Limited Competition for the Continuation of the Childhood Liver Disease Research Network (ChiLDReN) Clinical Centers (U01 Clinical Trial Required) | RFA DK 18 501

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 18 501

The Limited Competition for the Continuation of the Childhood Liver Disease Research Network (ChiLDReN) Clinical Centers (U01 Clinical Trial Required) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement funding opportunity (RFA-DK-18-501) designed to continue and strengthen an existing national research network focused on rare liver diseases in children. The core aim is to maintain the infrastructure and collaborative capacity of ChiLDReN so it can keep conducting high-quality clinical and translational research, including studies that qualify as clinical trials. Rather than creating a brand-new program, this announcement is framed as a continuation effort, meaning the emphasis is on sustaining and advancing established network operations, patient cohorts, and multicenter research activities that require coordinated oversight and standardized methods across participating institutions.

ChiLDReN is structured as a network with two main components working in tandem: a Scientific and Data Coordinating Center (SDCC) and multiple Clinical Centers (CC). The SDCC typically provides centralized leadership for study operations, data management, statistical support, and harmonized research procedures, while the Clinical Centers serve as the on-the-ground sites where patients are recruited and followed, clinical assessments are performed, biospecimens may be collected, and protocol-driven interventions or observational studies are carried out. Because this is a cooperative agreement (U01), NIH is not only providing funding but is also expected to have substantial scientific and programmatic involvement in the work, which usually means close coordination with NIH staff, shared governance structures, and network-wide adherence to common protocols and performance expectations.

The research scope specifically targets rare pediatric liver conditions where multicenter collaboration is often essential due to small patient populations at any single institution. The FOA highlights a set of priority diseases for continued clinical and translational investigation, including biliary atresia, Alagille syndrome, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) syndromes, bile acid synthesis defects, mitochondrial hepatopathies, idiopathic neonatal hepatitis, cystic fibrosis liver disease, and primary sclerosing cholangitis. By supporting Clinical Centers within a coordinated network, the program is positioned to enable standardized natural history studies, biomarker discovery and validation, longitudinal outcome tracking, and the development and testing of therapeutic or management strategies, all of which are difficult to execute effectively without shared infrastructure and consistent data collection across sites.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity falls under the NIH activity area of health (with the listing tied to CFDA 93.847) and uses the cooperative agreement funding instrument, reflecting the hands-on partnership model between awardees and the agency. The listed eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, with the note that additional eligible applicant types may be allowed according to the full funding announcement. The FOA was created on September 18, 2018, with an original closing date of November 20, 2018. While the provided source data does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, the “limited competition” framing typically indicates that the competition may be restricted to certain existing network participants or otherwise narrowly defined applicants, which is common when NIH seeks to ensure continuity of an established multicenter consortium.

Overall, this grant opportunity is aimed at keeping ChiLDReN operational and productive as a national platform for rigorous research on uncommon but serious pediatric liver diseases. The continued support of Clinical Centers within the network is meant to preserve patient access and enrollment pipelines, sustain high-quality clinical data and specimen resources, and ensure that multicenter studies, including clinical trials where required, can be conducted efficiently and consistently to accelerate progress in understanding disease mechanisms and improving outcomes for affected children.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition for the Continuation of the Childhood Liver Disease Research Network (ChiLDReN) Clinical Centers (U01 Clinical Trial Required)" 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 2018-09-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-11-20. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for RFA DK 18 501

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: