Underactive Bladder and Detrusor Activity in Aging (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 18 570

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 570

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced this discretionary grant opportunity, titled "Underactive Bladder and Detrusor Activity in Aging (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number: PA-18-570), to support research that improves understanding and care of underactive bladder (UAB) and detrusor underactivity (DU) specifically as they relate to aging and older adults. Using the R01 mechanism, the program is designed for substantial, hypothesis-driven projects and allows (but does not require) clinical trials, meaning applicants can propose anything from foundational lab work to patient-focused studies or real-world clinical and implementation research.

The core goal of the FOA is to build stronger evidence about why DU/UAB develops or worsens with age, what its biological and functional consequences are for older people, and how clinicians can better diagnose, evaluate, prevent, and treat it. NIH is signaling interest in research that moves beyond general descriptions of urinary symptoms and instead clarifies mechanisms and actionable clinical pathways. A central theme is producing knowledge that can translate into evidence-based guidance for clinical decision-making in older populations, where comorbidities, frailty, medications, and age-related physiological changes often complicate typical urologic evaluation and management.

The FOA highlights four broad, encouraged research directions. First, it invites studies on the biology, etiology, and pathophysiology of DU/UAB, using animal models and/or human studies in older adults. This can include investigations into age-related changes in detrusor muscle contractility, neuromuscular signaling, sensory pathways, urothelial function, fibrosis and remodeling, inflammation, ischemia, metabolic factors, or the impacts of polypharmacy and neurologic disease that are common with advancing age. Second, it emphasizes translation of basic and clinical findings into clinical practice and health decision-making, which can include developing clinically usable biomarkers, decision tools, or care pathways, as well as implementation approaches that help move discoveries into routine settings.

Third, NIH is explicitly looking for research focused on diagnosis, prevention, management strategies, and clinical outcomes for UAB in older adults. This can span improving diagnostic approaches (including better phenotyping and differentiating DU/UAB from other lower urinary tract disorders), evaluating non-surgical and surgical management approaches, testing rehabilitative or device-based strategies, and assessing patient-centered outcomes such as quality of life, functional status, falls risk, sleep disruption, urinary tract infections, retention-related complications, and impacts on caregivers. Fourth, the FOA encourages epidemiology and risk-factor research that clarifies how DU/UAB develops across aging, which could include cohort studies, population-based analyses, and work identifying modifiable and non-modifiable predictors such as chronic diseases, neurologic conditions, prior pelvic procedures, medication exposures, lifestyle factors, and social determinants of health.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations such as state, county, city/township, and special district governments; public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also calls out additional eligible applicant categories, 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; eligible federal agencies; U.S. territories or possessions; regional organizations; and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations), reflecting an intention to draw from a wide research and community infrastructure.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed under CFDA numbers 93.847 and 93.866, with the FOA created on 2018-01-11 and an original closing date shown as 2021-05-07. The listing does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided text, which is not unusual for NIH FOAs where budgets are often determined by the scope of the science and standard NIH policies for the R01 mechanism. Overall, the program is aimed at generating stronger mechanistic understanding and more clinically meaningful, practical evidence so that older adults affected by DU/UAB can receive clearer diagnoses and better-tailored, outcomes-driven care.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Underactive Bladder and Detrusor Activity in Aging (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.847, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-01-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-07. (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.

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