Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science for Research Relevant to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (U54) | RFA OD 17 006

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 17 006

The Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) funding opportunity (U54; RFA-OD-17-006) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement designed to build and support multidisciplinary research centers focused on tobacco regulatory science. Its core aim is to generate biomedical and behavioral evidence that can be used directly by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) when regulating tobacco products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Public Law 111-31). In practical terms, applicants are expected to propose center-based research programs that produce findings relevant to how tobacco products are manufactured, distributed, and marketed, with an emphasis on protecting public health. Because it is a cooperative agreement rather than a standard grant, awardees should anticipate substantial programmatic involvement from the funding agencies consistent with the TCORS model, reflecting the priority on producing actionable, policy-relevant science.

Projects supported under this announcement must align with FDA CTP regulatory authorities and research priorities, meaning the work should be explicitly framed around questions the FDA faces when making regulatory decisions. The FOA emphasizes that resulting data and conclusions should be directly relevant for informing regulation of tobacco products, not just advancing general knowledge about tobacco use. The funding itself is administered by NIH but uses funds made available through FDA CTP, highlighting that the intended audience for the research outputs includes FDA regulators and that deliverables should be positioned to inform evidence-based rulemaking, product standards, marketing restrictions, and other tobacco control actions within FDA’s mandate.

Eligibility is broad across government, academic, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations in the United States. Eligible applicants include state, county, and municipal 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education when specified); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also explicitly calls out additional eligible institution types 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 (AANAPISI), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign participation is limited in a specific way. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, “foreign components” as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S.-based applicant can include certain international collaborations or elements when justified and compliant with NIH policy, even though a foreign institution cannot be the primary applicant.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding, uses the cooperative agreement instrument, and falls under the health funding activity category with CFDA number 93.077. The original posted information lists an award ceiling of $4,000,000. The FOA was created on March 24, 2017, with an original closing date of July 19, 2017. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a center grant intended to support coordinated, multi-project research efforts that produce regulatory-grade evidence, with clear lines of sight from proposed studies to FDA’s tobacco product oversight responsibilities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science for Research Relevant to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (U54)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.077.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-03-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-07-19. (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 $4,000,000.00 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 OD 17 006

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