Global Health Security Partnerships: Expanding and Improving Public Health Laboratory Strategies and Systems. | CDC RFA GH20 2109

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH20 2109

The grant opportunity titled "Global Health Security Partnerships: Expanding and Improving Public Health Laboratory Strategies and Systems" (CDC RFA GH20 2109) is a CDC cooperative agreement designed to continue and scale work originally supported under a prior CDC funding announcement (CDC-RFA-GH15-1632). Its central purpose is to protect and improve global public health by strengthening public health laboratory capacity and the broader systems that laboratories rely on, so countries can prevent outbreaks when possible, find threats sooner, and respond more effectively when infectious disease events occur.

A major emphasis of the program is prevention of avoidable epidemics by improving how public health decisions are made. The CDC is looking for activities that support evidence-based policies and decision-making, meaning laboratory and surveillance data should be translated into practical guidance, standards, and actions that reduce risk before an emergency spirals. This prevention focus ties laboratory strengthening directly to public health planning and policy, rather than treating lab work as an isolated technical function.

The opportunity also prioritizes earlier detection of public health threats. Applicants are expected to improve surveillance systems and strengthen laboratory systems so they can detect, differentiate, and characterize pathogens more reliably and quickly. This includes building the capacity to identify what organism is causing illness, distinguish between similar threats, and generate information that helps leaders understand how dangerous or widespread an event might be. The NOFO also highlights the importance of developing field epidemiology capacity, particularly training field epidemiologists whose analysis can inform policy and operational decisions. Related expectations include supporting outbreak investigations and conducting event-based surveillance, which generally means identifying and evaluating signals of emerging health events from a variety of sources, not only routine reporting channels.

A third core goal is stronger response capability once a threat is identified. The NOFO describes building interconnected and robust public health emergency management programs, including establishing or strengthening emergency operations centers and the systems needed to coordinate people, information, and resources during a response. It also stresses strengthening the public health workforce more broadly, improving border health security to reduce cross-border spread and improve coordination at points of entry, and scaling up information management and technology infrastructure so data can move quickly and be used effectively during outbreaks and other emergencies.

This funding is explicitly framed as a continuation and expansion of existing CDC investments. Organizations that previously received awards under CDC-RFA-GH15-1632 are expected to apply in order to build on or extend their earlier global health security activities, essentially continuing work that is already underway and taking it to the next level. In addition to follow-on activities, recipients may propose expansion into additional countries, with special consideration for countries within the regions described in the NOFO's funding strategy section. Another practical feature is flexibility: recipients should be prepared to modify activities based on CDC prioritization, reflecting the reality that global health security needs can shift rapidly in response to new outbreaks, changing risk profiles, or emerging agency priorities.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), specifically within the Center for Global Health (CGH). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial federal involvement beyond a standard grant, often through technical collaboration, shared planning, and ongoing coordination. The CFDA number listed is 93.318, and the CDC anticipated making about seven awards. The posted award ceiling is listed as 0 in the source data, which usually signals that the ceiling was not specified in that field rather than implying zero funding. The opportunity was created on March 3, 2020, with an original closing date of May 4, 2020, and electronic applications were due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of public and private entities: state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (including small businesses and other than small businesses); and additional categories as clarified in the NOFO. In practical terms, the CDC appears to be encouraging a wide range of capable partners, while still steering the program toward continuity with previously funded global health security work and toward country and regional priorities laid out by the agency.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Global Health Security Partnerships: Expanding and Improving Public Health Laboratory Strategies and Systems." and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.318.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 03, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 04, 2020 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification), Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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