Open Competition: Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Pregnancy Cohort Study Sites. Clinical Trial Not Allowed (UG3/UH3) | RFA OD 22 017

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 22 017

The NIH funding opportunity RFA-OD-22-017 supports the creation of new Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Pregnancy Cohort Study Sites through a cooperative agreement mechanism (UG3/UH3). The overall purpose is to expand the national ECHO Cohort so researchers can better understand how a wide range of early-life exposures, spanning social and environmental conditions through biological factors, shape child health. A central emphasis is on capturing exposures as early as possible, explicitly including the preconception period, and following families through pregnancy and early childhood to study how these exposures relate to five priority outcome areas: pre-, peri-, and postnatal outcomes; upper and lower airway health; obesity; neurodevelopment; and positive health.

The FOA is designed around a consortium model, meaning the funded sites are expected to operate as part of a coordinated ECHO network rather than as independent projects. Applications are expected to focus on building capacity for collaborative cohort science across the consortium. In practical terms, this means sites must be able to recruit and retain participants, collect high-quality standardized data and biospecimens, and contribute those materials into ECHO-wide systems so that analyses are performed at the consortium level. The announcement is explicit that the grant does not support site-specific analyses or stand-alone science conducted only within a single site; instead, the scientific value comes from harmonized methods and pooled data across many sites and populations.

Funded sites will have four core responsibilities. First, they are expected to help lead and participate in collaborative ECHO Cohort science, which includes working with the broader consortium on shared research priorities, procedures, and coordinated implementation. Second, they must recruit new pregnant participants from diverse populations, enroll the resulting offspring, and also enroll the conceiving partner when available. Diversity is a key theme, with the intent to broaden representation so that findings are relevant across different communities and real-world contexts. Third, sites are expected to develop and implement the ECHO Cohort Preconception Pilot Study, which reflects the program goal of understanding exposures that occur before pregnancy begins. Fourth, they must implement ECHO’s standard Data and Biospecimen Collection Protocol and use the consortium’s central data capture approach (for example, REDCap Central), ensuring consistent, comparable data collection across all sites.

The award structure is a phased UG3/UH3 cooperative agreement over a potential seven-year project period. The UG3 phase functions as a milestone-driven start-up period focused on planning, readiness, and successful launch of recruitment and protocol implementation. Continued funding into the UH3 phase depends on meeting the UG3 performance milestones. The UH3 phase supports full implementation, including ongoing recruitment, follow-up, and continued standardized collection and transfer of data and biospecimens into ECHO’s centralized systems. Because this is a cooperative agreement, NIH program staff typically have substantial involvement, and sites should expect close coordination, shared governance expectations, and adherence to consortium-wide policies and timelines.

This FOA is described as running in parallel with several companion ECHO announcements that fund other pieces of the overall consortium infrastructure and related site activities. These companion opportunities include limited competitions focused on follow-up of existing ECHO participants (with or without additional recruitment of new pregnant participants), and separate awards for major coordinating and scientific infrastructure such as an ECHO Coordinating Center, Data Analysis Center, Measurement Core, and Laboratory Core. Taken together, the parallel FOAs reflect a networked structure where study sites generate standardized data and biospecimens, while centralized cores coordinate operations, manage data and analysis, and support consistent measurements and laboratory processing.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other organizations as allowed by NIH policy. The FOA also calls out a range of institution types and community-serving organizations as “other eligible applicants,” including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, Hispanic-serving institutions, HBCUs, tribally controlled colleges and universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it clearly states that non-U.S. (foreign) organizations and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may include certain defined foreign elements consistent with NIH policy even though the applicant organization itself must be U.S.-based.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed as discretionary funding and uses the cooperative agreement funding instrument. It is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and spans multiple CFDA/assistance listing numbers, reflecting participation across NIH institutes and centers in supporting ECHO’s cross-cutting child health mission. The original closing date listed for this FOA was November 29, 2022. The FOA is explicitly “Clinical Trial Not Allowed,” signaling that the supported activities should be observational cohort and protocol-based data and biospecimen collection rather than interventional clinical trials.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Open Competition: Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Pregnancy Cohort Study Sites. Clinical Trial Not Allowed (UG3/UH3)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.113, 93.121, 93.213, 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.307, 93.310, 93.313, 93.350, 93.361, 93.399, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.847, 93.853, 93.855, 93.865, 93.866, 93.879.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-08-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-11-29. (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 22 017

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