Division of Extramural Activities: Supporting the next 50 years of growth in aging science

NIA is proud to serve a leading role in the amazing progress in aging and dementia research over the past 50 years. One of the greatest drivers for the achievements has been the unprecedented increase in appropriations over the past decade: NIA’s budget grew from $1.1 billion to more than $4.5 billion in just 10 years, which greatly enabled the expansion of the institute’s support for extramural research and related activities.

The Division of Extramural Activities (DEA) ensures that NIA’s grant and other funding awards comply with NIH and broader federal regulations. Our motto is “we are here to help” because we understand that navigating NIH funding opportunities can be challenging.

DEA by the numbers

DEA is organized into five key groups: DEA Office of the Director (OD), Scientific Review Branch (SRB), Grants and Contracts Management Branch (GCMB), Office of Strategic Extramural Programs (OSEP, which handles training and small business programs), and the Office of Clinical Research (OCR). Due to the expansion of our research portfolio over the past decade, NIA is currently involved in more than 450 active funding opportunities.

Each fiscal year, this translates to upwards of 5,000 award actions made thanks to our GCMB colleagues, and more than 4,500 research applications reviewed by our SRB team, an amount that has doubled in the past decade. Along the way, these teams strive to help grantees navigate the latest NIH policies, ensure ethical and fair peer review, and assist scientists and administrators with their questions at each stage. We have recruited and hired new team members to handle this increased workload and are also expanding our communications, outreach, and transparency efforts.

Another area of major growth and complexity is in clinical research. NIA currently has about 1,000 active clinical studies located in more than 800 sites worldwide. OCR offers expertise and guidance in clinical research regulatory and safety compliance, policy, engagement of diverse communities, biostatistics, and recruitment strategies. OCR-developed tools include: the Clinical Research Operations and Management System, which provides real-time tracking, reporting, and management of clinical research enrollment data, study documents, and activities, and OutreachPro, which offers customizable outreach materials to help recruit participants from underrepresented populations for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias clinical trials.

A wealth of training and career development resources

Another DEA priority is to train the next generation of aging researchers and their mentors. OSEP directs our Training and Career Development and Small Business Programs. Through these programs, NIA nurtures the development of a robust aging-focused workforce of researchers, entrepreneurs, and clinicians across the education and career continuum to meet the unique needs of aging-focused researchers.

Our extensive menu of individual and institutional training programs is rooted in multidisciplinary approaches and diverse perspectives. Highlights include, but are not limited to:

Strengthening entrepreneurial and small business innovation

Our small business and technology transfer team stimulates innovation by providing cash prizes and robust entrepreneurial mentorship. If you have a technology or small business idea you’d like to develop, be sure to check out the Start-Up Challenge and Accelerator: Fostering Entrepreneurial Diversity and the Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI) programs.

We’re here to help

No matter your career or educational stage, we are here for you on the journey ahead. Please contact the DEA team if you need advice on managing your grant or study, or to find your best training fit. Most importantly, if your application is not approved on the first try, we urge you to never give up and always revise and reapply.

We look forward to future decades of guiding you on the path to meet your goals as we work together to extend and enhance the health of older adults.