Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Data and Biospecimen Access (X01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Data and Biospecimen Access (X01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is a resource access funding opportunity from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), specifically coordinated through the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. The ECHO Program, launched by the NIH in 2016, brings together a consortium of cores, centers, and performance sites that have combined data and biospecimens from multiple maternal-child cohort studies, standardizing new data and biospecimen collection across the United States. ECHO’s core mission is to enhance the health of children for generations to come by providing opportunities for the scientific community to investigate high-priority areas in maternal and child health, focusing particularly on how early environmental exposures affect health outcomes. This Program Announcement (PAR-25-437) invites applications from researchers who wish to access limited identifiable data or biospecimens from the ECHO Cohort to conduct ancillary studies. Such studies must be supported by non-ECHO funding sources, and no direct financial awards are provided through this X01 mechanism. Instead, awardees receive access to unique ECHO data and biospecimens, which are not publicly available, to answer scientific questions about exposures and outcomes affecting children from preconception through adolescence. Projects can analyze ECHO’s limited identifiable data, access biospecimens for new assays, or both, with the requirement that generated assay data must be returned to the ECHO Data Analysis Center for future research. Investigators must plan for all study costs, including data and biospecimen access fees, staff time, data agreements, training, and other associated expenses. Eligible applicants include a broad array of U.S.-based organizations: public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, for-profit entities including small businesses, state and local governments, tribal entities, independent school districts, public housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations, and certain faith-based or community-based groups. Foreign organizations and foreign components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. Applicants must demonstrate appropriate institutional registrations, such as SAM, eRA Commons, Grants.gov, and have principal investigators registered in eRA Commons. The application process requires adherence to NIH's standard Research (R) Instructions in the How to Apply - Application Guide, except where program-specific guidance applies. Applications must include a Letter of Support from the ECHO Cohort Steering Committee, and evidence of adequate external funding to support the full scope of the proposed study. Applications missing these elements will not be reviewed. Biospecimen proposals must address quality management, data security, privacy, and laboratory capabilities, with an expectation that assay data are returned to ECHO. The maximum project period is three years. Key application dates recur regularly, with open and due dates in July, November, and March each year through March 2028. Letters of Intent are encouraged but not required and should be submitted 30 days prior to application deadlines. Reviews focus on significance, investigator qualifications, innovation, approach, and the adequacy of funding and plans for resource use and data security. There is no cost sharing or matching requirement. Awardees do not receive a Notice of Award but are provided with instructions to access resources upon approval. For further details or specific inquiries, potential applicants may contact Dr. Melissa Zajdel, Program Officer, Office of the Director, NIH, via melissa.zajdel@nih.gov.

Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow time for corrections, must include all required elements (especially evidence of funding and ECHO Steering Committee Letter), and should carefully follow all application and submission instructions.