Identify and Characterize Potential Environmental Risk Factors for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Evaluate Their Impact on ALS Disease Incidence and Progression | RFA TS 17 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA TS 17 001

The grant opportunity titled "Identify and Characterize Potential Environmental Risk Factors for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Evaluate Their Impact on ALS Disease Incidence and Progression" was issued by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), which operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is an investigator-initiated research program, meaning applicants are expected to propose their own research questions, study designs, and analytical approaches within the broad goals laid out by ATSDR. The central purpose is to strengthen the evidence base around whether exposure to environmental toxicants contributes to the onset of ALS or influences how the disease progresses after diagnosis.

The focus of the solicitation is on identifying and characterizing environmental toxicants using human biological samples. In practice, this points to research that measures chemicals or their metabolites in biospecimens such as blood, urine, saliva, hair, nails, or other relevant tissues, and then connects those measurements to ALS-related outcomes. The program is not limited to simply detecting chemicals in people; it is also aimed at determining which exposures may plausibly function as environmental risk factors for ALS, and at clarifying the nature of those relationships. This could include work that distinguishes between background exposures and exposures at levels or patterns that might be associated with increased ALS risk, as well as research that tries to define exposure timing, duration, dose, mixtures, or routes of exposure in ways that are biologically meaningful.

A second major emphasis is evaluating how environmental toxicants may affect both the development of ALS and the course of the disease, including progression. That framing supports studies that look at incidence (who develops ALS and under what exposure conditions) and studies that examine prognosis (how quickly symptoms worsen, functional decline rates, survival, or other progression markers) in relation to measured toxicant burdens. The announcement explicitly highlights gene-environment interactions, signaling interest in research that considers how genetic susceptibility may modify the effects of environmental exposures, or how exposures might interact with genetic variants to influence ALS risk or progression trajectories.

The intended payoff from the funded work is improved understanding of ALS etiology, specifically whether and how environmental toxicants might be linked to disease causation or worsening. ATSDR frames the research as a way to clarify possible connections between environmental exposures and ALS, which can ultimately support better public health insight, guide future research priorities, and inform prevention or exposure-reduction strategies if credible links are identified.

Administratively, this opportunity was offered as a discretionary grant (Funding Opportunity Number RFA TS 17 001) under CFDA 93.061. It was open to small businesses as eligible applicants, which is somewhat distinctive for a health-focused CDC/ATSDR research solicitation and suggests a willingness to fund private-sector research capacity, including specialized laboratories, exposure assessment firms, or biotech-oriented analytical groups capable of advanced biomonitoring or omics-enabled exposure characterization. The funding instrument type is listed as a grant, with an award ceiling of $500,000 per award and an expectation of about 15 awards, indicating an intent to support a portfolio of multiple projects rather than a single large center. Key dates show the opportunity was created on January 20, 2017, with an original application closing date of April 21, 2017, and an electronic submission deadline of 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.

Overall, the solicitation is designed to fund practical, biologically anchored environmental health research that can move beyond broad speculation about ALS triggers and toward measurable evidence using human biospecimens, rigorous exposure assessment, and analytic approaches capable of testing exposure effects on both ALS incidence and progression, including the role of genetic susceptibility in shaping those effects.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Identify and Characterize Potential Environmental Risk Factors for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Evaluate Their Impact on ALS Disease Incidence and Progression" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.061.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 20, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 21, 2017 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 500 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (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 $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

Apply for RFA TS 17 001

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