NIAID Influenza Immunity Research

Impact of Initial Influenza Exposure on Immunity in Infants — RFA-AI-27-019

Supports longitudinal infant influenza immunity studies to guide next-generation vaccine design.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) issued RFA-AI-27-019 on February 10, 2026, to support longitudinal infant cohort studies examining how initial and repeated natural influenza infections and vaccinations shape immune responses to future influenza exposures in infants and young children. The scientific rationale is that the first influenza exposure — whether a natural infection or vaccination — imprints the immune system in ways that affect lifelong immunity to influenza; understanding this imprinting effect is considered essential for designing broadly protective, durable next-generation influenza vaccines. NIAID views universal influenza vaccine development as a strategic priority, and this cooperative agreement program is intended to generate the longitudinal immunological data needed to advance that goal.

RFA-AI-27-019 uses the U01 Cooperative Agreement mechanism, in which NIH program staff participate substantively in the direction of funded research — making this a more collaborative and NIH-guided instrument than a standard investigator-initiated R01. The total program pool is $9,600,000 across three expected awards of up to $3,000,000 each. Clinical trials are not allowed. The application deadline was June 4, 2026, which has now closed. This NOFO is one of a small set of NIAID solicitations specifically designated for funded international collaborations: foreign organizations are explicitly eligible, and foreign subawards and subcontracts are permitted — a deliberate exception to NIH's May 2025 policy restricting foreign components to designated international NOFOs only.

Prospective applicants for future cycles should note that only three awards are funded from the $9.6M pool, making this a highly selective program. Successful teams will need to demonstrate established access to infant cohort populations and infrastructure for intensive longitudinal immune-response sampling across multiple influenza seasons. Both new cohort establishment and continuation of existing cohorts are fundable. Applications should be addressed to NIAID at imprintingNOFO@mail.nih.gov. The NOFO archive date is August 3, 2026.