Key Dates

Related Announcements

• October 9, 2020 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional). See PA-20-272 

Issued by

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Purpose

The goal of this Notice of Special interest (NOSI) from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is to encourage currently funded NCI extramural investigators to apply for administrative supplement funds to active NCI-funded grants to support research and to advance our understanding of the impact of contemporary modifiable exposures (e.g. anti-obesity medications, cannabis use, e-cigarettes use, exposures to chemical hair relaxers, microplastics) on cancer. The goals of the administrative supplement are to support (i) the collection and assessment of contemporary modifiable exposures and/or (ii) research into the impact of these exposures on cancer across the life course and cancer control continuum. These exposures, products and their co-use have increased but our understanding of their impact on cancer is limited.

Background

Cancer risks and outcomes are influenced by modifiable environmental factors. In recent time, millions of people in the United States (U.S.) are exposed to a multitude of emerging exposures/products whose impact on cancer is unclear and/or epidemiologic evidence is limited. These contemporary modifiable exposures include, but are not limited to, cannabis use, e-cigarette use, anti-obesity medications, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemical hair relaxers, and microplastics.

For cannabis (i.e., marijuana), an estimated 18.7% of Americans (52.5 million) aged 12 years or older reported using it at least once in 2021. In 2022, an estimated 8.3% of 8th graders, 19.5% of 10th graders, and 30.7% of 12th graders reported using cannabis/hashish in the past 12 months. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are the most used tobacco product among American youths today and are additionally used by a growing number of adults. In 2022, 2.6 million U.S. middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, including 3.3% of middle school students and 14.1% of high school students. Yet, the health and cancer impact of cannabis, e-cigarettes, and other emerging tobacco products is largely unknown.

Approximately 36% of American adults are obese. Obesity affects some groups more than others with variation across race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), and geography. Approximately 48% of non-Hispanic Black and 43% of Hispanic adults have obesity compared to 34% of non-Hispanic White adults. Almost 40% of adults with household income less than 350% of federal poverty level have obesity compared to 31% with obesity above 350% of the federal poverty level. There is also variation in obesity rates by geography in the U.S. with prevalence rates ranging from 23% to 38% across various states. Anti-obesity medications have been viewed as a breakthrough to address this striking public health crisis and an increasing number of anti-obesity drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Use of anti-obesity medications, including off-label usage, is increasing. However, the impact of these medications on cancer across the cancer control continuum is unknown.

Up to 95% of self-identified adult Black women in the U.S. reported ever use of chemical hair relaxers. The composition of these products is proprietary but may contain potentially harmful toxicants such as endocrine disrupting chemicals and carcinogens such as formaldehyde and heavy metals. There is some evidence that chemical hair relaxers are associated with increased cancer risk, but relatively few studies have been conducted. Additionally, microplastics, which are now ubiquitous in the environment, is a growing public health concern, but there is a lack of epidemiological studies to assess links to cancer.

Of note, individuals from environmental justice communities (historically underrepresented in cancer research or underserved based on race/ethnicity, SES, or geography such as U.S. South and rural) have much higher rates of obesity and tobacco use, but the use and impact of emerging exposures (such as those described above) on health disparities is largely unknown. Studies funded by current Division of Cancer Control and Population Science (DCCPS) grants provide an ideal opportunity to fulfill the goals of this supplement because many recruit from known environmental hotspots and from populations under-represented in cancer research.

Research Objectives

The research objective of this NOSI is to invite research applications to study the impact of contemporary modifiable exposures on cancer. A significant knowledge gap exists on how these emerging exposures impact cancer risk and information gained through this NOSI could help to address this gap. The research solicited through this opportunity includes both data collection and exposure assessment to enable future research investigations. Proposed hypothesis-driven research within scope of the NOSI is also applicable. Research inclusive of NIH-designated U.S. health disparity populations (e.g., Black/African, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, underserved rural populations, and sexual and gender minority populations and older adults) are encouraged.

