Kidney Precision Medicine Project Recruitment Sites (UG3/UH3) | RFA DK 16 026

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 16 026

The Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP) Recruitment Sites (UG3/UH3) funding opportunity (RFA-DK-16-026) is a National Institutes of Health cooperative agreement designed to build and sustain clinical sites that can enroll people with kidney disease into KPMP longitudinal cohort studies. The core purpose is to recruit and follow participants who have either acute kidney injury (AKI) or chronic kidney disease (CKD), obtain research-quality kidney biopsy tissue, and work as part of a larger KPMP consortium to generate a detailed kidney tissue atlas. By combining carefully collected clinical data with high-quality biopsy specimens, KPMP aims to better define biologically meaningful disease subgroups and pinpoint specific cells, pathways, and therapeutic targets that could lead to more precise and effective treatments.

Applications are expected to focus on one disease area, either AKI or CKD, rather than attempting to cover both. Applicants need to propose the initial cohorts they plan to study, spell out clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, and provide realistic recruitment and follow-up projections that align with the FOA budget and KPMP program objectives. A major emphasis is on demonstrated capability: sites should have documented experience recruiting patients into studies and safely performing kidney biopsies for clinical and/or research purposes. Because the biopsies are central to the project, applicants must show they can obtain tissue safely and consistently while meeting high ethical, clinical, and research standards, including appropriate participant protections and data/specimen handling practices suited to a multi-site precision medicine effort.

The award uses a two-phase UG3/UH3 structure. The UG3 phase is an exploratory, milestone-driven start-up period intended to prove that the proposed recruitment site can actually deliver: enrolling and retaining a sufficient number of well-characterized participants with AKI or CKD, completing longitudinal follow-up, and collecting high-quality research kidney biopsies safely and reliably. Progress in UG3 is judged against pre-specified milestones, and only projects that meet those milestones are expected to be prioritized for administrative transition to the UH3 phase. The UH3 phase is the implementation and scale-up period, supporting continued recruitment into larger KPMP cohort studies and ongoing collaboration with the broader KPMP network. Importantly, applications must address both phases, meaning the proposal needs to lay out both the early proof-of-capability plan and the later expanded recruitment plan.

A defining feature of this opportunity is that recruitment sites do not operate independently; they function as part of a coordinated consortium. Awardees are expected to collaborate closely with KPMP Tissue Interrogation Sites and the KPMP Central Hub. In practical terms, that means recruitment sites contribute participants, clinical metadata, and biopsies, while the consortium integrates and analyzes tissue and data to produce shared resources like the kidney tissue atlas and refined disease classifications. Because this is a cooperative agreement, NIH program staff (specifically within NIDDK) typically have substantial involvement in coordinating expectations, milestones, and cross-site harmonization compared with a standard research grant.

This FOA is explicitly limited to human studies. Proposals that include animal studies or model systems are considered non-responsive, reflecting the program's focus on human kidney tissue and real-world clinical phenotypes. The opportunity is broadly open to many types of applicant organizations, including various levels of government, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. It also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal entities and tribally controlled colleges, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, AANAPISI institutions, faith-based or community-based organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. (foreign) organizations, signaling an intent to cast a wide net for capable recruitment infrastructure and diverse participant access.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed under CFDA 93.847 (health-related NIH assistance), with the NIH as the issuing agency and NIDDK as the key institute driving the program. The original closing date shown in the source information is December 6, 2016, and the announcement was created August 17, 2016. While the listing does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided fields, the main programmatic takeaway is that applicants must propose recruitment targets and operating plans that are feasible within the FOA budget structure and consistent with KPMP goals, with a clear pathway from UG3 demonstration to UH3 expansion.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Kidney Precision Medicine Project Recruitment Sites (UG3/UH3)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.847.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-08-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-12-06. (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 DK 16 026

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