Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa): Research Projects (U01) | RFA RM 16 015

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 16 015

The Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa): Research Projects (U01) funding opportunity (RFA-RM-16-015) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) solicitation that supports investigator-initiated research projects led by institutions located in African countries. It is backed by the NIH Common Fund along with participating NIH Institutes and Centers, and it is designed to strengthen and expand high-quality genomics research focused on health issues that matter to African populations. The overarching idea is to enable African-based research teams to conduct ambitious, well-defined projects that use modern genomics and related methods to better understand disease and health on the continent.

This opportunity specifically calls for H3Africa Research Projects, described as discrete and clearly scoped studies that can be run by a single principal investigator or by multiple investigators working together. The scientific emphasis is on applying state-of-the-art genomics approaches and connecting them to the study of genetic contributors, environmental contributors, or the interaction between the two, as they relate to particular diseases or health conditions relevant in African settings. In practical terms, that means the proposed work should be centered on genomics-enabled questions and should be framed around health burdens that affect African communities, rather than being purely methodological or focused on populations outside Africa.

The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement (U01), which generally indicates that NIH expects to have substantial programmatic involvement during the life of the project compared with a typical research grant. While the applicant team still drives the scientific direction, the cooperative structure often comes with closer coordination, shared expectations about milestones, and active collaboration or oversight consistent with program goals. The funding activity category is health, and the opportunity is listed under CFDA number 93.310.

Eligibility is focused on non-U.S. entities based in Africa. Foreign (non-domestic, non-U.S.) organizations and foreign institutions are eligible to apply, provided they are institutions in African countries. At the same time, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are explicitly not eligible to apply, which means a U.S. institution cannot apply using its African branch as the applicant organization. Foreign components (as NIH defines them in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed, meaning collaborations that include foreign components can be part of the project structure as long as the applicant eligibility rules are respected and the main applicant is an eligible African institution.

Key administrative details included in the source information are that the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding, it was created on August 9, 2016, and the original application closing date was November 15, 2016. The listed award ceiling is $250,000, indicating the maximum amount specified in the notice (noting that actual budgets and award structures can depend on NIH program rules and what is approved during review and negotiation). The number of expected awards is not provided in the source data excerpt.

Overall, this FOA is essentially a targeted NIH call to fund African-led genomics research projects that are tightly defined, scientifically current in their genomics approach, and directly tied to understanding the causes of diseases and health conditions affecting African populations, with eligibility rules structured to ensure the applicant institution is truly based in Africa rather than a non-U.S. arm of a U.S. organization.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa): Research Projects (U01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-08-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-11-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for RFA RM 16 015

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