Part 1. Overview Information

Key Dates

All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. 

Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the How to Apply - Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this NOFO or in a Notice from NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts).

Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the NOFO) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions.

Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

There are several options available to submit your application through Grants.gov to NIH and Department of Health and Human Services partners. You must use one of these submission options to access the application forms for this opportunity.

1. Use the NIH ASSIST system to prepare, submit and track your application online.
2. Use an institutional system-to-system (S2S) solution to prepare and submit your application to Grants.gov and eRA Commons to track your application. Check with your institutional officials regarding availability.
   
   
3. Use Grants.gov Workspace to prepare and submit your application and eRA Commons to track your application.



Table of Contents
Part 1. Overview Information
Key Dates
Part 2. Full Text of Announcement
Section I. Notice of Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

Part 2. Full Text of Announcement

Section I. Notice of Funding Opportunity Description

Purpose

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) encourages revision applications (formerly called "competing revisions") from currently funded NCI R01 research projects. The applicants should propose projects that are expected to accelerate the pace of translation of NCI-supported methods/assays/technologies (referred to as "assays") to the clinic. Specifically, the focus of applications submitted in response to this NOFO should be on the adaption and clinical validation of molecular/cellular/imaging markers (referred to as "markers" or "biomarkers") for cancer detection, diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring, and prediction of response in treatment, as well as markers for cancer prevention and control. Applications may support acquisition of well-annotated specimens from NCI-supported or other clinical trials or observational cohorts/consortia for the purpose of clinical validation of the assay. Research projects proposed in response to this NOFO encourage multidisciplinary interaction among scientific investigators, assay developers, clinicians, statisticians, and clinical laboratory staff. Clinical laboratory scientist(s) and statistical experts are highly encouraged to comprise integral parts of the application. This NOFO is not intended to support early-stage development of technology or the conduct of clinical trials, but rather the adaption and validation of assays to the point where they could be integrated into clinical trials as investigational assays/tools/devices.

Background

Molecular markers and tissue imaging markers are increasingly being integrated into clinical trials as enrichment or stratification markers for the identification of target patient populations in the development of new drugs or treatment regimens. They are also co-developed as treatment response markers for therapies (i.e. companion diagnostics), where positive findings from large clinical trials can provide the level of evidence needed to support their clinical use. Many of these tissue imaging or molecular markers and assays are developed by investigators in academic institutions or small biotechnology companies through research funded by research project grants. Such markers may be suitable for assessing risk of developing cancer or risk of recurrence relevant for cancer prevention or cancer control. However, most investigators may not appreciate the rigors of marker validation and/or may not have the expertise to navigate the regulations that clinical laboratory assays need to meet. Additionally, marker and assay validation applications that do not include mechanistic, hypothesis-driven studies may not fare well during grant application reviews. These factors can hamper innovation, where many new biomarkers might be continuously discovered and developed early on but do not successfully advance and often fall to the wayside during later stages of development. Despite the need to incorporate these markers into clinical trials, many assays are not adequately validated and not ready for use on patients even as investigational assays/tools/devices.

This NOFO will allow the investigators to advance the development of assays that they have begun working on with their existing research project (R01) awards without having to formulate the validation study into an application for a new, independent research project grant. This NOFO will utilize the NIH Research Project Grant (R01) mechanism and targets currently funded NCI R01 projects with at least two years left at the estimated time of award. Applicants cannot request funds beyond the end date of the parent award.

Specific Research Objectives

Applications in response to this NOFO should propose to clinically validate an existing assay using human specimens in a clinical laboratory into a molecular assay that can be used in a clinical trial for the detection, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, or control of cancer. However, projects that improve standardization or harmonization of assay performance among laboratories are also highly encouraged, and these types of projects may involve continued efforts in assay optimization and ensuring concordance of assay results from different laboratories. Therefore, these types of applications may be viewed as exceptions to the requirement that analytical validation should have been completed by the time revision applications are submitted.

The primary elements for achieving the research objectives are as follows.

Existing assay: an assay that has been reduced to practice in human tissues. An assay from discovery research or based on the scientific investigator's R01 project should have essentially completed analytical validation (as described below in the "Assay Prerequisites" section). The clinical use of the assay for a specific disease should be clearly stated and defined.

Clinical laboratory: a laboratory that provides assay results that either assist in medical decision-making or test postulates pertaining to cancer treatments, or prevention or cancer control interventions. Assays that support medical decision-making need to be performed in Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1968 (CLIA)-certified laboratories. Assays to test postulates should conform to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) or ISO 17025 standards in order to assure that the data generated by the assay are of sufficient quality as to be useful in clinical trials and justify sample collection.

Molecular diagnostic: a biomarker measured in a validated assay that is associated with a clinical endpoint in a pre-defined clinical context that yields usable information about a diagnosis, prognosis, or response to clinical intervention for treatment, prevention, or control of cancer.