Areas of research interest include, but are not limited to the following:

Examples of the types of research studies that may be supported through supplemental funding requested and obtained through this NOSI and include but are not limited to the following:

• Collection and measurement of contemporary modifiable exposures
• Understanding associations and biological underpinnings of contemporary modifiable exposures to cancer
• Understanding the prevalence and/or trajectory of patterns and frequencies of anti-obesity medications, cannabis, e-cigarettes use and co-use across the life course and across the cancer control continuum, especially among populations understudied in cancer research
• Understanding the impact of chemical hair relaxers on cancer
• Characterizing internal concentrations of emerging chemical exposures and microplastics across the life course and across the cancer control continuum
• Understanding associations with and biological impact of emerging chemical exposures and microplastics on cancer

Applications not responsive to this NOSI include those that:

• Propose work that is already included in the original funded aims of the parent studies;
• Include a plan that is not reasonable for the proposed project to be completed, given the time and budget requested;
• Propose non-human studies.

All applicants are encouraged to discuss their applications with the scientific/research contact listed in this NOSI (below) prior to submission.

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity or its subsequent reissued equivalent.

• PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-20-272 must be followed, with the following additions:

• Application Due Date(s) – April 22, 2024, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-CA-24-030” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.
• Requests may be for one year of support only.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at the Institute supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this NOFO in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request.

Eligibility and Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator):

• Only existing awardees of programs supported by the following activity codes/funding mechanisms are eligible to apply: R01, R37, R00, P01, U01, UH3, U19, UM1, P30
• The administrative supplement application budget is limited to 1 year only.
• The project period for the parent award must be active, and cannot be in a no-cost extension, for the one year of the administrative supplement application/project/award.
• The proposed project for supplemental funding is required to be within the scope of the parent award.
• If an applicant anticipates a balance of 50% or more of the current total costs for the parent grant, please contact the scientific research contact prior to submitting an application.
• For supplements to parent awards that include multiple program directors/principal investigators (PDs/PIs), the supplement may be requested by any or all of the PDs/PIs (in accordance with the existing leadership plan) and submitted by the awardee institution of the parent award. If the PD/PI of the supplement application is not the PD/PI of the parent award, a letter of support from the contact PI of the parent award must be provided.
• Applicants should begin the supplement application abstract by stating this application is being submitted in response to the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) identified as NOT-CA-24-030.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-CA-24-030 (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4b) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4b will not be considered for this initiative.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at the Institute supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this NOSI in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request.

Page limits

These sections have the following page limits:

• Project Summary/Abstract: 30 lines of text
• Project Narrative: 3 sentences
• Research Strategy: 5 pages
• Biographical Sketch: for Senior/Key Personnel and Significant Contributors only

Budget

•  Supplement budget requests cannot exceed $100,000 in total costs for the entire allowable 1-year project period of the application/award, and the budget cannot exceed the direct costs of the current parent award.
• Modular and categorical budgets are permitted.
• Requests must reflect the actual needs of the proposed one-year project.
• Administrative supplements can be used to cover cost increases that are associated with achieving certain new research objectives as long as the research objectives are within the original scope of the peer-reviewed and approved project, or the cost increases are for unanticipated expenses within the original scope of the project.
• The earliest anticipated start date is 8/30/2024. Continuation of this NOSI is contingent upon availability of funds, and the NOSI may be terminated before the current expiration date.

Administrative Review Process

NCI will conduct administrative reviews of applications submitted to their IC and will support the most meritorious applications submitted for consideration, based upon the availability of funds. Additionally, NCI program staff will evaluate applications using the following selection factors: Examples include:

• Does the administrative supplement reasonably allow for the proposed project to be completed, given the time and budget requested?
• Are the proposed activities relevant to the parent grant and original work scope?
• Does the applicant demonstrate satisfactory progress towards achieving the aims of the parent grant, as appropriate to the current stage of the project?
• Does the proposed project for supplemental funding fill an identified gap in the scientific literature that advances cancer research?
• Do the results from the proposed project have the potential to provide new evidence related to the research objectives for this NOSI?

All applicants are encouraged to discuss their applications with the scientific/research contact listed in this NOSI (below) prior to submission.

 

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Somdat Mahabir, Ph.D., M.P.H.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Tel: 240-276-6941
Email: mahabir@mail.nih.gov

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Crystal Wolfrey
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6277
Email: crystal.wolfrey@mail.nih.gov