Mucosal Immunology Studies Team (MIST) (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AI 25 018

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 25 018

The Mucosal Immunology Studies Team (MIST) funding opportunity (RFA-AI-25-018) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement that supports a coordinated research group focused on fundamental questions in mucosal immunology. The program centers on immune mechanisms and immune regulation at mucosal surfaces, specifically within the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urogenital tracts. The intent is to push the field forward by encouraging investigators to bring genuinely new ideas, fresh experimental approaches, and enabling technologies that can tackle hard-to-answer problems about how immunity works at these barrier sites. This is framed as basic, mechanism-driven research rather than clinical intervention research, and the announcement specifies that clinical trials are not allowed.

The overall goal of MIST is to "break new ground" in understanding mucosal immune mechanisms, which signals an emphasis on discoveries that clarify how immune protection, tolerance, inflammation, and regulation are orchestrated where the body interfaces with the outside world. Because mucosal tissues constantly encounter microbes, environmental exposures, and dietary antigens, they require specialized immune strategies that differ from systemic immunity. This opportunity is aimed at research that can unpack those specialized strategies in a rigorous, mechanistic way, potentially leveraging modern tools such as advanced immunophenotyping, spatial and single-cell profiling, multi-omics, organoid and tissue model systems, cutting-edge imaging, computational modeling, or novel platforms for studying host-microbe interactions. While the solicitation text does not list specific required scientific topics in the excerpt provided, the stated purpose makes it clear that applications should be designed to address difficult, foundational questions about immune function and regulation at mucosal surfaces, rather than incremental extensions of existing work.

The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement (U01), which typically means the work is expected to be carried out with substantial scientific involvement from NIH program staff compared with a standard research project grant. In practical terms, applicants should be prepared for a more team-oriented, milestone- and coordination-heavy structure, where investigators contribute to and participate in a broader consortium-like effort under the MIST umbrella. This structure is intended to make it easier to harmonize methods, compare findings across studies, share resources or data when appropriate, and collectively accelerate progress on core mucosal immunology challenges.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. and non-U.S. organizations. Eligible applicants 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; Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in those categories as specified); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The opportunity also explicitly welcomes additional eligible applicants such as federal government agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized, foreign (non-U.S.) organizations, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. This wide eligibility suggests NIH is prioritizing the best ideas and capabilities wherever they reside, including specialized groups that may bring unique populations, samples, technologies, or perspectives relevant to mucosal immunology.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding under the Health activity area and is associated with CFDA number 93.855. The listed application due date is October 21, 2025, and the opportunity record shows an award ceiling of $350,000. The notice was created on August 26, 2025. The expected number of awards is not provided in the excerpt, so applicants would typically look to the full NOFO for details on anticipated award count, project period, allowable costs, and any consortium governance expectations.

In short, this NIH program is designed for research teams that want to contribute to a coordinated effort aimed at answering major, unresolved questions about immune defense and immune regulation at mucosal barriers in the lung/airways, gut, and urogenital tract. Competitive applications will likely be those that clearly articulate a high-impact mechanistic question, justify why mucosal context matters, and demonstrate how innovative methods or concepts will deliver insights that are hard to obtain with standard approaches, all while fitting a cooperative, team-science framework and staying within the non-clinical-trial boundary.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mucosal Immunology Studies Team (MIST) (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): 93.855.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-08-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-21. (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 $350,000.00 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 RFA AI 25 018

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