RFA-JG-26-034: Enhancing Understanding and Preparedness for Public Health Threats Through Research in Kenya

RFA-JG-26-034: Enhancing Understanding and Preparedness for Public Health Threats Through Research in Kenya

If your institution works on infectious disease preparedness and wants to lead work with direct field relevance in East Africa, this is one of the clearest high-priority CDC opportunities in the 2026 cycle. The program is officially titled RFA-JG-26-034: Enhancing Understanding of and Preparedness for Public Health Threats Through Research in Kenya and is published as a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) on the U.S. federal funding system.

The opportunity links together implementation science, public-health operations, and field evaluation in an explicit way that is unusual for many traditional research grants. It is designed to deliver practical evidence for prevention and response rather than narrowly focused laboratory work. In short, this is meant to improve public-health capacity and decision-making systems in Kenya while producing data that can also inform U.S. and global preparedness.

Key details snapshot

Why this opportunity is different

Many NIH/CDC and HHS funding opportunities for research in low- and middle-income settings are framed as project grants and have broad language around disease burden. This one is distinctive because it is explicitly structured around four priority areas, and all four must be addressed in the application. The NOFO states that each priority must be included in the proposal, with a separate research plan per priority area.

The areas are:

1. Influenza and other respiratory pathogens: surveillance in high-risk groups, monitoring pathogens, and evaluating vaccine and treatment effectiveness.
2. Vaccine-preventable diseases: burden assessment, vaccine effectiveness, and factors affecting immunization uptake.
3. Drug-resistant infections: antimicrobial resistance trend monitoring, use of diagnostics, and investigation of drivers.
4. Global and emerging health threats: work on malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, and related emerging infections.

Each area is expected to contribute to practical outcomes: better understanding of disease dynamics, stronger intervention design, and stronger readiness for cross-border and global risks. The NOFO explicitly says this is not isolated academic exercise; it is meant to improve health threat preparedness at both national and global level.

The work also includes a research coordination and administration component. That means applicants should not treat this as an add-on to a normal research budget; they are expected to describe governance, compliance, financial controls, and administrative systems needed to manage U.S.-funded public-health research.

If your team is mostly discovery science, this can still be a fit if you can show operational readiness in Kenya and a clear pathway from evidence generation to policy/public-health action. If your team is mostly implementation-focused, the reverse is true: provide rigorous methods and measurable outcomes.

Who is eligible and who likely is not

The listing provides an explicit set of eligible applicants and includes both US and foreign entities.

Confirmed eligible categories include:

• Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits, including 501(c)(3) nonprofits and other nonprofits
• Private institutions of higher education
• For-profit organizations (except small businesses)
• Small businesses
• Foreign organizations, including organizations outside U.S. territories
• Consortia (applications from multiple organizations are permitted)

This makes the NOFO unusually broad compared with many NIH programs that are only open to universities and US nonprofits. The inclusion of foreign organizations and for-profit participants also indicates that CDC expects operational partnerships and field coordination capacities, not just purely academic teams.

Non-negotiable responsiveness requirements

The NOFO includes explicit “responsiveness criteria” that can cause immediate rejection if not met. The requirements are more than a checklist and should drive proposal strategy:

• Confirm the applicant is in an eligible category.
• Submit by the stated deadline.
• Demonstrate an established institutional presence in Kenya (office, personnel, or infrastructure), not merely a letter of support.
• Show relevant research infrastructure and a history of work with KEMRI and/or the Kenya Ministry of Health.
• Address all four priority areas and research coordination/administration requirements.
• Avoid asking for funding above the stated award ceiling for your proposal package.

Even before peer review, missing one of these can disqualify the application. This is one of the most important practical takeaways: your first drafting cycle should be a compliance pass, not a science style pass.

Funding details, timeline, and why timing matters

The program states a total program ceiling of $30,000,000 and describes an expected funding range per budget period of $3M to $6M, with a maximum of $6M per applicant per budget period. The expected number of awards is shown as 1, and the award timeline in the NOFO suggests a relatively standard fast-moving federal cycle:

• Optional letter of intent: May 23, 2026
• Full applications due: June 22, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET
• Expected review dates: July 2026
• Expected award notice: September 1, 2026
• Expected start date: September 30, 2026
• Archive date: June 23, 2026

From a planning standpoint, this means teams have a narrow pre-submission window. The archive date immediately after deadline should be read as a clean deadline boundary; late adjustments after this date are not a normal pattern for this kind of NOFO cycle.

Because it is a cooperative agreement, CDC expects an active government role in performance oversight. Teams should treat the budget narrative differently than pure investigator-initiated grants: include realistic management and compliance tasks, and show an organizational plan that can handle reporting, oversight, and risk management.

What your application should include (based on official structure)

The NOFO itself follows a six-step structure (review, get ready, build application, review/selection, submission, award). The most practical way to prepare is to mirror this sequence in your internal planning.

1) Register early and verify systems

The NOFO states that organizations should secure and confirm active registrations before submission:

• SAM.gov registration with active UEI
• Grants.gov registration (including Login.gov setup)

Treat this as a project gate. If your institution has delegated administration or outside sponsors, align submission responsibilities at least 2–3 weeks before the filing deadline.

2) Design proposal structure around the four priorities

The NOFO explicitly requires all four priority areas and a separate research plan per priority area. This requirement can trip teams up if they submit only one flagship concept. Build your proposal architecture as four linked components with a common methods framework and shared implementation backbone.

