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National Cancer Institute (NCI)

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) as an RFA (i.e., Request for Applications) for the GlobalISE Cancer Control Consortium (U54 Clinical Trial Optional). This RFA aims to support global implementation science in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. Details of the planned RFA are provided below.

The purpose of the Global Implementation Science for Equitable Cancer Control (GlobalISE Cancer Control) RFA is to build research capacity for implementation science in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to stimulate research on approaches to identify, understand, and overcome barriers to the adoption, adaptation, integration, scale-up, and sustainability of evidence-based cancer control interventions in LMICs. Cancer control interventions can include programs, tools, policies, and guidelines that have been empirically demonstrated to improve health.

Applicants must be from, or partner with, an LMIC-based institution. Applicants are required to propose two implementation research projects and develop two cores: an administrative/engagement core and a research capacity-building core. The administrative/engagement core will oversee the award and foster productive collaboration between researchers and key stakeholders in the LMIC setting (including practitioners and health system leaders) throughout all phases of the award. The research capacity-building core will provide training and structured mentorship in implementation science for LMIC researchers and practitioners.

This RFA aims to encourage transdisciplinary teams of researchers and implementers to develop and test implementation strategies that may be applicable across a diverse range of contexts and populations. Studies should be designed to rigorously assess implementation outcomes (e.g., acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, costs, penetration, sustainability) of the strategies under study. Impactful implementation science typically involves and benefits from interdisciplinary collaboration from a variety of fields. Some of these fields include but are not limited to global health, anthropology, epidemiology, systems science, organizational and management theory, economics, individual and systems-level behavioral change, engineering, and marketing. Applicant teams should include investigators that provide the necessary expertise to inform the research aims.

Additionally, this RFA seeks to develop research capacity for sustained implementation research through structured mentoring programs within LMIC-based academic institutions, clinical, and community sites.

Examples of relevant research topics include but are not limited to:

• Studies on measuring and tracking adaptations to enhance the adoption and integration of cancer control interventions (e.g., cancer prevention, screening, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship) in the proposed LMIC-based clinical and community setting(s).
• Studies to understand, develop, and test strategies to efficiently bundle cancer control services (e.g., multiple cancer control interventions).
• Studies to understand, develop, and test strategies to effectively integrate cancer control into primary care and other care settings.
• Studies to understand, develop, and test strategies to de-centralize cancer control services to community settings.
• Studies to develop and test strategies to enhance retention across the continuum of cancer care in fragmented systems.

The centers funded through this consortium will work together to share research methods and measures, train U.S. and LMIC investigators in implementation science, and engage with implementers across community and health systems.

TBD