Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco (CRST) to Assess Changes in Use Behaviors, Product Marketing, and the Marketplace (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA OD 22 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 22 002

The Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco (CRST) funding opportunity (RFA-OD-22-002) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement (U01; clinical trial not allowed) focused on strengthening the United States' ability to track and interpret fast-moving changes in the tobacco environment. The central goal is to build a dedicated center that can quickly detect and report shifts in tobacco product use behaviors, tobacco product marketing practices, and the broader tobacco marketplace, especially as products, promotions, and consumer patterns evolve faster than traditional surveillance systems can typically capture.

At its core, the CRST is designed for rapid surveillance rather than slower, retrospective research. NIH is looking for applicants that can generate timely signals about emerging and ongoing trends, using time-sensitive data acquisition approaches and workflows that support near-real-time awareness. The center is expected to do more than collect information; it should also harmonize data from multiple sources, synthesize and analyze findings efficiently, and produce rapid reporting outputs that can inform stakeholders about what is changing, how quickly, and in what directions. In practical terms, the FOA emphasizes the ability to move from detection to analysis to communication quickly, so that decision-makers are not working with outdated information while the marketplace and consumer behavior continue to shift.

The scope explicitly spans three major surveillance domains. First is tobacco use behaviors, meaning the center should be able to identify changes in how people initiate, use, switch between, or quit tobacco products, including emerging patterns that may not yet be well represented in standard national surveys. Second is product marketing, which includes monitoring how tobacco and nicotine products are promoted, positioned, and targeted, and how marketing channels and messaging change over time. Third is the marketplace itself, which covers availability, product characteristics, and other market signals that indicate what products are entering, leaving, or transforming within the U.S. tobacco landscape. The FOA language points to a need for integrated, flexible monitoring that can keep pace with rapid product innovation and shifting consumer preferences.

This is offered as a cooperative agreement (U01), which generally means substantial involvement from the funding agency is expected compared to a typical research project grant. In a cooperative model, NIH involvement often includes coordination, shared priorities, or collaborative oversight to ensure the center delivers timely surveillance products aligned with the program's objectives. The "clinical trial not allowed" designation indicates the work should not be structured as a clinical trial; the emphasis is on surveillance, data integration, and rapid analytic reporting rather than intervention testing in human participants.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic organizations and governments. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and 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; other-than-federally-recognized tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), excluding higher education institutions in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other organizations. The FOA also highlights additional eligible categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is limited in a specific way. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-U.S. foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the primary applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S.-based applicant may include certain international elements in the project when permissible under NIH policy, even though a foreign organization cannot serve as the main applicant.

Administratively, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding, with a health activity focus and CFDA number 93.077. The original closing date listed for applications was May 18, 2022, and the FOA creation date is December 15, 2021. While the summary information provided does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, the intent is clearly to support a dedicated center function with infrastructure and capabilities for fast data capture, harmonization, synthesis, and rapid dissemination of surveillance findings.

Overall, NIH is soliciting a center that can operate like an early-warning and rapid-briefing system for the tobacco field, capable of quickly identifying meaningful changes across product use, marketing, and market conditions, and turning those observations into organized, harmonized, and clearly communicated outputs on a timeline that matches how quickly the tobacco and nicotine landscape is changing in the United States.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco (CRST) to Assess Changes in Use Behaviors, Product Marketing, and the Marketplace (U01 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): 93.077.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-12-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-05-18. (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 22 002

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