Key Dates

NOT-CA-21-068 - Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Canine Cancer Immunotherapy Network (K9CIN; U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

The purpose of this Notice is to announce the NCI's intention to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that invites applications for a Coordinating Center for Canine Cancer Immunotherapy Network (K9CIN). The Coordinating Center will facilitate coordination across a network of laboratory scientists and canine clinical trialists (K9CIN; see U01 awards supported under companion RFA-CA-21-068) to study the anti-tumor effects of immunotherapy agents and novel combinations of immunotherapy and other modalities in canine patients with spontaneous tumors. An essential goal of the network will be to determine whether or not canine cancer is a close model of human malignant disease, and if so, whether immunotherapy alone or in combination with other modalities in canine models will inform the design of therapies in humans.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop a responsive grant application. The FOA is expected to be published in July 2021 with an expected application due date in October 2021. Details of a planned pre-application webinar will be announced in the Guide after publication of the FOA.

The FOA will utilize the U24 (Resource Related Research Project-Cooperative Agreements) mechanism to support K9CIN. The U24 Coordinating Center will work with intramural and extramural NCI staff to develop and manage a steering committee for oversight of network activities. The Coordinating Center will aid in the development, standardization, harmonization, and conduct of the clinical and laboratory studies, as well as data management and statistical support across the funded U01 sites.

The U24 Coordinating Center will act as the hub for the clinical and laboratory activities of the K9CIN. The network of laboratories and canine clinical trial sites created through K9CIN will support canine clinical studies using immunotherapeutic agents and novel drug combinations together with laboratory correlative studies that seek to characterize and understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that determine anti-tumor responses (or non-responses) in pet dogs with spontaneous tumors. The network will include a representative from the NCI Comparative Oncology Program (COP) of the NCI's Center for Cancer Research as an integral component. The awardee will contribute to the administration of a steering committee of required expertise--both inside and outside the U01 network, including the PD/PIs of the U01s, representatives of the COP and the NCI Project Collaborators --to ensure that the goals of the network are accomplished.

The U24 Coordinating Center will have several responsibilities, including, but not limited to:

• Providing administrative support to the K9CIN;
• Assisting development and standardization of clinical protocols and immune monitoring assays;
• Helping implement clinical studies in immunotherapy and therapeutic combinations;
• Facilitating accrual and cross-site accrual to clinical trials;
• Helping coordinate collaborative research efforts that involve multiple centers;
• Managing clinical and correlative data from all U01 sites;
• Assisting in the harmonization of clinical and correlative data from all sites;
• Facilitating submission of clinical and correlative data to the Integrated Canine Data Commons (ICDC);
• Providing statistical support;
• Facilitating sharing of reagents, specimens, and data; and
• Assisting to designate supplemental funding to U01 sites with projects proposing valuable intra-network collaborations.

Applications are not being solicited at this time. 

Please direct all inquiries to:

Connie Sommers, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-7187
Email: sommersc@nih.gov

Anju Singh, B.V.Sc, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-7603
Email: anju.singh@nih.gov