The NIDDK Disorders of Gastrointestinal Interoception Consortium Clinical Centers (DGIC) (RFA-DK-27-117)

The NIDDK Disorders of Gastrointestinal Interoception Consortium Clinical Centers (DGIC) (RFA-DK-27-117)

Key details

What this opportunity is about

This is a national-level NIH funding opportunity hosted under the NIDDK mission and visible in Grants.gov/NIH ecosystem as RFA-DK-27-117. The initiative builds directly on the NIDDK Gastroparesis Consortium Clinical Research Center work and explicitly broadens scope to other gastrointestinal interoception conditions in adult and pediatric populations.

The opportunity statement highlights two substantive points:

1. It expands from a prior gastroparesis effort that already generated a substantial patient registry with both delayed and normal gastric emptying phenotypes.
2. It now looks for mechanisms that connect GI function to symptoms through interoceptive pathways, with the goal of identifying biomarkers and future therapeutic targets.

It is positioned as a consortium-style mechanism rather than a standalone single-site grant. The description in the official listing indicates the consortium may include up to six clinical research centers and a scientific data research center (SDRC).

In plain language, the program appears to be seeking coordinated, multicenter teams that can combine mechanistic biology, clinical protocols, and advanced biomarker work around gut-brain signaling, motility, and symptom generation. The language around “state-of-the-art technologies” suggests a strong preference for methods that can produce high-value translational data suitable for follow-on interventional work.

The request’s emphasis is consistent with NIH’s recurring strategy for large-area mechanistic initiatives: define a common scientific theme, fund multiple centers that attack it from complementary angles, and standardize data workflows through a shared data infrastructure.

Why this is likely relevant for 2026/2027 applicants

The listing is forecasted, with an estimated post date in August 2026 and an estimated application due date of November 1, 2026. For an opportunity calendar, that means:

• It is not a closed historical call based on current status.
• It is explicitly aimed at the 2026/2027 cycle and therefore useful for near-term planning.
• The estimated award date is July 1, 2027, which aligns with institutions and centers building budgets around that fiscal year.

Because it is forecasted, details can still evolve. The practical signal for applicants is: monitor for the final NOFO update and potential adjustments before submission, but do use the current information to pre-build partnerships, gather preliminary letters, and set up internal approvals now.

Who this opportunity seems built for

This is not a typical individual fellowship and it is not primarily for students. It is an institutional consortium program. Based on the listed eligible categories, likely fit profiles include:

• Academic medical centers with strong GI, neuroscience, or metabolism research infrastructure.
• University-affiliated research groups with existing motility, gut-brain, imaging, or autonomic function capabilities.
• State or local public entities and eligible nonprofit organizations that can operate or support consortium-level research administration.
• Industry participants can be eligible in defined categories, but this is unusual for NIH RFAs and should be considered only after close fit checks.

The listing’s explicit inclusion of public/government entities, universities, nonprofit groups, and businesses indicates the agency is not restricting this to one narrow institution type. In practice, competitive proposals in such a theme usually require a lead applicant with clear clinical-research leadership and deep compliance capacity.

Where this helps a planning team most

This kind of RFA tends to reward:

• Prior cross-institution experience.
• Clear consortium governance design.
• Pre-existing data sharing or registry strategy.
• Ability to produce reproducible clinical phenotyping.
• A pathway to translate biomarkers into testable mechanistic hypotheses.

If your organization is a single independent lab without clinical scale, you would usually need to partner with a larger center rather than applying alone.

Eligibility interpretation and compliance considerations

The official listing names a long eligibility list and includes broader “other eligible applicants” categories. For operational planning, translate that as:

• You should not assume automatically ineligible unless your organization clearly does not fit any listed group.
• If you qualify under one or more categories, you still need to confirm your specific status against the full announcement text once it appears.
• If your organization is a U.S. entity, registration and representative authorizations will likely be required by Grants.gov anyway.

The listing confirms eligibility broadness, but NIH RFAs commonly impose additional administrative, regulatory, and submission constraints at the full notice level. Important compliance points:

1. Verify your legal and financial profile early (organizational type, federal registration status, award acceptance rules).
2. Confirm your institution is allowed to lead a center model and carry cost allocations and subaward responsibilities.
3. Check whether foreign partnerships are allowed under your intended consortium design.
4. Track any human subjects, data-sharing, and federal assurance implications early.

Because this program explicitly lists no cost sharing requirement and uses a cooperative agreement instrument, budget design is easier in that respect, but administrative requirements remain non-trivial.

What the official listing confirms so far

Based on the current public listing, these are the strongest confirmed facts:

• The initiative is forecasted, not yet fully open.
• It is named Disorders of Gastrointestinal Interoception Consortium Clinical Centers.
• NIH/NIDDK is the administering body.
• Up to six Clinical Research Centers and an SDRC are contemplated.
• The program scope is broader than gastroparesis and includes adult and pediatric GI interoception-related conditions.
• Estimated project funding total is $3,000,000 with six expected awards.
• Funding instrument is a cooperative agreement.
• No cost sharing/matching is stated in the listing.
• The program’s expected timeline is post date in Aug 2026, due date Nov 1, 2026, and award date in July 2027.
• Submissions go through Grants.gov.
• Contact listed: Terez Shea-Donohue (Ph.D.) with NIH email.

What remains uncertain until the full version history/NOFO details are open: detailed budgets, exact mechanism of center participation, required milestones, review criteria weights, any clinical restrictions, and full application package instructions.

Application process and preparation map

Even before full posting, applicants can use this opportunity to run a strong pre-submission build. The safest preparation sequence is:

1) Keep monitoring the official Grants.gov entry

Because the listing is forecasted, the first action is to treat the current page as an evolving source and check version updates regularly.

