Understanding the mechanisms underlying the age-related changes in gait biomechanics and the impact on the increased metabolic cost of walking (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA AG 25 030

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 25 030

This funding opportunity, RFA-AG-25-030, is a National Institute on Aging (NIA) R01 grant that supports human-subjects research aimed at explaining why walking tends to get slower and more energetically expensive with age. The core focus is on the biological and biomechanical mechanisms behind age-related compensatory changes in gait and posture, and how those compensations raise the metabolic cost of walking and contribute to fatigue. In practical terms, NIA is looking for studies that move beyond describing older adults gait patterns and instead pinpoint the underlying causes across body systems, including how changes in one system (for example, tendon stiffness or sensory feedback) may force compensations elsewhere (such as altered muscle activation patterns or joint loading).

A major theme of the NOFO is integration across multiple interacting systems. Applications are encouraged to bring together interdisciplinary teams that can connect skeletal mechanics, muscle and tendon function, somatosensory inputs, and central nervous system control into a coherent picture of age-related walking inefficiency. The intent is to support integrative approaches that can explain compensatory strategies (like changes in step timing, posture, or joint-level work distribution) in terms of measurable physiological or structural changes, and then link those changes to increased energy expenditure during walking. Studies that can clarify cause-and-effect pathways, identify key drivers of inefficiency, or reveal which compensations are adaptive versus maladaptive are well aligned with the announcement.

The NOFO specifically highlights several scientific areas of interest. These include (1) central nervous system mechanisms and their effects on gait, which could involve age-related alterations in motor planning, coordination, balance control, or neural drive; (2) neuromuscular changes, such as shifts in motor unit behavior, muscle activation strategies, strength, power, or coordination that affect walking mechanics; (3) skeletal muscle bioenergetics, focusing on how aging-related changes in energy production and utilization within muscle relate to the higher oxygen consumption or metabolic cost of walking; (4) computational modeling and simulation, used to test mechanistic hypotheses, estimate internal variables that are hard to measure directly, or integrate multi-system data into predictive frameworks; and (5) changes in tissue structure and function, including properties of the muscle-tendon complex and extracellular matrix that can influence efficiency, force transmission, elasticity, and overall locomotor economy.

NIA also emphasizes the use of innovative measurement and analytic approaches to disentangle complex compensatory patterns. The opportunity encourages modern tools such as computational modeling, imaging approaches, wearable and laboratory sensor technologies, and data-driven methods including machine learning and artificial intelligence. These approaches are framed as ways to capture the multi-factor nature of gait aging, quantify subtle changes in movement and physiology, and distinguish which gait alterations are most strongly tied to metabolic cost and fatigue. The overall expectation is that applicants will use these tools to develop clearer mechanistic explanations rather than purely descriptive correlations.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary NIH grant using the R01 mechanism, with clinical trials listed as optional (meaning applicants may propose clinical trial components if appropriate, but they are not required). The posted award ceiling is $500,000 (as listed in the source data), and the original application due date is 2024-11-07. The CFDA number associated with the program is 93.866, and the activity category is Health. The funding announcement is designed to support rigorous human studies that can ultimately inform future interventions, diagnostics, or strategies to maintain mobility and reduce fatigue in older adults by targeting the mechanisms that make walking less efficient with age.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that commonly apply for NIH funding. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (outside of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities. The NOFO also explicitly calls out additional eligible groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISI institutions, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and non-U.S. (foreign) organizations. This reflects an interest in enabling a wide range of research environments and partnerships, including collaborations that can bring specialized expertise, unique participant populations, or novel technical capabilities to the study of aging-related gait and metabolic cost.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Understanding the mechanisms underlying the age-related changes in gait biomechanics and the impact on the increased metabolic cost of walking (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-08-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-07. (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.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA AG 25 030

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