Emergency Awards: RADx-RAD Multimodal COVID-19 surveillance methods for high risk clustered populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA OD 20 016

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 20 016

The funding opportunity titled "Emergency Awards: RADx-RAD Multimodal COVID-19 surveillance methods for high risk clustered populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-OD-20-016) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) emergency grant announcement released under the federal public health emergency declaration for COVID-19. It sits within the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics - Radical (RADx-rad) initiative and is designed to move quickly, using an expedited funding pathway to support research that strengthens COVID-19 surveillance approaches in populations that are both high-risk and clustered, meaning groups that live, work, or receive services in settings where transmission can spread rapidly and where traditional surveillance can miss outbreaks or detect them too late.

At its core, the FOA is focused on "multimodal" surveillance methods, which implies the use and integration of more than one data source or testing approach to monitor SARS-CoV-2 spread. In practice, that could include combining diagnostic testing strategies with other monitoring signals to improve early detection, situational awareness, and response in settings such as congregate living environments, institutional facilities, workplaces with dense contact networks, or communities facing elevated exposure risk and limited access to timely testing. The activity mechanism is an R01, and the notice specifies "Clinical Trial Optional," meaning applicants may propose a clinical trial if it is scientifically necessary for the surveillance method being evaluated, but a clinical trial is not required for every project.

This opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant with a health-focused activity area (FundingActivityCategory: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health) and is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.273, 93.307, 93.310, 93.361, 93.847, 93.859, 93.879), reflecting NIH program areas that can support different components of COVID-19 research and public health response. The announcement was created on 2020-08-06, with an original closing date of 2020-09-30, reinforcing that it was structured for rapid deployment during an urgent phase of the pandemic. The listing does not provide an award ceiling or the number of expected awards in the provided source data, which suggests those details either varied by application scope or were specified in the full FOA text outside the excerpt.

Eligibility is broad and intentionally inclusive, spanning most major applicant types that could realistically implement or study surveillance in real-world settings. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; Native American tribal governments (federally recognized); tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. In addition, the FOA explicitly calls out other eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI); 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; and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). That eligibility language signals NIH interest in reaching settings and communities that are often under-resourced, disproportionately impacted, or uniquely positioned to run surveillance programs in high-risk clustered environments.

Overall, the grant is best understood as a fast-track NIH R01 mechanism intended to accelerate practical, implementable COVID-19 surveillance solutions that use multiple complementary methods, are tailored to high-risk clustered populations, and can be deployed or evaluated quickly to inform outbreak detection and response.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Emergency Awards: RADx-RAD Multimodal COVID-19 surveillance methods for high risk clustered populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.273, 93.307, 93.310, 93.361, 93.847, 93.859, 93.879.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-08-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-09-30. (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 OD 20 016

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