State Dementia Care Research Center (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AG 24 033

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 24 033

The State Dementia Care Research Center (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity (RFA-AG-24-033) is a National Institutes of Health cooperative agreement designed to build state-focused research infrastructure that can strengthen how dementia care is coordinated, integrated, and transitioned across community settings. The central goal is to improve real-world care for people living with dementia (PLWD) and to better support their caregivers and care partners by producing practical evidence that health systems, social service providers, and policymakers can use. A major premise of the program is that Alzheimer disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) care varies widely across the United States because states differ in benefits, coverage rules, delivery systems, workforce capacity, and access to home and community-based services (HCBS). This Center program is meant to take those differences seriously and study them directly, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all national assumptions.

At its core, the Center is expected to do three intertwined things. First, it will support research on how AD/ADRD care coordination, care integration, and care transitions actually work within a state, including movement between settings such as hospitals, primary care, specialty care, home care, adult day programs, nursing facilities, and other community-based supports. This includes identifying gaps and breakdowns that lead to poor outcomes, duplicated services, caregiver burden, avoidable emergency visits, and inequities in access. Second, the Center will build and link data resources that combine information on HCBS and other social services with health care data inside states. This emphasis on data creation and integration reflects a practical need in dementia services research: social services and medical care often live in separate data systems, making it hard to understand the full care pathway and where coordination fails. Third, the Center will actively disseminate findings to stakeholders beyond academia, including providers, community organizations, the public, and state and local policymakers, so that results translate into decision-making and system improvements.

A notable feature of the NOFO is its explicit focus on heterogeneity and disparities. The Center is expected to build a consortium of scholars who can examine differences not just across states, but also within states, recognizing that access and quality can vary sharply by region, rural versus urban settings, income, race and ethnicity, disability status, and other factors tied to structural inequities. The research agenda is framed to advance AD/ADRD implementation milestones related to care integration, with an emphasis on health care disparities and policy relevance. In other words, the program is not simply asking for descriptive studies; it is aiming for an organized research enterprise that can explain how state-level policies, financing mechanisms, delivery models, and local service ecosystems shape dementia care experiences and outcomes.

Administratively, this is a discretionary NIH opportunity using a cooperative agreement (U54) mechanism, which typically means substantial NIH involvement in the direction and oversight of the funded Center compared to a standard research project grant. It is categorized under Health (CFDA 93.866) and is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," signaling that applicants should not propose NIH-defined clinical trials as part of the Center activities. The original closing date listed is November 14, 2023, and the award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source information.

Eligibility is broad across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, reflecting the infrastructure and partnership-heavy nature of the work. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other organizations. The NOFO also highlights additional eligible applicant types such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based and community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it clearly restricts foreign involvement: non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined by NIH policy are not allowed.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a capacity-building and evidence-generation initiative aimed at making dementia care systems work better at the state level. By supporting rigorous, state-specific research; developing linked social service and health care data assets; and prioritizing dissemination to decision-makers, the Center is intended to produce actionable insights that improve coordination and transitions for PLWD and caregivers while directly addressing disparities driven by uneven service availability, coverage, and access within and across states.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "State Dementia Care Research Center (U54 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): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-09-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-11-14. (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.

Apply for RFA AG 24 033

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