also specifies inclusion of institutions and organizations serving specific communities (such as HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions), as well as faith-based and community-based organizations. Notably, it also allows non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations), regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions, which opens the door for international collaboration or projects based outside the continental United States.
Key administrative details include the posting date (December 4, 2009) and the original and current closing date (November 11, 2010), with an archive date of December 12, 2010. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary, uses the grant funding instrument, and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.286 (technological innovations to improve human health) and 93.847 (diabetes, digestive, and kidney diseases extramural research). For applicants or institutions needing the full text, the FOA points to the NIH grants website link provided in the listing, and it provides NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster contacts for access or linking problems.
Taken together, this FOA is essentially a targeted push to solve a technical bottleneck in metabolic and obesity-related research: researchers cannot fully leverage BAT as a therapeutic or physiological target without reliable ways to quantify how much BAT people have, where it is located, how it is mixed with other tissues, and how active it is in a way that is measurable, reproducible, and suitable for use across human studies. The NIH is using the R21 mechanism here to encourage creative, tool-building projects that could later support larger clinical or translational research efforts once the measurement and biomarker challenges are reduced.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the Human Brown Adipose Tissue Methods for Measurement of Mass and Activity (R21) opportunity?
This funding opportunity (RFA-DK-10-002) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) call that supports exploratory and early-stage research to improve how brown adipose tissue (BAT) is measured and studied in humans, with an emphasis on practical methods that work in real-world human populations.
Which NIH institutes are sponsoring this funding opportunity?
The opportunity is co-sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB).
What is the main goal of this FOA?
The main goal is to spur development of practical tools, technologies, and biomarkers that can quantify human BAT and better capture how active or metabolically important BAT is under different conditions.
Why does the FOA emphasize measuring BAT mass (not just activity)?
A central emphasis is improving methods to measure BAT mass because existing approaches can be limited or indirect. The FOA encourages methods that estimate how much BAT exists in different anatomical depots and that can distinguish BAT when it is intermingled with white adipose tissue (WAT) or even skeletal muscle.
What kinds of measurement challenges is NIH trying to address?
The FOA highlights challenges such as quantifying BAT across different anatomical depots, distinguishing BAT from WAT and muscle when tissues are mixed, and developing measurements that remain accurate and scalable across diverse people, body types, and physiological states.
Does the FOA support work focused on BAT activity and metabolism?
Yes. In addition to tissue amount, the FOA prioritizes new ways to modulate and measure the metabolic activity of human BAT, including methods that detect or quantify BAT contributions to energy expenditure, thermogenesis, glucose or lipid handling, and other metabolic outputs.
Is tracking BAT over time or in response to interventions within scope?
Yes. The announcement supports methods that can reliably track changes in BAT mass or activity over time or in response to interventions.
What types of biomarkers or indicators are welcomed?
The FOA explicitly welcomes additional markers of BAT tissue mass or activity. Examples described in the opportunity include imaging readouts, circulating biomarkers, molecular signatures, or other measurable indicators that can serve as accessible proxies for BAT quantity and function in humans.
What funding mechanism is used?
The mechanism is the NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant (R21), which is intended for higher-risk, early-stage ideas that may produce feasibility data, proof-of-concept results, or prototype methods rather than fully mature systems.
What is the award ceiling for this R21 opportunity?
The award ceiling listed in the opportunity is $200,000.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No. The FOA states that cost sharing or matching is not required.
How much total funding did NIH anticipate committing under this FOA?
The institutes anticipated committing up to $3.45 million total under this announcement.
How many awards were expected?
The FOA projected roughly 10 to 12 awards, indicating a program intended to seed multiple distinct technical approaches.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is broad. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations (with and without 501(c)(3) status); small businesses; other for-profit organizations; local and state government entities (including counties, cities, townships, special districts, and independent school districts); public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; tribal governments and tribal organizations; and a variety of institutions serving specific communities (including HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions). Faith-based and community-based organizations are also listed as eligible.
Are foreign (non-U.S.) organizations eligible?
Yes. The announcement allows non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations), as well as regional organizations and U.S. territories or possessions.
What are the key dates for this funding opportunity?
The posting date is December 4, 2009. The original and current closing date is November 11, 2010. The archive date is December 12, 2010.
What type of opportunity is this (administratively)?
The opportunity is categorized as discretionary, uses the grant funding instrument, and is an NIH funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for an R21 exploratory/developmental research grant.
What CFDA numbers are associated with this FOA?
The listing associates the opportunity with CFDA 93.286 (Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health) and CFDA 93.847 (Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research).
Where can applicants find the full FOA text and official details?
The opportunity points to the NIH grants website link provided in the listing for full text. It also provides NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster contacts for access or linking problems.
What larger research bottleneck is this FOA trying to solve?
It targets a technical bottleneck in metabolic and obesity-related research: researchers cannot fully leverage BAT as a therapeutic or physiological target without reliable methods to quantify how much BAT people have, where it is located, how it is mixed with other tissues, and how active it is in measurable and reproducible ways suitable for human studies.
What kinds of projects is NIH trying to encourage with the R21 mechanism here?
The FOA is positioned to encourage creative, tool-building projects that develop new measurement methods and biomarkers and that can later support larger clinical or translational research efforts once measurement challenges are reduced.
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| NIDDK Central Repositories Non renewable Sample Access (X01) Apply for PAR 10 090 Funding Number: PAR 10 090 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| NIDDK Centers of Excellence in Molecular Hematology (P30) Apply for RFA DK 09 013 Funding Number: RFA DK 09 013 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $750,000 |
| Nutrition Obesity Research Centers (P30) Apply for RFA DK 10 003 Funding Number: RFA DK 10 003 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $750,000 |
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| Grants for Research in Glomerular Diseases (R01) Apply for PA 10 113 Funding Number: PA 10 113 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Home and Family Based Approaches for the Prevention or Management of Overweight or Obesity in Early Childhood (R21) Apply for PA 10 128 Funding Number: PA 10 128 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| Home and Family Based Approaches for the Prevention or Management of Overweight or Obesity in Early Childhood (R01) Apply for PA 10 127 Funding Number: PA 10 127 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Adherence Studies in Adolescents with Chronic Kidney or Urologic Diseases, or Diabetes (R01) Apply for RFA DK 10 004 Funding Number: RFA DK 10 004 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| Limited Competition for the Continuation of the Consortium for Radiologic Imaging Studies in Polycystic Kidney Disease (CRISP) (U01) Apply for RFA DK 10 501 Funding Number: RFA DK 10 501 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $225,000 |
| Ancillary Studies in Immunomodulation Clinical Trials (R01) Apply for RFA AI 10 014 Funding Number: RFA AI 10 014 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $250,000 |
| Limited Competition for the Continuation of the NIDDK Gastroparesis Consortium (U01) Apply for RFA DK 10 502 Funding Number: RFA DK 10 502 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $300,000 |
| NIDDK Multi Center Clinical Study Implementation Planning Grants (U34) Apply for PAR 10 197 Funding Number: PAR 10 197 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers Consortium (U24) Apply for RFA DK 10 006 Funding Number: RFA DK 10 006 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $600,000 |
| Coordinating and Bioinformatics Unit for the Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers and the Diabetic Complications Consortium (U24) Apply for RFA DK 10 007 Funding Number: RFA DK 10 007 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $250,000 |
| NIDDK Centers for Diabetes Translation Research (P30) Apply for RFA DK 10 009 Funding Number: RFA DK 10 009 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Food and Nutrition Health Funding Amount: $200,000 |
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