Forecast to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Copy of Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism (INIA) Consortia Research Resource (U24) (Clinical Trial Optional)
NIAAA plans to fund two research groups studying how brain and body dysregulation leads to excessive drinking and AUD, using advanced tools and collaborative approaches.
Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: May 1, 2026 (anticipated NOFO release; applications not yet solicited)
Funding Amounts: Two multisite consortia will be funded; award size and duration to be specified in the forthcoming NOFO.
Summary: NIH will support two collaborative consortia to study brain-body dysregulation in alcohol use disorder, leveraging advanced neuroscience tools and standardized protocols.
Key Information: This is a forecasted opportunity; no applications are being accepted yet.
Description
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) at NIH is planning to renew the Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism (INIA) through a forthcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The initiative will support two collaborative research consortia to investigate how brain-body homeostatic dysregulation promotes and perpetuates excessive alcohol consumption and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) phenotypes.
The consortia will focus on:
- Hypothesis-driven research into the interactions between alcohol and other causal influences.
- Trajectories from initial alcohol exposure to the development of pathological drinking.
- Identification of translatable markers and mechanisms to inform prevention and intervention strategies for chronic alcohol-related conditions.
The initiative emphasizes:
- Use of advanced neuroscience tools and technologies (e.g., from the BRAIN Initiative, NIH Common Fund).
- Multiscale analysis of brain structure and function, from microcircuitry to whole-brain networks.
- Examination of peripheral influences on brain function related to excessive drinking.
- Standardization and replication of neurofunctional measures across consortia.
- Integration across multiple sites, biological scales, shared resources, and cross-species translation.
This is a forecasted opportunity; the Notice is intended to give potential applicants time to develop collaborations and responsive projects. The formal NOFO will use the U24 cooperative agreement mechanism.
