Coordination Center for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) Program (R24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 23 129

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 129

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting applications for an R24 resource-related grant to support a Coordination Center for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) Program. This opportunity is designed to strengthen infectious disease modeling science by creating a central hub that connects the MIDAS investigator network, helps researchers work together more effectively, and makes MIDAS research outputs easier to find, use, and build on. The grant is explicitly marked "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the funded work should not include clinical trial activities.

At its core, the Coordination Center is expected to function as the connective tissue of the MIDAS network. A major responsibility is to support collaboration across MIDAS investigators and to disseminate the products that come out of MIDAS-funded work. In practical terms, the Center is meant to help ensure that models, analytical approaches, documentation, and other network outputs do not remain siloed within individual research groups, but instead become accessible resources that can be shared, compared, reused, and improved by the broader modeling community.

Another central role of the Coordination Center is to serve as the primary repository for MIDAS-related datasets, models, and software. The opportunity emphasizes maintaining and promoting shared MIDAS resources and maximizing their utility, which typically implies not only storing materials but also curating them in ways that improve discoverability, interoperability, and long-term usability. That can include practices such as consistent metadata, version control, clear licensing and reuse terms where appropriate, user documentation, and organized access mechanisms that make it straightforward for MIDAS members (and, where permitted, others) to identify what exists and understand how to implement it correctly.

The announcement also places strong emphasis on proactive community-building and workforce development. The Coordination Center is expected to develop collaborative activities and educational opportunities that enhance the usefulness of MIDAS resources, advance the field of disease modeling, and improve training opportunities for MIDAS network members. This includes explicit attention to trainees such as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, suggesting that workshops, tutorials, seminars, office hours, training materials, and cross-site learning opportunities are within scope, so long as they directly support the modeling mission and effective use of MIDAS resources.

In addition to coordination and resource stewardship, the opportunity allows for a limited amount of funding for the Center to conduct its own rigorous research focused on evaluation and meta-analysis of existing modeling resources and approaches. This component is aimed at helping the field learn from the body of modeling work already produced, for example by systematically assessing performance, comparing methods, identifying best practices, understanding sources of uncertainty, or synthesizing evidence across models related to disease spread and intervention strategies. The key point is that this research is framed as evaluating and integrating existing modeling resources and approaches, rather than launching unrelated new primary research agendas.

The funding opportunity is listed as PAR-23-129 under CFDA 93.859, categorized under Health, and uses the NIH grant funding instrument. The listed award ceiling is $900,000. The original closing date shown is 2023-06-15, which indicates the posted competition window for that cycle; anyone planning to apply would need to confirm current status and any reissued or successor announcements.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. 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 tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories as stated); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other organizations. The announcement also highlights several categories of "other eligible applicants," including 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, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign participation is restricted. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. In addition, foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. In effect, the Coordination Center must be led and carried out entirely within allowable domestic organizational structures, without foreign components under NIH definitions.

Overall, this grant opportunity is aimed at building and running a high-impact, service-oriented infrastructure for infectious disease modeling: a central coordination function, a well-maintained and actively promoted repository of datasets/models/software, programming that strengthens collaboration and training across the MIDAS network, and a modest but meaningful research effort focused on evaluating and synthesizing existing modeling approaches to improve how infectious disease spread and interventions are studied.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Coordination Center for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) Program (R24 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): 93.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-03-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-15. (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 $900,000.00 in funding.
• 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 PAR 23 129

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