Clinical Coordination Center for Common Fund Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) Program (U24 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA RM 18 035

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 18 035

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released this funding opportunity announcement (FOA), RFA-RM-18-035, to establish and support a Clinical Coordination Center (CCC) for the Common Fund Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) Program. The award mechanism is a U24 cooperative agreement, meaning the funded CCC is expected to work in close partnership with NIH staff and the rest of the A2CPS consortium, rather than operating as a fully independent, investigator-directed grant. The overarching goal is to create a central operational and scientific hub that improves the consistency, speed, and quality of research being carried out across multiple participating clinical sites focused on understanding how acute pain transitions into chronic pain and identifying measurable "signatures" of that transition.

The CCC is intended to serve as the coordinating backbone for the program's multisite clinical centers. In practical terms, this means the CCC would be responsible for aligning study design decisions across sites, tracking and supporting recruitment and retention efforts, and ensuring that study implementation is uniform and high-quality. NIH is looking for a center that can monitor progress and performance across locations, troubleshoot barriers to implementation, and keep the overall effort running efficiently so that data generated at different sites can be combined and compared without avoidable inconsistencies.

A major emphasis of the FOA is standardization. The CCC is expected to lead the consortium in developing and implementing standardized research and operational protocols that all sites follow. This includes creating common safety standards, harmonized staff training procedures, and shared approaches to patient phenotyping and testing so that clinical assessments, biospecimen collection (where relevant), and other measurements are performed in comparable ways across institutions. The CCC is also expected to coordinate regulatory processes, which typically involves harmonizing human subjects protections requirements, supporting IRB-related documentation and workflows, and helping sites maintain compliance with applicable NIH policies and Good Clinical Practice expectations.

Data coordination is another core responsibility, especially around electronic health record (EHR) integration and data standards. The FOA highlights the need for the CCC to lead development of EHR data standards, which usually involves defining common data elements, consistent coding and formatting rules, and procedures for extracting, cleaning, and validating EHR-derived variables. This matters because multisite studies often struggle when each site captures clinical information differently; the CCC is expected to reduce those gaps by implementing shared standards that enable high-quality pooled analyses and reliable cross-site comparisons.

The FOA is categorized under health (CFDA 93.310) and is listed as a discretionary funding opportunity. The application window reflected in the source information shows an original closing date of October 24, 2018, indicating this is a time-limited competition tied to the launch and operation of the A2CPS program. While the text provided does not specify an award ceiling or the number of expected awards, the structure strongly implies a single coordinating center award that supports and oversees activities distributed across multiple clinical research sites.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governmental units. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is more limited. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply directly as applicant organizations. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible, and "foreign components" as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed. In practice, that means a U.S. applicant can include certain internationally based activities or collaborations if they meet NIH definitions and requirements, but the prime recipient must be a domestic eligible entity.

Overall, this FOA is aimed at building a highly organized, consortium-wide coordinating infrastructure that can keep a complex, multisite clinical research effort aligned and productive. NIH is effectively funding a leadership and operations center that sets shared methods, ensures safety and regulatory rigor, standardizes data collection (including EHR-based elements), and continuously monitors study execution so the A2CPS program can generate comparable, high-quality evidence about biomarkers and patterns that predict or explain the shift from acute to chronic pain.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Clinical Coordination Center for Common Fund Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) Program (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)" 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 2018-08-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-10-24. (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.

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