Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS),National Institutes of Health (NIH),National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Optimal Treatment Strategies for use of Anti-Obesity Medications (AOMs) in Children and Adolescents Research Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) invites applications for a Research Coordinating Center (RCC) to participate in a new consortium with clinical centers that will test anti-obesity medication (AOM) treatment strategies for youth with obesity that maximize benefits and minimize risks of AOM use. Such intervention strategies should support the promotion of healthy growth and development; adequate nutritional status/intake, healthy eating and physical activity behaviors; mental health and well-being (e.g., body image, self-esteem, mood, etc.), and quality of life and be feasible to implement in clinical care settings. Priority areas include testing strategies to determine optimal developmental stage for AOM initiation, rate and amount of weight loss, AOM class, dose, frequency, and duration, and content and intensity of adjunct lifestyle therapies that may be imperative to ensure normal psychological and physical development and to potentially avoid lifelong dependence on AOMs. Investigators should also evaluate potential predictors of response/ nonresponse to various treatment strategies under evaluation. The clinical centers may conduct independent or multicenter trials but will collaborate on the development of protocols, use of common measures and data elements, use of a central laboratory and standardized procedures to collect data and biospecimens, and data analyses and manuscripts
The RCC will lead, manage, and harmonize efforts for the Consortium including 1) providing management and administrative support; 2) providing leadership and expertise on statistical design and analysis, 3) providing research coordination with a central laboratory, 4) harmonizing data collection methods and use of common data elements, 5) developing the database; 6) conducting data management and data analyses for Consortium studies; and 7) fostering research collaborations.
Only one application per institution (normally identified by having a unique UEI or NIH IPF number) is allowed.
Internal Submission Requirements
Step One: Expression of Interest
RIO kindly requests that all interested PIs email collabor@umn.edu to express their intent to submit an internal application before 4pm on 7/15/2026.
In your email, please include:
- PI’s name and contact information
- List of 3-5 names of possible UMN reviewers (NOT References, with no Conflicts of Interest)
- 5 keywords to be used as search terms for possible reviewers.
Providing this information in advance of the internal deadline, especially your list of potential reviewers, allows our office to begin recruiting the review committee and expedites the overall review process.
Step Two: Internal Submission
Those interested in applying should submit the following as a single pdf document to collabor@umn.edu no later than 4pm on 7/15/2026:
1. Cover Page: Include PI name, department, contact information, project title, any co-PI's name and department, and one paragraph project abstract.
2. Project Overview and High-Level Timeline: The combined project overview and timeline cannot exceed 2 pages and must summarize the project by stating its goals and outlining the proposed approaches to achieve them.
3. Biosketch(es) of PI and any co-PI's (NIH format, 2-5 pages).
4. If not already submitted in Step One (see above), a list of 3-5 names of possible UMN reviewers (NOT References, with no Conflicts of Interest) plus 5 keywords to be used as search terms for possible reviewers (can be added to Cover Page).
RIO's target date for selecting nominee(s): 9/1/2026
Research and Innovation Office
contact email
To be considered for peer review and internal selection, faculty must follow the above submission guidelines and meet the UM deadline as set by the office coordinating the peer review for this opportunity.