NINDS is issuing this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) to highlight the urgent need for research on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and on biological effects on the nervous system of its causative agent, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Research of interest must fall within NINDS’s scientific mission, which is to support basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience research to expand fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.

Research Objectives

In order to rapidly improve our understanding of the neurological consequences of infection of SARS-CoV-2 and of COVID-19, NINDS is encouraging the submission of applications for supplements to address the biology, pathophysiology, prevention, diagnosis, sequelae, or treatment of the 2019 Novel Coronovirus that are directly related to the NINDS mission.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) will accept supplements to NIAAA-supported projects that fall within the scope of the NOT-NS-20-051 and are relevant to the mission of the NIAAA. Specifically, NIAAA is interested in studies that integrate alcohol exposure in research topics outlined in the announcement to better understand, prevent, and mitigate some of the neurobiological consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 in individuals who have Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD). NIAAA encourages these supplements to be collaborative in nature and include appropriate neurological expertise in the proposed projects.

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using one of the following opportunity announcements or the subsequent reissued equivalent.

• PA-18-591 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
• PA-18-935 - Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)

Applications for research that fall within the scope of an existing NINDS award should be submitted through PA-18-591 (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional). Eligible activity codes fare limited to the mechanisms listed in PA-18-591.

Applications for research that involve a change in the original scope of an active award, but still falls within the mission of the NINDS must apply through PA-18-935 Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional). Eligible activity codes for applications to PA-18-935 are limited to the following mechanisms: P01, P50, R00, R01, R03, R15, R21, R33, R35, R41, R42, R43, R44, R61, U01, U19, U24, U44, U54, UG3, UH3).

Scope is defined as the original specific aims, objectives, and purposes of a grant, the methodology, approach, analyses or other activities, and the tools, technologies, and timeframes needed to meet the grant's objectives. Changes include shifting the research emphasis from one disease area to another, or changing any aspects of research involving vertebrate animals or human subjects. If you are unsure whether your application would involve a change in scope, contact your NINDS program director.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-18-591 or PA-18-935 must be followed, with the following additions:

• For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-NS-20-051"(without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.
• The project period of the supplement must not exceed one year.
• Application budgets may not exceed $200,000 direct costs. Exceptions to this budget limit may be made only with NINDS pre-approval and will only be approved under the very rare circumstances where the work may immediately impact public health.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages
• The parent award must be active when the supplement application is submitted (e.g. within the originally reviewed and approved project period), regardless of the time remaining on the current project. Grants with multi-year funding (RF1) may have additional constraints. Applicants with these grants should contact the program official to determine eligibility.
• All applications (including those for multi-project activity codes) must be submitted electronically using a single-project application form package

  • Administrative supplement applications to PA-18-591 must use the application form package with the Competition ID that contains FORMS-E-ADMINSUPP . This FOA will be reissued with application form packages containing FORMS-F-ADMINSUPP on May 25, 2020. Submissions to PA-18-591 must be completed by June 25, 2020 (see NOT-OD-20-026 for details.) Submissions to the reissued FOA will be accepted on or after May 25, 2020 through the expiration date of this Notice. In addition, the process for Streamlined Submissions using the eRA Commons cannot be used for this initiative.

  • Competitive revision applications to PA-18-935 must use the application form package with the Competition ID of NOT-NS-20-051-FORMS-E." This FOA will be reissued with a NOT-NS-20-051-FORMS-F package on May 25, 2020. Submissions to PA-18-935 must be completed by June 25, 2020. Submissions to the reissued FOA will be accepted on or after May 25, 2020 through the expiration date of this Notice.
• Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from April 15, 2020 to April 14, 2021 at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. This NOSI expires on April 15, 2021. An application submitted in response to this NOSI that is received after the expiration date will be withdrawn
• Applications must specifically address issues of potential biohazards, and all research must be conducted in compliance with the health and safety requirements found in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
• Applications that are not responsive to the terms of this Notice will not be considered.
• Investigators planning to apply in response to this NOSI are strongly encouraged to contact and discuss their proposed research/aims with the Program Official for the Parent Award in advance to better determine appropriateness and interest of the NINDS.