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

Historical reference

RFA-JG-26-034 is closed. The official Grants.gov listing says it was archived on June 23, 2026, one day after the application deadline, and the notice required complete applications by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 22, 2026. The official listing and the attached CDC materials do not announce a later cycle. This page is therefore an archive entry for the closed funding round, not an invitation to submit a late application. Do not assume that the same deadline, budget, or requirements will apply if CDC publishes a future opportunity under a different number.

The sponsor was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Global Health Center/Office of Director. The federal notice supported research, implementation science, and public-health evaluations in Kenya, with work conducted through the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and in collaboration with Kenyan public-health institutions. Its stated purpose was to generate evidence for preventing and responding to infectious-disease threats, strengthen Kenya’s research capacity, and inform preparedness in Kenya, the United States, and globally.

Key details snapshot

Why this opportunity is different

This NOFO was not a general-purpose infectious-disease grant. It was organized around four required priority areas, plus research infrastructure coordination and administration. The CDC Q&A published with the notice states that a separate application should be submitted for each priority area. Each application needed an SF-424 R&R with a research plan, budget, and strategy for the relevant priority area, while the research coordination and administration component belonged in the Overall Management Plan submitted with the Priority 1A application.

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 was expected to contribute to practical outcomes: better understanding of disease dynamics, stronger intervention design, and better readiness for cross-border and global risks. The program description connected the research to surveillance, epidemiological studies, laboratory research, implementation science, evaluation, and dissemination of scientific results. It also described support for KEMRI’s administration and business systems so that CDC-supported research could be managed effectively.

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.

The notice listed these eligible applicant categories:

• Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status, other than institutions of higher education
• 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)

The notice also allowed foreign organizations. It defined a foreign organization as a public or private nonprofit or for-profit organization located outside the United States and its territories and subject to the laws of the country where it is located. Consortia were allowed, with the lead entity responsible for managing subrecipient arrangements and the consortium management plan. These categories did not remove the program’s other responsiveness requirements.

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, such as an office, personnel, or other infrastructure.
• Demonstrate access to relevant research infrastructure, including facilities and equipment.
• Document prior or current technical collaboration or ongoing work with KEMRI and/or the Kenya Ministry of Health (MoH).
• Address the applicable priority-area objectives, core categories, and research coordination and administration functions.
• Keep the request within the applicable funding ceiling and follow the notice’s priority-area budget levels.

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 notice states expected total program funding of $30 million over a five-year period of performance made up of 12-month budget periods. Expected funding per applicant per budget period was $3 million to $6 million, with a maximum award amount of $6 million per budget period. The official listing showed one expected award and no cost-sharing requirement. The CDC Q&A clarified that the $30 million maximum for the five-year project period included both direct and indirect costs.

The notice’s budget-year-one planning amounts were specific to the four research priorities:

• Influenza and other respiratory pathogens: $2 million to $3 million.
• Vaccine-preventable diseases: $75,000 to $100,000.
• Drug-resistant infections: $400,000.
• Global and emerging health threats: $100,000.

Those figures matter because the notice required a separate budget narrative that did not exceed the provided funding level for each priority area. The Q&A further stated that coordination and administration costs should be embedded within the budgets for priority areas 1A through 1D, rather than presented as a separate budget allocation. Applicants could include budgets for KEMRI and other collaborating institutions, provided the required consortium or contractual information was supplied.

The notice listed the following dates for the closed round:

• Optional letter of intent: May 23, 2026
• Full applications due: June 22, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET
• Expected scientific and secondary review dates: July 2026
• Expected award date: September 1, 2026
• Expected start date: September 30, 2026
• Expiration date in the notice and archive date on the listing: 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 was a cooperative agreement, the application needed a credible plan for government-facing oversight, reporting, financial controls, ethical compliance, and research coordination. A proposal that described only individual studies would not have answered the management and infrastructure part of the notice.

What your application should include (based on official structure)

The NOFO followed a six-step structure: review the opportunity, get ready, build the application, understand review and selection, submit, and learn what happens after award. For the now-closed round, the steps were:

1) Register early and verify systems

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

• SAM.gov registration with an active account and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).
• Grants.gov registration, which also required Login.gov registration.

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) Find the package and follow the priority-area structure

The application package was available by searching Grants.gov or eRA ASSIST for opportunity number RFA-JG-26-034 and selecting the package tab. The notice recommended subscribing to the opportunity page for updates. The CDC Q&A then clarified the submission structure: submit a separate application for each priority area, and include an SF-424 R&R with a separate research plan, budget, and strategy for that priority area. All applications from one eligible institution had to name the same single lead PI/PD.

