Leveraging Extant Data to Understand Developmental Trajectories of Late Talking Children (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 24 045

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 24 045

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Leveraging Extant Data to Understand Developmental Trajectories of Late Talking Children" (PAR-24-045) is a discretionary grant program using the R21 mechanism and explicitly does not allow clinical trials. Its main goal is to support exploratory, early-stage research that improves understanding of how late-talking children develop over time, with a strong emphasis on using existing (already collected) datasets rather than launching new, large-scale prospective studies. The program is designed to help researchers map out developmental trajectories and to determine which early characteristics or contextual factors predict later language, academic, social, or behavioral outcomes among children who are late to begin talking.

A central feature of this opportunity is the expectation that applicants will leverage extant data in ways that produce broadly useful, open, and shared data resources. In practice, this means projects may focus on aggregating, harmonizing, curating, documenting, or otherwise preparing existing datasets so they can be more easily reused by the wider research community. The intent is not only to answer specific scientific questions about late talking, but also to leave behind well-structured data products (and related documentation, metadata, codebooks, or analytic pipelines where appropriate) that make it easier for other investigators to identify patterns and predictors of outcomes. NIH is signaling that the field will advance faster if teams can reuse and compare data across studies, cohorts, and settings, rather than repeatedly starting from scratch.

Scientifically, the NOFO is aimed at clarifying developmental pathways for late talkers, including the range of possible outcomes and the factors that help explain why some children catch up while others develop persistent language difficulties or related challenges. The opportunity highlights several broad research directions: identifying patterns and predictors of developmental outcomes; exploring potential underlying mechanisms; characterizing risk factors; and examining sequelae (downstream consequences that may emerge over time). Depending on what existing data are available, this can include work that disentangles different subgroups of late talkers, evaluates the roles of family history, socio-environmental context, bilingual exposure, neurodevelopmental profiles, co-occurring conditions, early cognitive skills, parent-child interaction measures, or other variables that might shape language growth and later functioning. Because it is an R21, projects are typically expected to be innovative and hypothesis-generating, often involving novel analytic approaches, secondary analyses, or dataset integration that can set up stronger future R01-level work.

The award information provided indicates an award ceiling of $275,000, and the original closing date listed is 2024-11-20. The funding activity falls under Health, Income Security and Social Services, and the CFDA numbers associated with the opportunity are 93.242, 93.310, 93.350, and 93.865, reflecting relevant NIH program areas that can support this type of developmental and child health research. While the expected number of awards is not specified in the provided text, the structure and ceiling suggest a relatively focused, limited-budget exploratory program consistent with the R21 mechanism.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations and institutions. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities. The announcement also explicitly notes additional eligible applicants such as 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; eligible federal agencies; regional organizations; U.S. territories or possessions; and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities/foreign organizations. This wide eligibility reflects NIH interest in encouraging participation across diverse research settings, communities, and populations, which is particularly relevant when studying developmental trajectories that can vary by environment, access to services, and demographic context.

Overall, this NOFO supports projects that use the power of existing datasets to produce clearer, more predictive models of late-talker development and to generate shared data resources that can accelerate future discovery. The practical takeaway for applicants is that proposals should be built around extant data, should aim to create outputs that others can reuse, and should focus on advancing understanding of trajectories, predictors, mechanisms, risk factors, and longer-term consequences for children who begin talking later than expected, all within a non-clinical-trial research framework.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Leveraging Extant Data to Understand Developmental Trajectories of Late Talking Children (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): 93.242, 93.310, 93.350, 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-10-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-20. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $275,000.00 in funding.
• 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 PAR 24 045

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: