Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) (K12 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA OD 24 013

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 24 013

The Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) (K12 Clinical Trial Optional) opportunity is an NIH institutional career development grant led by the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) in partnership with participating NIH Institutes and Centers. Its main purpose is to help institutions build and run structured career development Programs that train and launch junior faculty into independent, interdisciplinary research careers focused on women's health. The award mechanism is a K12 institutional career development program, meaning the institution applies and, if funded, appoints and supports multiple early-career investigators (called BIRCWH Scholars) under a mentored program rather than funding a single individual.

The core of the program is mentored research and career development for junior faculty who are close to the end of formal training, specifically those who have recently finished clinical training or postdoctoral fellowship work. Scholars are expected to pursue research that is interdisciplinary and can span basic, translational, behavioral, clinical, and health services research, as long as it is relevant to the health of women. A strong thematic emphasis is also placed on integrating considerations of sex as a biological variable when appropriate, including the use of both sexes in research designs when it improves understanding of how sex influences health and disease. In practice, this pushes Programs to support research that bridges disciplines (for example, clinical care plus mechanistic biology, or behavioral interventions paired with health services evaluation) and to develop scholars who can work across traditional departmental boundaries.

This specific FOA is labeled "Clinical Trial Optional," which matters for what Scholars are allowed to do. Under this announcement, appointed K12 Scholars may propose to be the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, or they may propose an ancillary clinical trial that is separate but related to another ongoing study. Alternatively, a Scholar can use a clinical trial as a training setting by gaining research experience within a trial led by another investigator, as part of their overall research and career development plan. In other words, clinical trials are permitted but not required, and the program is designed to accommodate different levels of clinical trial leadership depending on the Scholar's experience and project needs.

The funding opportunity is listed as RFA-OD-24-013 and is offered by the National Institutes of Health as a discretionary grant within the Education and Health activity categories. Multiple CFDA numbers are associated with the participating NIH components (93.121, 93.273, 93.279, 93.313, 93.398, 93.846, 93.855, 93.866), reflecting that several NIH Institutes and Centers may be involved in supporting the overall initiative. The posted award ceiling is $840,000, which typically reflects an upper limit on the annual direct cost level an institution might request under the program structure, although the final budget and scope must align with NIH K12 rules and the FOA's specific requirements.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations that can administer an institutional training and career development program. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or 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 (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education, since higher education institutions are separately listed); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other eligible entities. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. Despite that broad eligibility, the FOA is clear that non-U.S. (foreign) organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as NIH defines them in the Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed, which means the program's supported activities must be conducted without a foreign component.

Key dates provided include a creation date of 2024-02-26 and an original application closing date of 2026-05-28. Institutions considering applying would typically use the lead time to design the career development structure (mentoring teams, scholar selection processes, interdisciplinary curriculum, and research support framework) and to align program leadership and participating departments around a coherent approach to advancing women's health research careers. The overall intent is to create a durable institutional pipeline that equips promising junior faculty with mentorship, protected research time, and interdisciplinary support so they can become independent investigators advancing research that improves the health of women and clarifies how sex differences shape health outcomes.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) (K12 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.273, 93.279, 93.313, 93.398, 93.846, 93.855, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-05-28. (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 $840,000.00 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 24 013

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