Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program | CDC RFA DP 24 0060

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA DP 24 0060

The Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program is a CDC-funded grant opportunity designed to strengthen and modernize state and local stroke systems of care while also pushing harder upstream on prevention, especially in communities carrying the highest burden of stroke and cardiovascular disease. The opportunity is grounded in the reality that stroke remains a major cause of death and disability in the United States, affecting more than 795,000 people each year, with someone experiencing a stroke about every 40 seconds and someone dying from stroke roughly every 3 minutes and 14 seconds. A central point behind the program is that an estimated 80 percent of strokes are preventable, which means better prevention and more equitable access to quality care can translate into substantial, measurable reductions in death and long-term disability.

A major emphasis of this funding is equity-focused action. The NOFO highlights that stroke risk and outcomes are not evenly distributed across the population and are shaped by race and ethnicity, geography, and social and structural conditions that influence health. Non-Hispanic Black Americans are described as having the highest prevalence and highest death rate from stroke among racial groups, and stroke death rates increased nationally from 2020 to 2021. The NOFO also notes heightened impacts in southern states and in communities of color, reinforcing why applicants are expected to design interventions that directly address disparities and the systemic factors that sustain them. The program frames stroke not just as an emergency event but as part of a broader cardiovascular disease landscape that includes hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, and diabetes, with hypertension singled out as a particularly critical and widespread driver of stroke risk due to high prevalence, poor control rates, and lack of awareness among many adults.

Historically, this program began as the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry in 2001, created by Congress and named after Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia, who died of a stroke while in office. As the initiative grew, it became the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program in 2012. This new iteration continues the original registry-driven focus on improving acute stroke care, but it more explicitly expands expectations beyond the hospital walls. The intent is to support comprehensive, statewide stroke systems that cover the full continuum of care, starting at symptom onset and emergency response, moving through hospital treatment and quality improvement, and extending into rehabilitation, recovery, and community supports after discharge.

Operationally, recipients are expected to take a dual approach. First, they must continue and strengthen coordinated stroke systems of care, typically by working through statewide partnerships and formal learning collaboratives or coalitions that bring together hospitals, EMS, public health, rehabilitation providers, and community partners. Second, they must implement prevention-oriented activities in community settings, with a deeper focus on identifying, understanding, and reducing stroke risk among people most likely to be affected. In other words, the program is not only about improving what happens when a stroke occurs, but also about reducing the likelihood that a stroke occurs in the first place, especially by tackling uncontrolled hypertension and other modifiable risks while accounting for inequities in access, resources, and social conditions.

A key deliverable thread in the NOFO is data-driven quality improvement. Awardees will continue collecting and analyzing in-hospital stroke data on patients who experience a stroke, using those data to drive improvements in care processes and outcomes. At the same time, awardees are expected to add stronger community-level understanding of risk and to help ensure patients do not fall through the cracks after discharge. That includes promoting post-discharge follow-up and continuity, whether in rehabilitation facilities or through other community-based recovery and support services. The broader idea is to tighten the handoffs across the care pathway so patients receive timely, evidence-based treatment, appropriate rehabilitation, and support for secondary prevention and long-term recovery.

The NOFO also pushes integration with other CDC-funded efforts operating in the same states. Recipients are expected to coordinate with CDC programs that address cardiovascular disease and hypertension and to align strategies to reduce systemic inequities. This integration requirement signals that CDC is looking for states to build connected public health and healthcare improvement infrastructures rather than isolated projects, so that stroke system improvements, hypertension control initiatives, and equity-focused interventions reinforce each other.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), under Funding Opportunity Number CDC RFA DP 24 0060. It is a discretionary cooperative agreement, meaning CDC anticipates substantial involvement in the work beyond simply issuing funds. The CFDA number listed is 93.810. The anticipated maximum award amount is $750,000 per award, with an expected 12 awards. The original application closing date was June 10, 2024, and the opportunity record lists a creation date of April 10, 2024. Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and local governments; special districts; tribal governments and tribal organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; public housing authorities; small businesses; and other unrestricted applicants, indicating CDC is open to a range of entities capable of leading or supporting statewide stroke system improvement and prevention work, often in partnership with health systems and community organizations.

Overall, this grant opportunity is aimed at helping jurisdictions build more effective, more connected, and more equitable stroke systems by combining hospital-based quality improvement and surveillance with community-focused prevention and stronger post-discharge continuity of care. The underlying goal is straightforward: reduce preventable strokes, close gaps in outcomes, and improve survival and recovery by improving the entire stroke ecosystem, from risk reduction and early detection to emergency response, acute treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term support.

• The Centers for Disease Control - NCCDPHP in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.810.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-10. (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 $750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• 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, Small businesses, Others, Unrestricted.

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