Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 20 282
This National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity, titled "Fertility Status as a Marker for Overall Health (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-20-282), supports early-stage, exploratory research that treats fertility status as a potential indicator, or "window," into a person’s broader health. The central idea is that fertility is not always an isolated reproductive issue; instead, it may reflect underlying physiological, genetic, or systemic conditions that also relate to non-reproductive diseases. While it is well known that chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and obesity can reduce fertility, this program is aimed at the reverse framing: whether fertility status itself can help signal risk, presence, or trajectory of other health conditions across the body.
The FOA encourages studies that build on growing epidemiologic and clinical evidence linking fertility status in both females and males to a range of somatic diseases and disorders. In practical terms, NIH is looking for projects that test or refine the concept that infertility, subfertility, or other measurable fertility-related traits could serve as markers for broader health outcomes. The emphasis is on generating new insights, methods, or preliminary data that could later justify larger, more definitive studies. Because this is an R21 mechanism, the expectation is exploratory and developmental work rather than large-scale, long-term research programs.
A key feature of the announcement is its strong preference for genuinely interdisciplinary teams. Applications are expected to include substantive involvement from experts in reproductive health and fertility, combined with experts in a relevant non-reproductive area tied to the overall health question being studied. Depending on the project, that could mean collaboration with specialists in epidemiology, cardiometabolic disease, oncology, genetics, endocrinology, or other fields where fertility status might plausibly act as a health signal. The goal is to ensure the science is rigorous on both sides: fertility measurement and interpretation on one hand, and the non-reproductive health domain on the other.
The scope is clearly bounded. Projects that primarily examine how a disease or disorder affects fertility are considered out of scope. In other words, the program is not meant to fund studies where fertility is the outcome harmed by another condition; instead, it is meant to fund studies where fertility status is evaluated as an indicator or marker for other aspects of health. Another important limitation is that recruitment of new cohorts is not supported, which effectively steers applicants toward using existing cohorts, existing clinical populations, existing registries, established longitudinal studies, stored specimens, previously collected clinical data, or other already-assembled data resources rather than building a brand-new participant cohort from scratch. Additionally, clinical trials are not allowed under this FOA, so proposed work must remain within non-trial designs (for example, observational analyses, secondary data analyses, methodological work, or other non-interventional approaches consistent with NIH’s clinical trial definitions).
Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types. Eligible applicants include various levels of government (state, county, city/township, and special district governments), independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), and other Native American tribal organizations. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, non-U.S. (foreign) organizations, regional organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions. The opportunity is listed under CFDA numbers 93.113, 93.313, 93.399, and 93.865.
From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary NIH grant opportunity using the grant funding instrument. The original closing date shown in the provided source data is 2023-06-19, and the FOA record was created on 2020-07-23. While the excerpt does not provide an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, the overall structure and intent align with the R21 program’s role in supporting high-potential, early evidence-building research that can open up new lines of investigation into how fertility-related measures might help identify or understand broader health risks and outcomes.Apply for PAR 20 282
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fertility Status as a Marker for Overall Health (R21 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): 93.113, 93.313, 93.399, 93.865.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2020-07-23.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-19. (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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