Predictive Multiscale Models for Biomedical, Biological, Behavioral, Environmental and Clinical Research (U01) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

Predictive Multiscale Models for Biomedical, Biological, Behavioral, Environmental and Clinical Research (U01) (PAR-15-085) is an interagency cooperative agreement opportunity led by the National Institutes of Health that aims to speed up progress in research areas where biology and behavior must be understood across multiple levels of organization. The central idea is that many important problems in medicine, public health, and the life and behavioral sciences cannot be solved efficiently with single-scale approaches. Instead, the participating agencies are looking for predictive computational models that can connect processes across scales, for example linking molecular or cellular mechanisms to tissues and organs, and ultimately to whole-organism function, behavior, clinical outcomes, or environmental influences. The FOA emphasizes predictive capability, meaning the models should do more than describe data after the fact; they should be able to generate testable forecasts or mechanistic hypotheses that can guide experiments, decision-making, or clinical and translational work.

A notable feature of this announcement is that it is explicitly interagency, reflecting a shared view across NIH and several other federal science and defense organizations that multiscale modeling is a foundational capability with broad impact. The named partners include NIH as well as ARO, DOE, FDA, NASA, NSF, and ONR. That mix signals interest not only in traditional biomedical applications, but also in computational and systems approaches relevant to environmental and behavioral contexts, technology development, and potentially operational or translational settings where predictive models can help drive experimentation, evaluation, or intervention design. The inclusion of FDA in particular underscores the relevance of modeling approaches that may ultimately inform regulated-product science, safety, efficacy, or related translational questions, while agencies like DOE, NSF, NASA, and the defense-related partners point to strong interest in advanced computation, complex systems, and rigorous, reusable modeling frameworks.

The FOA supports development of multiscale models along with the enabling methods needed to make them work in practice. That includes non-standard modeling methods (in other words, approaches that may not fit neatly into conventional single-domain modeling categories) and experimental strategies designed to support multiscale modeling. In practical terms, this can involve building new computational techniques, coupling different model types (such as combining mechanistic differential-equation models with agent-based models or data-driven/statistical components), improving parameter estimation and uncertainty quantification across scales, and designing experiments that generate the right kinds of data to calibrate and validate multiscale predictions. The opportunity is not limited to purely in silico work; it anticipates that strong multiscale efforts often require tight iteration between modeling and experimentation so that models remain grounded, testable, and progressively more predictive.

Another core expectation is active engagement with community-driven activities through the Multiscale Modeling (MSM) Consortium hosted at www.imagwiki.org. This requirement highlights that the program is not only funding isolated projects, but also trying to build a broader ecosystem of interoperable methods, shared practices, and community standards. Applicants should interpret this as a need to participate in consortium activities, contribute knowledge or tools where appropriate, and align with collaborative norms that help models and software become more reusable and comparable across teams. In many multiscale efforts, the long-term value comes from shared frameworks, transparent assumptions, and methods that other researchers can adopt, stress-test, and extend, and the MSM Consortium appears to be the venue for that kind of coordination.

Mechanistically, the award mechanism is a U01 cooperative agreement, which typically means the funding agency expects substantial programmatic involvement during the life of the project compared with a standard research grant. Cooperative agreements often include milestones, frequent communication, and coordination with NIH staff and potentially with other funded teams. For applicants, that generally translates into the need for a clear project management plan, well-defined deliverables, and a willingness to align development choices with broader program goals such as interoperability, community contribution, and demonstrable predictive performance. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and falls under assistance listings associated with multiple NIH research areas, reflecting the cross-cutting nature of multiscale modeling and its applicability to varied disease areas and research domains.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types across the public, private, nonprofit, academic, and governmental spectrum. Eligible applicants include small businesses, for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses), private and public institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status, state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, special districts, and independent school districts), public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, federally recognized tribal governments, and other tribal organizations. The FOA also identifies additional eligible groups such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions, faith-based and community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). There is no cost sharing or matching requirement stated for this opportunity, which reduces a common barrier for applicants that might otherwise need to commit non-federal funds.

Key administrative details from the posted record include a posted and created date of January 8, 2015, an original and current closing date of September 29, 2017, and an archive date of February 7, 2018, indicating that this specific FOA is now archived rather than active. The primary agency listed is the National Institutes of Health, and the full announcement was available through the NIH grants guide (with an additional information link pointing to the FOA page). For access issues, the contact listed is the NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster at FBOWebmaster@OD.NIH.GOV.

Overall, PAR-15-085 is best understood as a coordinated federal push to mature multiscale modeling into a predictive, experimentally grounded capability that can drive faster and more reliable discovery and translation. It encourages ambitious modeling that bridges levels of biology and behavior, supports method and experiment co-development, and expects grantees to participate in a broader community effort through the MSM Consortium so that the resulting models, tools, and practices strengthen the field beyond any single project.

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