National Centers for Metabolic Phenotyping in Live Models of Obesity and Diabetes (MPMOD) (U2C - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DK 21 027

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 21 027

The National Centers for Metabolic Phenotyping in Live Models of Obesity and Diabetes (MPMOD) funding opportunity (RFA-DK-21-027) is an NIH cooperative agreement (U2C) designed to create and support a network of national service centers that specialize in advanced, in vivo metabolic phenotyping of mouse models relevant to obesity and diabetes. The overall goal is to strengthen metabolic disease research by expanding access to high-quality, standardized, and consultative testing services that help investigators rigorously characterize the physiology, metabolism, and behavior of living mouse models. A key point is that this initiative is explicitly focused on studies that require live animals; tests or assays that do not require living animals are not supported under this program.

Under this announcement, each funded MPMOD Center is expected to function as a sophisticated phenotyping resource that offers complex metabolic, physiologic, and behavioral testing, paired with expert consultation to help researchers choose appropriate assays, interpret findings, and refine experimental designs. The centers are intended to support research aimed at understanding heterogeneity in metabolic disease, disease mechanisms and pathogenesis, and the metabolic and physiologic consequences of obesity and diabetes. In addition to running phenotyping procedures, centers may also provide access to special-purpose mouse models or preparations that enable complex studies, including mice that have undergone bariatric surgery or animals with implanted catheters, either for use at the center or for distribution to outside investigators when appropriate.

A defining feature of the program is that these services must be offered on a fair fee-for-service basis, and access must be equitable. The announcement emphasizes that investigators from outside the home institution should receive equal priority and be charged at similar cost compared to internal users. In practical terms, the program is structured to reduce barriers to high-end phenotyping capabilities that many labs cannot maintain on their own, while ensuring that the centers operate as national resources rather than primarily serving local demand.

The MPMOD Centers are not intended to operate in isolation. They are expected to work together as a consortium, alongside a separate Coordinating Unit, to improve national access and to make operations more synergistic and cost-effective. This includes active outreach and advertising so the broader research community knows what services exist and how to use them, as well as deliberate efforts to broaden participation by enabling underrepresented principal investigators and investigators at smaller or less-resourced institutions. The consortium model also pushes the centers to align methods where it makes sense, such as developing common test protocols, increasing standardization, and minimizing unnecessary duplication or overlap across sites, all with the aim of improving quality, comparability, and efficiency.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity uses the cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning NIH expects to have substantial involvement in coordination and oversight compared with a standard research project grant. The activity area is health-focused (including food and nutrition, health) and is listed under CFDA 93.847. The FOA is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," reflecting that the supported work is not intended to be clinical research in humans; the emphasis is on mouse-based metabolic phenotyping services and related consultation.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common U.S. applicant organization types such as state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses, as well as federally recognized tribal governments and certain tribal organizations. The FOA also explicitly calls out categories of eligible organizations often associated with capacity-building and broadening participation, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and AANAPISI institutions, along with faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and eligible federal agencies. At the same time, non-U.S. (foreign) institutions are not eligible to apply as applicant organizations, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply; however, foreign components, as defined in NIH policy, are allowed, which generally means specific foreign collaborations may be permissible under NIH rules even though the primary applicant must be an eligible U.S.-based entity.

The source information provided lists an award ceiling of $425,000 and identifies NIH as the sponsoring agency, with an original closing date of March 8, 2022, and a creation date of November 29, 2021. Overall, the program is best understood as an NIH-supported national infrastructure effort: it funds specialized centers to deliver standardized, high-end in vivo phenotyping and expert guidance to the broader community, with explicit expectations around fairness of access, transparent fee-for-service operations, outreach to expand the user base, and consortium-driven coordination to improve quality and reduce redundancy across the national network.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "National Centers for Metabolic Phenotyping in Live Models of Obesity and Diabetes (MPMOD) (U2C - 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): 93.847.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-11-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-03-08. (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 $425,000.00 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 DK 21 027

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