Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium Clinical Research Centers (U01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA DK 19 015

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 19 015

The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium Clinical Research Centers opportunity (RFA-DK-19-015) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding announcement that supports a coordinated, multi-site research effort focused on bladder health in girls and women. The core purpose is prevention: building the scientific foundation needed to design future interventions that can reduce the risk of developing lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and related bladder conditions over the life course. The conditions of interest include common and often burdensome problems such as urinary tract or bladder infections, urinary incontinence, voiding dysfunction, overactive bladder, and interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome. Rather than jumping directly into large-scale intervention trials, this funding is aimed at generating the evidence base and identifying realistic, testable targets that later prevention and implementation studies can act on.

This award uses the NIH cooperative agreement mechanism (U01), which typically means the NIH will take an active partnership role in shaping and overseeing the work alongside the funded sites, as opposed to providing funds with minimal ongoing involvement. The “Clinical Trial Optional” label indicates that applicants may propose work that includes clinical trials if appropriate, but a trial is not required. The activity category is health-related research (and listed under Food and Nutrition, Health), with CFDA numbers 93.847 and 93.866, reflecting NIH program alignment within kidney, urologic, and related health research portfolios.

A central expectation of these Clinical Research Centers is to build on prior foundational consortium work to establish a longitudinal cohort study. In practical terms, this means recruiting and following a group of adolescent and adult women over time to understand how bladder health is maintained, how LUTS emerge, and what modifiable factors predict risk or resilience. Longitudinal cohort infrastructure is crucial for prevention science because it allows researchers to track exposures, behaviors, biological factors, and environmental or social determinants before symptoms develop, making it easier to pinpoint plausible prevention targets and windows of opportunity across different life stages.

The program emphasizes transdisciplinary and collaborative approaches using both qualitative and quantitative strategies. Quantitative methods may include standardized symptom measures, epidemiologic analyses, and biologic or clinical assessments, while qualitative work can capture lived experience, behavioral context, and barriers or facilitators to healthy bladder habits that surveys alone often miss. The intent is to combine these approaches to produce a richer, more actionable understanding of why LUTS develop and what could realistically be changed through future interventions. Beyond the cohort itself, the consortium is also expected to conduct additional supporting studies that improve readiness for later intervention and implementation research, such as developing measurement tools, refining recruitment and retention approaches, and identifying subgroups at elevated risk.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations: state, county, and local governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; special district governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also highlights inclusion of diverse 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, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. Foreign institutions (non-U.S. entities) are not eligible to apply as applicant organizations; however, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations may participate, and foreign components are permitted as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which can matter for specialized expertise or unique populations while keeping the primary award within an eligible U.S. applicant.

In terms of funding parameters provided in the source data, the award ceiling is listed as $450,000, with the original closing date shown as 2019-11-07 and the opportunity posted on 2019-09-06. The expected number of awards is not specified in the excerpt. Overall, this opportunity is best understood as infrastructure-and-evidence-building support for a coordinated research consortium: it funds Clinical Research Centers to establish and run a high-value longitudinal cohort and related preparatory studies so that future prevention trials and real-world implementation strategies to promote bladder health in women can be designed on a strong scientific footing.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium Clinical Research Centers (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.847, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-11-07. (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 $450,000.00 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 19 015

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