A useful package checklist for that round was:

• SF-424 R&R and the required application forms.
• PHS 398 Research Plan, including specific aims and research strategy.
• A priority-specific budget and budget narrative within the stated funding level.
• A Data Management Plan for public-health data to be collected.
• Human-subjects and clinical-trial information where applicable.
• Letters of support, resource-sharing plans, other required plans, and consortium or contractual arrangements where relevant.
• A separate Overall Management Plan that addressed research coordination and administration; the Q&A placed this with the Priority 1A application.

3) Show operational presence in Kenya

The responsiveness rule was concrete. The application needed an attachment titled “Responsiveness Criteria” containing evidence of an existing institutional presence, such as an office and staff, in Kenya. It also needed evidence of prior or current research activity in partnership with KEMRI or MoH. The notice required access to relevant research infrastructure and documentation of the technical collaboration or ongoing work. A generic expression of interest would not substitute for this evidence.

• Identify the Kenyan office, staff, facilities, and equipment that establish the institutional presence.
• Document the KEMRI or MoH relationship with appropriate institutional records, prior award documents, publications, project reports, agreements, or similar evidence.
• Explain responsibilities, governance, communication, data stewardship, and oversight between the lead applicant and Kenyan collaborators.

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

4) Tie priorities to measurable outputs

The program description gave the following substantive focus:

• Influenza and other respiratory pathogens: surveillance of high-risk groups, monitoring human and avian influenza and other pathogens, and evaluation of vaccines, treatments, and nonpharmaceutical interventions.
• Vaccine-preventable diseases: disease burden, vaccine effectiveness, sociocultural influences on immunization, vaccine uptake, and immunization systems.
• Drug-resistant infections: antimicrobial-resistance trends, novel diagnostics, drivers of resistance, and mitigation strategies.
• Global and emerging health threats: malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, emerging infections, disease dynamics, intervention effectiveness, and cross-border risks.

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 was budget overreach. The notice said that a request above the total ceiling would be considered nonresponsive and would not enter review. It also required budget narratives to stay within the provided priority-area levels. No cost sharing was required, and voluntary cost sharing would not be considered during review, although a voluntary commitment would have to be reported if included in an award.

Common reasons applications fail at this NOFO

These are the recurring weak points you can proactively avoid:

1. Misreading the priority-area structure: the notice required the four priority areas across the submission, while the Q&A clarified that each priority area required its own application.
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 closed opportunity was 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 tied the work to CDC priorities, KEMRI, MoH, and public-health infrastructure, it was a national and international preparedness partnership rather than a publication-only grant. The official Q&A also stated that applicants were not expected to support Kenya’s transition planning related to the Kenya National Public Health Institute; the required collaboration remained with MoH and KEMRI.

How applicants were expected to prepare

A practical preparation sequence for the closed round was:

Registration and package access:

• Confirm eligibility class of lead applicant.
• Verify SAM.gov and Grants.gov logins, UEI, and internal signatory authority.
• Search Grants.gov or eRA ASSIST for RFA-JG-26-034 and download the package.

Responsiveness and collaboration:

• Finalize MOUs or letters documenting local operational structure.
• Map organizational responsibilities in Kenya and US.
• Define governance, data stewardship, and compliance points.
• Assemble the “Responsiveness Criteria” attachment with presence, infrastructure, and KEMRI/MoH evidence.

Priority-area applications:

• Prepare the separate application, research plan, budget, and strategy required for each priority area.
• Put research coordination and administration in the Overall Management Plan with the Priority 1A application.
• Add data management, human-subjects, consortium, and contractual materials as applicable.

Submission quality control:

• Build budget from the bottom up by priority and compliance needs.
• Run responsiveness pass against criteria.
• Submit through Grants.gov in the required PDF format by the stated deadline.

Frequently asked questions (fact-based)

Is this still active?

No. The official listing is archived on June 23, 2026, and the application deadline was June 22, 2026. No later cycle is announced in the official materials linked here.

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 application is scientifically distinct. All applications from one eligible institution must name the same single lead PI/PD.

Can you apply if you are not in Kenya?

The notice allowed foreign organizations and U.S. applicants, but an applicant still had to demonstrate an established institutional presence in Kenya, relevant research infrastructure, and prior or current technical collaboration with KEMRI and/or MoH. Eligibility alone was not enough.

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 the full application was submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 22, 2026. This deadline has passed.
• 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
• Official CDC Q&A: https://files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunities/37e1c444-7e80-4e2c-877b-c690626a7721/attachments/683350f1-5e3f-447a-be9a-9f3c225835a8/RFA-JG-26-034_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

Practical next step

For future reference, the main lesson from this round is that scientific fit was only one part of the threshold. The application needed the right organizational category, active federal registrations, a documented Kenyan institutional base, research infrastructure, KEMRI or MoH collaboration evidence, a complete priority-area package, and a budget that respected the stated levels. Those requirements should be rechecked against any future CDC notice rather than copied forward. This page intentionally keeps the closed round’s facts and dates so readers can distinguish the archived opportunity from a future announcement.