Single Source: Post-Stroke Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID) in the United States (U19 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The National Institutes of Health, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is offering a single source cooperative agreement funding opportunity titled Single Source: Post Stroke Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in the United States. This program is administered primarily through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke with participation from the National Institute on Aging. The initiative reflects ongoing federal research priorities tied to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer Disease and seeks to advance understanding of how vascular conditions contribute to cognitive decline following stroke. The opportunity is a reissue of a prior program and is intended specifically to continue and complete an existing large scale research effort. The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support the continuation of a multi site clinical research program focused on vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia following stroke. The funded project will examine relationships between stroke characteristics, comorbidities, and long term cognitive outcomes. The program emphasizes identifying mechanisms that link cerebrovascular disease and Alzheimer related dementias, with the goal of improving prevention strategies, diagnostic approaches, and future clinical interventions. The research must be sufficiently powered and designed to reflect representative populations across the United States. Funding will support a cooperative agreement structure, meaning there will be substantial involvement from NIH program staff throughout the project. The total program funding is anticipated to reach up to 10000000 dollars in fiscal year 2027, with a maximum project budget of 26700000 dollars in direct costs over a four year period. The funding supports a wide range of research related activities including data collection, biomarker analysis, imaging, clinical coordination, and development of research infrastructure. Clinical trials are not permitted under this opportunity, though human subject research that does not qualify as a clinical trial is allowed. Eligibility for this opportunity is highly restricted. The funding announcement is non competitive and invites an application only from Massachusetts General Hospital. Additionally, only principal investigators previously associated with the original award under the prior funding announcement are eligible to participate. Foreign organizations and components are explicitly excluded. All applicants must maintain required federal registrations including SAM, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons, and must comply with NIH data sharing and research compliance policies. The application process requires submission through Grants.gov using either the NIH ASSIST system or an institutional system to system solution. Applicants must follow detailed multi project application instructions, including submission of multiple components such as administrative, statistics, recruitment, and repository cores. Required elements include research strategy, data management plans, milestones, letters of support, and detailed budget information. Applications undergo NIH peer review based on criteria such as significance, innovation, approach, investigator qualifications, and environment, followed by advisory council review. Key dates include an application open date of August 24 2026 and a submission deadline of September 28 2026. The review process is expected to occur in March 2027, with advisory council review in May 2027 and the earliest project start date in July 2027. The funding opportunity expires on September 30 2026. This program is not recurring and represents a continuation of a previously funded initiative. Contact information is provided through NIH program staff emails for scientific, administrative, and submission related inquiries, ensuring applicants can engage with agency representatives throughout the process.

Ensure strong prior progress evidence; align aims with NIH priorities; demonstrate statistical rigor and sufficient sample size; include clear milestones and multidisciplinary collaboration