Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC): Foundational Peripheral Neuroanatomy and Functional Neurobiology in Under-Studied Organs (U01) | RFA RM 17 003

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 17 003

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering a cooperative agreement grant under the SPARC Common Fund program titled "Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC): Foundational Peripheral Neuroanatomy and Functional Neurobiology in Under-Studied Organs (U01)." This opportunity is designed to push forward basic, foundational research on how peripheral nerves are organized in specific organs and how those neural circuits actually control organ function. The emphasis is on producing critical datasets and answering key unanswered questions about peripheral neuroanatomy and functional neurobiology, especially in organs where the nerve wiring and its functional roles have not been well mapped or experimentally characterized. In other words, NIH is looking for projects that can reveal the structure-and-function relationships of peripheral neural circuits in organs that have historically received less attention, with the longer-term SPARC goal of enabling new ways to modulate peripheral nerve activity to treat disease.

A central feature of this FOA is its focus on "under-studied" organs and organ systems, specifically excluding organs that are already being addressed through existing SPARC funding mechanisms under an earlier SPARC announcement (referenced as RFA-RM-15-018). That means applicants are expected to select targets where there is a genuine gap in knowledge and where new anatomical and functional mapping work would meaningfully advance the field. The projects supported under this mechanism are intended to generate high-value foundational information, such as detailed descriptions of peripheral innervation patterns and experimentally supported links between specific neural pathways and specific organ functions. Because the FOA explicitly calls out both neuroanatomy and functional neurobiology, strong applications would generally be expected to go beyond descriptive mapping alone and include approaches that connect neural circuits to measurable physiological outputs.

The award mechanism is a U01 cooperative agreement, which typically indicates a more active partnership between NIH program staff and the research team than in a standard investigator-initiated grant. In practical terms, this often means that funded teams may coordinate with NIH and SPARC program expectations around milestones, data generation practices, or resource sharing so that resulting outputs can be broadly useful to the wider SPARC community. The funding instrument is listed as discretionary and falls under the health activity category, with CFDA number 93.310, aligning it with NIH Common Fund efforts.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations. 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; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both with and without 501(c)(3) status, as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those specific nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. Beyond these general categories, the announcement also highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), 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, tribal governments other than federally recognized entities, non-U.S. (foreign) organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. The inclusion of these categories signals an intent to welcome participation from a wide range of institutions, including those that serve underrepresented communities and organizations outside the United States.

Key administrative details provided in the source information include the funding opportunity number RFA-RM-17-003 and an original closing date of April 3, 2017, with a creation date of January 26, 2017. The listed award ceiling is $250,000. The number of expected awards is not specified in the provided data. The sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted SPARC investment in foundational, organ-focused peripheral nervous system research, aiming to fill major knowledge gaps about how peripheral neural circuitry is laid out in less-studied organs and how that circuitry drives real, measurable organ function.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC): Foundational Peripheral Neuroanatomy and Functional Neurobiology in Under-Studied Organs (U01)" 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 2017-01-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-04-03. (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 $250,000.00 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 RFA RM 17 003

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