A useful internal layout:

• Executive objectives and relevance to CDC priorities
• Cross-cutting governance and coordination
• Four priority sections (each with question, methods, expected outputs, and KPIs)
• Shared data management and compliance architecture
• Budget justification mapped to each component

3) Show operational presence in Kenya

The responsiveness rule is very concrete: evidence of institutional presence in Kenya and collaboration readiness is required. This is often under-appreciated:

• Prefer letters with clear implementation responsibilities
• Include staff assignments and local partner engagement mechanisms
• Include communication and governance lines between US principal teams and Kenyan implementing entities

Do not treat this as only a bureaucratic statement. The NOFO says this is a core eligibility condition.

4) Tie priorities to measurable outputs

Each priority should have outcomes that map directly to public-health decisions. Recommended measurable outcomes by area:

• Influenza/respiratory: improved surveillance quality indicators, treatment uptake, or vaccine-impact metrics
• Vaccine-preventable diseases: vaccination uptake and immunization system performance indicators
• AMR: diagnostic workflow outputs, resistance trend surveillance, intervention adoption
• Emerging threats: improved cross-border risk characterization and intervention effectiveness

Avoid generic outputs (“increase awareness”) unless tied to measurable indicators and timeline.

5) Align budget with stated ceilings and budget-period logic

A strong risk area is budget overreach. The NOFO signals expected funding per applicant per budget period up to $6M, with no cost-sharing requirement. If your team proposes budget lines above permissible expectations, the application is at risk of being treated nonresponsive. The review expectation is not just scientific quality; it also screens basic compliance.

Common reasons applications fail at this NOFO

These are the recurring weak points you can proactively avoid:

1. Missing one priority area: the NOFO is explicit that all four are required.
2. No Kenya presence evidence: vague collaborator language is not enough.
3. Weak partner governance with KEMRI or MoH: responsiveness checks can fail even before review.
4. Late or fragmented submission: the deadline is hard and not a moving target.
5. Budget misalignment: requesting above stated ceilings or not linking budget to each priority component.
6. Overly academic narrative without implementation science and operational execution planning.
7. Insufficient coordination narrative: because this is a cooperative agreement, a missing administration and compliance section signals weak readiness.

Strategic fit guide: when to apply and when to skip

This opportunity is well-suited to:

• University research units with current Kenya-focused infectious disease programs
• Public health institutes with established surveillance or intervention systems
• Partnerships where a field lead in Kenya has clear operational authority
• Organizations that can run both scientific and implementation components in parallel

It is a poor fit for applicants without in-country infrastructure, for teams with only short-term consulting activity in Kenya, and for groups proposing to fund only one of the four priorities. Single-lane research teams should not apply unless they can credibly expand to all required areas.

Because the NOFO is explicitly tied to CDC priorities and coordination with KEMRI/MoH, teams should view this as a national public-health partnership pilot more than a pure publication-driven grant.

How to prepare in the final 8 weeks

A practical preparation rhythm that works for this NOFO:

Weeks 1–2: Compliance lock.

• Confirm eligibility class of lead applicant.
• Verify SAM.gov and Grants.gov logins, UEI, and internal signatory authority.

Weeks 3–4: Collaboration and presence package.

• Finalize MOUs or letters documenting local operational structure.
• Map organizational responsibilities in Kenya and US.
• Define governance, data stewardship, and compliance points.

Weeks 5–6: Scientific plan build.

• Draft all four priority plans with methods, deliverables, and timeline.
• Build shared measurement framework.
• Align each section to public-health actionability.

Weeks 7–8: Submission quality control.

• Build budget from the bottom up by priority and compliance needs.
• Run responsiveness pass against criteria.
• Assign a pre-submission dry run on technical systems.

Frequently asked questions (fact-based)

Is this still active?

The NOFO shows a posted date of May 11, 2026 and a last archived date of June 23, 2026 in the official listing. The listed submission deadline is June 22, 2026.

Is it a grant or a cooperative agreement?

It is a cooperative agreement, not a standard award-only grant. That changes the expected relationship between awardee and federal lead.

Is cost sharing required?

No.

Is it only for universities?

No. The NOFO allows for-profit and nonprofit categories, including foreign organizations and small businesses.

Can multiple applications be submitted from one institution?

Yes, if each is scientifically distinct, but all must carry the same lead PI/PD.

Can you apply if you are not in Kenya?

Yes if you are in an eligible category and can demonstrate a real institutional presence and capacity in Kenya.

Submission checklist (minimum before submission)

• Confirm eligibility status explicitly checked against official categories.
• Register and test registration/access for SAM.gov and Grants.gov.
• Include four priority-aligned plans and budget support.
• Include clear collaboration governance with KEMRI and/or Kenyan Ministry of Health touchpoints.
• Keep funding request within cooperative agreement scope.
• Ensure full application submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 22, 2026.
• Review optional letter of intent due by May 23, 2026 as an internal pre-submission checkpoint.

Official links and source documents

• Official opportunity page (federal): https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/37e1c444-7e80-4e2c-877b-c690626a7721
• Official NOFO PDF (source of detailed program terms): https://files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunities/37e1c444-7e80-4e2c-877b-c690626a7721/attachments/54b6be93-d868-4a05-994b-907507e98c0d/rfa-jg-26-034_rev10.pdf
• Official grants.gov reference page: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/360999

Practical next step

If you are helping a team decide whether to chase this, do the first pass now as a no-surprises feasibility review. The biggest risk is not scientific quality; it is meeting the operational and responsiveness requirements tied to CDC’s implementation and partnership model. Treat your proposal as a full public-health system contract proposal, not only a research paper proposal, and the chances of review passage improve materially.