The National Institutes of Health INCLUDE Project has opened RFA-OD-27-003, INCLUDE Project: Exploratory/Developmental Research Awards for Down syndrome (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed). The program supports new exploratory and developmental research addressing critical needs in Down syndrome, including higher-risk studies that may establish feasibility, generate new concepts, or lead to novel techniques, agents, methodologies, models, or applications with major biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research impact. Clinical trials are not allowed.
Deadline: October 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. The opportunity opened September 15, 2026. Additional listed cycles include June 15, 2027 and June 15, 2028.
Funding: NIH intends to commit an estimated $1,000,000 to fund up to five awards per year in FY2027, FY2028, and FY2029. Application budgets are limited to $275,000 in direct costs for the two-year project period, with no more than $200,000 requested in any single year. The maximum project period is two years. Cost sharing is not required.
Eligibility: Eligible organizations include public and private institutions of higher education, qualifying nonprofits, small businesses and other for-profit organizations, state and local governments, federally recognized and other eligible Tribal governments and organizations, independent school districts, housing authorities, faith-based and community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories and possessions, and eligible foreign organizations. Foreign components are allowed, but applications involving foreign subawards or subcontracts under this NOFO are noncompliant.
Submission: Applications must follow the NIH Research (R) Application Guide and NOFO-specific instructions, including applicable SF424(R&R), performance-site, project-information, senior/key-person, budget, PHS 398, and human-subjects components. Required registrations must be active before submission. A Data Management and Sharing Plan is required when scientific data will be generated; INCLUDE-supported projects are expected to support broad and timely data sharing, and human genomic data may require an Institutional Certification.
Atlas fit: This is a strong healthcare, disability-research, and academic-research opportunity with broad eligibility, including for-profit organizations, and no mandatory match. Dr. Miltie is structurally eligible as an organization type, but a direct application is not submission-ready without a qualified PD/PI, a responsive exploratory Down syndrome research concept, institutional scientific capability, active NIH registrations, and the required research and data-sharing controls. Preferred posture: Dr. Miltie Direct / Structural Eligibility Only / Needs Marc Review, while also routing to applicable state academic-health, disability-research, university, nonprofit, and research pathways.