• Track the official Grants.gov page for posting status changes.
• Capture snapshot dates (when you retrieved documents, when notices changed).
• Confirm whether your chosen institution remains eligible when the full NOFO version is posted.

2) Build internal consortium architecture early

Set up the leadership model before submission:

• Define one lead organization.
• Appoint principal science leaders and a data governance owner.
• Assign a PI-level point of contact with NIH-facing responsibilities.
• Assign budget and compliance leads for cooperative agreements.

Given NIH consortium expectations, the structure should be explicit and executable, not just conceptual. Include governance rules for data-sharing and conflict resolution between centers.

3) Align scientific scope with interoception and GI motility

The text indicates focus on mechanisms connecting GI function to symptoms and biomarker development. Candidate proposal design should answer:

• What biological signal will you study?
• How will symptom burden be measured and standardized?
• What new insight does your team add beyond existing registry knowledge?
• How will findings accelerate future trials?

4) Prepare submission-readiness artifacts (early)

Even before the final form set is official, prep:

• CVs and biosketches.
• Organizational compliance documents and authorized representative mapping.
• Abstract-level concept notes for each center.
• Data management and sharing plan skeleton.
• Budget logic for a center model and subcontracts.

5) Keep submission timing conservative

The current due date is estimated as November 1, 2026. For forecasted NIH opportunities, submit well before the final day to allow for platform and technical issues in Grants.gov.

Required materials and likely evidence package

The official page does not publish all forms yet, so avoid claiming exact form names that might not apply. Based on the published platform and federal practice for center-style RFA applications, you should usually be ready to prepare:

• Administrative registration documents for institutional and PI-level submission rights.
• A structured research plan tied to interoception mechanisms.
• Detailed biosketches and effort commitment statements.
• Budget documents in the expected NIH format.
• Consortium letters: leadership letters, data-sharing commitments, and center partnership letters.
• Institutional assurances and human-subjects compliance materials if clinical cohorts are involved.

Because this is a cooperative agreement, expect stronger expectations around coordination and NIH interaction than standard R01-like awards. Even if not all forms are available yet, pre-collecting this evidence avoids last-minute bottlenecks.

Applicant strategy: where teams usually fail

For large programmatic clinical opportunities like this, weak applications often fail due to poor coalition logic rather than weak science. Common issues to avoid:

1. Treating it as six independent projects with weak integration. The model rewards consortium coherence.
2. Submitting a broad registry idea without precise biomarker and symptom-operationalization plans.
3. Underestimating compliance load for multicenter clinical and data workflows.
4. Submitting a late-optimized draft without contingency for Grants.gov technical checks.
5. Ignoring timeline: forecasted opportunities can tighten fast once full notices are posted.

What strong teams do instead

• Build a shared protocol logic that can harmonize data across centers.
• Define clear roles for each center so review committees can see non-overlapping deliverables.
• Link mechanistic claims directly to measurable outcomes.
• Build a realistic recruitment and data pipeline plan.
• Show reproducible analytics standards and a publication-ready data framework.

How to position your organization for fit

If you are a university-affiliated center, your advantage is often translational access and clinical infrastructure. To improve competitiveness:

• Highlight previous GI motility or interoception collaborations.
• Show access to pediatric and adult cohorts where relevant.
• Emphasize your analytics, imaging, or sensory biology capabilities if distinct.
• If applying with business or government entities, define what research functions are truly leadable in-house.

Nonprofit and public entities should emphasize public health relevance and readiness to support multicenter collaboration. Small-business applicants should only move forward if they can prove direct and essential technical/scientific roles with clear regulatory fit.

FAQ

Is this a sure-open opportunity right now?

No. The current listing is forecasted. It indicates an expected posting and due date, and shows that the program is not yet fully open in all materials. Treat it as an active lead for planning rather than a final NOFO with all details fixed.

Is the deadline fixed?

The listing shows an estimated application due date of November 1, 2026. Confirm in Grants.gov for any updates before submission.

Is there an amount per award?

Only program totals and expected award count are shown in the listing. The listing reports program funding at $3,000,000 and six expected awards, with no confirmed per-award minimum/maximum there.

Is registration needed?

The listing states applications are handled through Grants.gov, so Grants.gov-linked requirements will apply. Institutional registration and authorized representative setup are generally required for federal submissions.

Who can apply?

A broad set of applicants is listed, including universities, government entities, nonprofit groups, small businesses, and for-profits (except certain categories). Confirm your institutional status once the full notice is visible.

Is this open to foreign collaborators?

The listing includes non-domestic entities among other eligible categories, but full collaboration rules should be verified against the final official materials.

Official links and monitoring checklist

• Primary opportunity listing: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/360625
• Public listing reference used for tracking: https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/112a0e4f-edb3-44dd-9443-892840371b24

Monitoring checklist before you submit

• Confirm the posting status and whether the estimate has become official.
• Download and archive the final opportunity text as soon as available.
• Confirm exact award instrument terms and forms.
• Verify each partner’s eligibility and signature authority.
• Refresh your timeline with internal review and final submission windows.

Practical next step

Use this as a 2026 planning opportunity rather than a late-cycle scramble. If your team can already define a clinical center leadership consortium with strong interoception/mechanistic focus, begin drafting internal concept pages now and keep them modular so that they can be adapted to official NOFO language immediately when released.

Even with forecast uncertainty, this is one of the clearest late-2026 pipeline opportunities for GI neuroscience and symptom-phenotyping teams because it explicitly connects registry-based patient evidence, multisite clinical research, and biomarker development under one NIH-anchored program.