Key Dates

NOT-CA-21-040 - Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Program on the Origins of Gastroesophageal Cancers (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) plans to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) as a Request for Applications (RFA) for the Program on the Origins of Gastroesophageal Cancers (R01). This new program will build on recent molecular classifications of gastroesophageal cancers, significant understanding of their cancer genomics, and advances in stem cell research to examine and define how these related cancers initially evolve at the cellular level. The program will also examine the complex mechanisms and effectors that direct the proliferation and expansion of tumor initiating cells and their progeny to initiate these cancers. The focus of the FOA will be on gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinomas. The program is envisioned to provide unprecedented opportunities to outline the earliest cellular changes in transformation that precede any histological manifestation or neoplasia.

This Notice of Intent to Publish (NOITP) is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects.

The RFA is expected to be published in the Spring of 2021 with an expected application due date in the late Summer.

The RFA will utilize the R01 Research Project Grant activity code. Details of the planned RFA are provided below.

The research projects will collectively function as the scientific hub of the proposed program and lead the testing of novel hypotheses and research questions, and the generation of data and models to benefit this challenging and nascent biology-centered research field. Each R01 application will be led by multi-PI/PD with complimentary scientific and technical expertise to tackle specific yet perplexing questions focusing on either gastric or GEJ cancers origin. A multi-PI collaboration that brings a new scientific discipline to this field of research is particularly encouraged. The applications are envisioned to present novel scientific questions, strong leadership and organizational structure, and support from critical resources that would enable investigation of the proposed research goals and their overarching hypotheses, development of sharable models, resources and data, and collaborations across the program and with the larger scientific community. The program will thoroughly and comprehensively tackle cancers of the stomach and GEJ regions to compare and contrast the contributions of one or more types of tumor initiating cells and their fundamental mechanisms and adopt a community approach to experimental challenges and methodologic hurdles.

The RFA will be open to all qualified applicants, including new and early-stage investigators, who can establish and lead a multi-disciplinary, multi-Principal Investigator research projects to enable the fulfillment of the intended program goals.

More details will be outlined in the forthcoming RFA.

Applications are not being solicited at this time. 

Please direct all inquiries to:

Rihab Yassin, Ph.D.

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

240-276-6230

Email: ry38k@nih.gov