Pediatric Biospecimen Procurement Center (BPC) Supporting the Developmental Gene Expression (dGTEx) Project (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA HD 21 008

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HD 21 008

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity RFA HD-21-008 supports a single, focused piece of the broader developmental Genotype-Tissue Expression (dGTEx) project: the creation and operation of a Pediatric Biospecimen Procurement Center (BPC) under a U24 cooperative agreement mechanism (clinical trials not allowed). The larger dGTEx effort is designed to build a high-value resource for the research community by cataloging and analyzing gene expression (transcriptional) profiles across many different tissue types taken from neonates, children, and adolescents, specifically in a post-mortem setting. In practical terms, the goal is to understand how gene expression varies across tissues during human development, which can help explain normal developmental biology and inform how and why pediatric diseases differ from adult diseases at a molecular level.

This opportunity is centered on biospecimen acquisition and quality. The BPC is expected to identify and enroll appropriate pediatric donors after death and to procure, preserve, document, and ship high-quality tissue samples to the project’s Laboratory, Data Analysis, and Coordinating Center (LDACC). Because the scientific value of gene expression datasets depends heavily on how quickly and consistently tissues are collected and stabilized after death, the BPC’s operational performance is a major driver of the overall project’s success. The BPC is therefore not simply a passive tissue-collection site; it is an active partner responsible for executing standardized procedures, maintaining rigorous chain-of-custody and annotation, and meeting stringent quality and timing benchmarks so the downstream laboratory assays and computational analyses are reliable and comparable across donors and tissue types.

As a cooperative agreement, this U24 award implies substantial NIH involvement and close coordination among awardees rather than a hands-off grant structure. The BPC is expected to work closely with the LDACC to optimize collection protocols, preservation methods (for example, approaches that protect RNA integrity for transcriptomic profiling), and the logistics of transferring specimens and associated metadata. This coordination typically includes harmonizing standard operating procedures, troubleshooting issues that affect sample quality, and iterating workflows as the project matures, with NIH playing an active role in guiding milestones and ensuring the different components function as an integrated network.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizational types and includes many government and academic entities as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Eligible applicants listed in the source include state, county, city/township, and 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; 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); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other organizations. The announcement explicitly calls out 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, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (other than federally recognized), and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, the opportunity makes clear that foreign participation is not permitted: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed.

From an administrative standpoint, the sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health, the opportunity category is discretionary, and the activity sits within the broad domain of health and human services research. The CFDA/assistance listing numbers provided are 93.172, 93.242, 93.313, 93.853, and 93.865, reflecting NIH program areas that can support related research infrastructure and biomedical investigations. The original posting indicates a closing date of December 3, 2020, and it does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided excerpt, which suggests applicants would need to consult the full announcement for budget expectations, project period, and award count assumptions.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as an infrastructure and operations award aimed at building a dependable pipeline of ethically sourced, well-annotated pediatric post-mortem tissues for the dGTEx program. The emphasis is on donor enrollment and specimen procurement excellence, tight operational coordination with the LDACC, and consistent high-quality tissue handling so that the resulting developmental gene expression atlas is scientifically robust and broadly useful to the biomedical research community.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pediatric Biospecimen Procurement Center (BPC) Supporting the Developmental Gene Expression (dGTEx) Project (U24 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): 93.172, 93.242, 93.313, 93.853, 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-06-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-12-03. (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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