Notice Number: NOT-CA-20-015

Key Dates

Issued by
National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Purpose

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) intends to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) as a Request for Applications (RFA) that will invite applications from U.S.-based cancer-research intensive institutions who propose research training programs working in collaboration with a low-and middle-income country (LMIC) institution to strengthen capacity to conduct global research. The overarching goal of this research training program is to provide investigators and health professionals with the scientific expertise, mentorship, and leadership skills needed to conduct innovative and collaborative global research projects that will contribute to the advancement of basic, clinical, translational, and population-based cancer research.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants time to develop responsive projects and meaningful collaborations.

The FOA is expected to be published in the winter of 2020 with expected application due dates in spring 2020 and winter 2021.

The FOA will utilize the D43 activity code. Details of the planned FOA are provided below

Research Initiative Details

In the United States, the incidence rate for all cancer sites has decreased on average 1.1% each year over the last ten years, but significant disparities persist in cancer incidence and mortality among certain racial and ethnic minorities and immigrant communities. The primary drivers of these disparities higher prevalence of risky behaviors, inadequate prevention and early detection, presence of comorbidities, and poor access to diagnosis and treatment services also underlie the high cancer-related morbidity and mortality seen in LMICs. By 2030, 75% of the projected 21 million new cancer cases and 13 million annual cancer deaths worldwide will disproportionately occur in LMICs, where, in addition to the drivers noted above, genetic susceptibilities and cultural practices may also play a significant role in cancer risk. This global epidemiology suggests that there are several unique scientific opportunities to advance cancer knowledge by conducting collaborative research in global settings. Understanding and addressing these global scientific opportunities requires a range of research skills at the individual level, and the capacity to support cancer research at the institutional level in both U.S. and LMIC settings.

In this initiative, NCI proposes to establish a pilot institutional training program for mentored training in global cancer research. Training U.S. and LMIC scientists and supporting research-capable LMIC institutions to collaborate with U.S. institutions will lay the foundation for rigorous research to pursue unique opportunities to study cancer in LMICs, as well as in the U.S. This program is designed to strengthen the global cancer research community through support of training programs built upon preexisting, high-quality cancer research and training infrastructure in U.S. cancer research-intensive organizations.

Principal investigators will be from a U.S.-based institution and are able to demonstrate prior or ongoing collaboration with a LMIC institution. This prior or ongoing collaboration is important to efficiently achieving the goals of this initiative, and should be evidenced by research outputs and support from the LMIC institution. LMIC institutions who do not have prior or ongoing collaborations with the applying U.S. institution may support trainees to be trained in the program or may serve as training sites. LMICs are defined by the World Bank classification system according to Gross National Income (GNI) per capita as “low-income,” “lower-middle-income,” and “upper-middle-income” (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups). Institutions from upper middle-income countries (UMIC) who are part of G20 members are not eligible to be part of this collaboration but can serve as resources for this training program. This is in order to be consistent with NIH and Fogarty International Center’s policy on eligible countries for research training (https://www.fic.nih.gov/Grants/Pages/country-eligibility.aspx)

Funding Information

Estimated Total Funding Up to $1.08 million in fiscal year 2021.
Expected Number of Awards Total 7 awards - 4 (first receipt date); 3 (second receipt date).
Estimated Award Ceiling D43 application direct costs are limited to $250,000 per year over a five-year period, Indirect costs are capped at 8%.
Primary CFDA Numbers 93.393

Anticipated Eligible Organizations

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to: