Maximizing the Scientific Value of Data Generated by the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) | RFA OD 23 019

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 23 019

The Maximizing the Scientific Value of Data Generated by the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program NRSA Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-OD-23-019; CFDA 93.310) is a National Institutes of Health discretionary grant opportunity designed to support postdoctoral researchers who want to build their training and publish new findings using existing ECHO Cohort data. The main goal is to expand the scientific and public health impact of the ECHO Program by bringing in postdoctoral fellows from relevant disciplines to conduct independent, mentored research focused on high-priority child health questions, while also strengthening the fellow's career development through the NRSA F32 structure.

A central feature of this fellowship is that projects are expected to rely on the ECHO Cohort data housed in the NICHD Data and Specimen Hub (DASH). The ECHO DASH resource includes deidentified longitudinal data from more than 41,000 participants across the United States, allowing fellows to ask questions that benefit from large sample sizes and repeated measures over time. The dataset is built to support analyses of how early-life environments shape later health, with prenatal and childhood exposure information spanning physical, chemical, social, behavioral, and biological factors. Because it is longitudinal and multi-domain, the resource is well-suited for studies that look at developmental timing, cumulative exposure patterns, interactions among exposures, and links between early exposures and later outcomes.

The opportunity emphasizes research aligned with ECHO's five primary pediatric outcome areas. These include (1) pre-, peri-, and postnatal outcomes, (2) upper and lower airway outcomes, (3) obesity, (4) neurodevelopment, and (5) positive health. In practice, that means proposed fellowship projects should be clearly anchored in one or more of these outcome domains and use the ECHO data to generate meaningful insights into child health trajectories. The intent is not only to produce publishable analyses, but also to broaden the community of researchers who can effectively use ECHO resources and contribute to the evidence base informing child health science.

Eligibility for applicant organizations is broad and includes many common U.S. institutional types: public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, small businesses, and various government entities such as state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, and eligible public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. Federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments) are also listed as eligible. The notice also highlights additional eligible applicant categories that NIH often seeks to encourage, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the announcement is explicit about limits related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. In other words, the fellowship mechanism here is intended to be carried out entirely within eligible U.S.-based organizational structures and without foreign components.

Key administrative details included in the source information are that the opportunity was created on 2023-06-22 and had an original closing date of 2023-11-01. The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is health. The source snippet does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards, so those details would typically need to be confirmed in the full NIH funding opportunity announcement or related NIH documentation. Overall, the fellowship is best understood as a training-focused award that leverages a uniquely large, harmonized, longitudinal child health dataset to accelerate postdoctoral research productivity while developing expertise in ECHO-relevant pediatric outcomes and early-life environmental influences.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Maximizing the Scientific Value of Data Generated by the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-06-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-11-01. (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.

Apply for RFA OD 23 019

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