Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: May 7, 2025 (AIDS) | September 7, 2025 (AIDS)
Funding Amounts: Up to $200,000 direct costs/year; max $400,000 direct costs over 2 years; project period up to 2 years.
Summary: Supports Early Stage Investigators conducting preclinical HIV/AIDS research using nonhuman primate models to foster independence and competitiveness for future funding.
Key Information: Clinical trials are not allowed; applicants must be within 10 years of terminal degree and have at least 2 years postdoctoral experience.
Description
This funding opportunity supports Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) in conducting preclinical HIV/AIDS research using nonhuman primate (NHP) models. The goal is to provide ESIs with the resources and independence needed to develop new research directions and become competitive for future NIH funding (e.g., R01 grants). Projects must use NHPs as preclinical models for HIV/AIDS research and align with the NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research, including priorities such as reducing HIV incidence, developing next-generation therapies, pursuing HIV cure research, addressing comorbidities and coinfections, and advancing cross-cutting research areas.
Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Vaccine and non-vaccine prevention strategies (e.g., microbicides, monoclonal antibodies)
- Antiretroviral therapies and combination treatments
- Identification and targeting of viral reservoirs
- Biomarker discovery for viral remission or reactivation
- Impact of comorbidities and coinfections on HIV/SIV/SHIV
- Imaging and tracking of virus and immune responses
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is particularly interested in CNS-related HIV research, including mechanisms of HIV-1 persistence/latency in the CNS and biomarker development for CNS disease.
Due Dates
- May 7, 2025 (AIDS - New/Renewal/Resubmission/Revision, as allowed)
- September 7, 2025 (AIDS - New/Renewal/Resubmission/Revision, as allowed)
All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
Funding Amount
- Maximum direct costs: $200,000 per year
- Total direct costs: Not to exceed $400,000 over the 2-year project period
- Project period: Up to 2 years
- No cost sharing or matching required
Eligibility
Eligible Organizations
- Public/State controlled and private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education)
- For-profit organizations (including small businesses)
- State, county, city, township, and special district governments
- Native American tribal governments and organizations (federally recognized and other)
- Independent school districts
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- U.S. territories and possessions
- Certain faith-based, community-based, and minority-serving institutions
Note:
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible.
- Foreign components, as defined by NIH, are not allowed.
Eligible Individuals (PD/PI)
- Must meet the NIH definition of Early Stage Investigator (ESI): within 10 years of terminal research or health-professional doctoral degree or completion of residency
- Must have completed at least 2 years of postdoctoral training or equivalent
- Must hold a position equivalent to Assistant Professor, Assistant Scientist, or Research Assistant Professor
- Professors, Associate Professors, or equivalent are not eligible
- Should have an appointment at an institution with an NHP facility (e.g., National Primate Research Center) or documented commitment from such a facility
Application Process
- Applications must be submitted electronically via NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or an institutional system-to-system solution.
- Follow the NIH How to Apply - Application Guide and all program-specific instructions in the funding announcement.
- All required registrations (SAM, eRA Commons, Grants.gov) must be completed prior to submission.
- Applications must not propose clinical trials.
- A Data Management and Sharing Plan is required.
- Only limited appendix materials are allowed.
Additional Information
- The number of awards is contingent on NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
- Applications will be peer-reviewed for scientific and technical merit.
- Projects should lay the groundwork for translational/clinical HIV/AIDS studies in humans.
- The research plan should clearly describe the translational potential of the proposed NHP research.
- For NIMH, only CNS-focused HIV research is responsive; peripheral reservoir/pathogenesis studies not in the context of ART are not supported.
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Contact Information