Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Through a Comprehensive Understanding of the Natural History of Infection (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PA 19 096

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 19 096

This NIH grant opportunity (PA-19-096) supports R01 research projects focused on improving control of three major sexually transmitted infections: gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia. The central theme is the natural history of infection, meaning how these infections begin, progress, and resolve in real-world biological and clinical settings. The FOA is designed to fill key knowledge gaps that limit prevention, diagnostics, and long-term disease control. Clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement, so the emphasis is on observational, mechanistic, and clinically grounded studies rather than testing interventions in a trial framework.

The research priorities are organized around four broad but practical areas. First, the FOA encourages work on correlates of protection, which are measurable immune or biological markers that indicate whether someone is protected from infection or reinfection. Understanding these markers can guide vaccine development and help interpret immune responses after exposure. Second, it prioritizes studies of the host response to infection, including immune, inflammatory, microbiologic, and other biological responses that shape whether infection is cleared, becomes persistent, or leads to complications. Third, it seeks stronger definitions and measurements of clinical endpoints of disease, such as which signs, symptoms, laboratory findings, and downstream health outcomes best represent meaningful disease progression or harm. Fourth, it supports research on biological and clinical factors that influence clearance versus persistence, recognizing that not everyone experiences infection the same way and that differences in pathogen strain characteristics, host biology, co-infections, local tissue environments, and other clinical factors can change how long infection lasts and how severe it becomes.

In practical terms, the FOA is aimed at studies that map the trajectory of these infections across time: acquisition, early infection, immune response, potential asymptomatic periods, spontaneous clearance or persistence, and progression to complications. Projects might examine why certain individuals clear infection quickly while others do not, what immune signatures track with protection, how pathogen and host factors interact at different anatomical sites, and how clinical outcomes can be more consistently defined and measured. The overarching goal is to generate knowledge that strengthens the scientific foundation for better prevention and disease control tools, including vaccines, improved diagnostics, and more precise risk stratification, even though the FOA itself does not fund clinical trials.

The funding mechanism is an NIH R01 research project grant under the health activity category (CFDA 93.855). It is a discretionary grant program administered by the National Institutes of Health. While an award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source, the announcement is structured like many NIH research FOAs where budgets and project periods follow standard R01 norms and are justified based on the proposed science.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; special district governments; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other applicant types. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This broad eligibility signals an interest in drawing on diverse institutional strengths and community connections, which is often important for STI research given the real-world contexts in which infections spread and are detected.

Key identifying details from the source include the title "Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Through a Comprehensive Understanding of the Natural History of Infection (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)," funding opportunity number PA-19-096, creation date 2018-11-29, and an original closing date listed as 2022-01-07.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Through a Comprehensive Understanding of the Natural History of Infection (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.855.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-11-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-01-07. (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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