Project Characteristics

The project should focus on assays that are likely to be used in treatment, prevention, or cancer control trials. There does not need to be a commitment to a particular clinical trial. However, the applicants are expected to have access to samples that are appropriate for the clinical context of the intended use of the assays. The project should use technologies already in use or soon to be approved for use in clinical laboratories since this is not a technology development NOFO. Applications to improve inter-laboratory standardization or harmonization of assays among different laboratories for use in clinical trials are appropriate for this NOFO and are highly encouraged. Clinical laboratory assays are deemed to be "harmonized" when the results are independent of the specific assay procedure/protocol and where and when the assay is performed. If a commutable reference material is available and the unit of measurement for the analyte has been standardized, the assays can be harmonized by requiring that all procedures be directly or indirectly calibrated to the primary reference material using the standardized unit of measure. This would require a multicenter study to evaluate the performance of the assay protocols, including the limit of detection, limit of quantification as applicable, linearity of the assay across the measuring range, precision, and reproducibility (inter- and intra-assay variability).

Assay Prerequisites and Preliminary Data: The applicant should have an assay that was derived from discovery or early technology development research supported by an R01 grant. The assay may be a multiplex assay or a classifier but should be converted to a clinical assay that can be performed in a clinical trial. The assay should have either been completed or be near the end of analytical validation with fine-tuning of cut-offs or thresholds for a positive assay result left for clinical validation. Preliminary data should define the current status of the assay and analytical performance characteristics, as well as justify support for optimization and usability of a clinical trial.

It is expected that the following metrics will have been achieved during the analytical validation of the assay performed on human specimens: analytic accuracy, precision, sensitivity, reportable range of test results for the test system, reference intervals (normal values) with controls and calibrators, and reproducibility.

Objectives for Clinical Validation Project: The objectives for the clinical validation study should include the following.

• Determination of the sensitivity and specificity of the assay with respect to a defined clinical endpoint within the described clinical context of use;
• Estimation of the prevalence of the marker within subjects or patients for the intended clinical use;
• Establishment of an appropriate cut-off or threshold for the assay using appropriate statistical analysis;
• Demonstration of the association of the assay result with a clinical endpoint (e.g. survival, response, disease presence or absence) in samples from patients that have been treated or exposed to a uniform intervention or observation for treatment, prevention or cancer control trials.

Investigators Team

The applications proposed for this NOFO will necessitate multi-disciplinary interaction and collaboration among scientific investigators, clinicians, statisticians, and clinical laboratory scientists and staff. Therefore, in addition to the PD/PI, the Project Team should include the following participants.

• Clinical Investigator: Investigator(s) who define the intended clinical context of use for the marker and its assay and will oversee their incorporation into a potential clinical trial. The clinical investigator is likely to be an oncologist(s) who treats patients but may be a translational scientist.
• Clinical Laboratory Staff: Staff who will perform the translation of the assay into a clinical assay. The staff may work in a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory but do not need to if the assay is not intended to be used for medical decision-making. In that case, the assay is likely to be for hypothesis or mechanism of action testing and the clinical laboratory staff and their laboratory need to be aware of Good Laboratory Practices and/or ISO 17025 standards and perform to that level of quality. The clinical laboratory staff also needs to be aware of the Westgard rules.
• Statistician: A statistician familiar with the needs of biomarker studies should be part of the team and perform analyses such as power calculations for assessing the use of the assay and its biomarker within the intended clinical context.
• Commercial Developer (optional): While not necessary for all projects, successful assays will need to be distributed and supported. Therefore, collaboration with a commercial partner who will support the distribution and commercialization of the assay is encouraged, but not required.

Non-responsive Applications

The following types of activities remain outside the scope of this NOFO, and applications proposing them are non-responsive to this NOFO and will not be reviewed. 

This NOFO is not meant to support clinical trials but rather the laboratory work and analyses to get assays to the point where their clinical utility could be assessed in other trials. Note that in the context of this NOFO “imaging” refers to in vitro imaging modalities such as microscopy but not clinical radiology (e.g. MRI or PET). Other projects that are not appropriate for this NOFO include technology development, such as those covered by the Innovation Molecular Analysis Technologies Program (IMAT) or projects for the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) at the NCI.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Researchers uncertain whether their intended project meets the requirements of this NOFO are encouraged to contact the Scientific/Research Contact listed below.

See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

Section II. Award Information

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this NOFO.

Section III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

Higher Education Institutions

• Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
• Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

• Hispanic-serving Institutions
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
• Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
• Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

For-Profit Organizations

• Small Businesses
• For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)

Local Governments

• State Governments
• County Governments
• City or Township Governments
• Special District Governments
• Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
• Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized).

Federal Governments

• Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
• U.S. Territory or Possession

Other

• Independent School Districts
• Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
• Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
• Regional Organizations
• Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations)

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are eligible to apply.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.

Applicant Organizations

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the How to Apply- Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. Failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission, please reference the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.3.9.2 Electronically Submitted Applications for additional information.

• System for Award Management (SAM) – Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.
  • NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code – Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
  • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) - A UEI is issued as part of the SAM.gov registration process. The same UEI must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
• eRA Commons - Once the unique organization identifier is established, organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their Grants.gov registrations; all registrations must be in place by time of submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.
• Grants.gov – Applicants must have an active SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.

Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))

All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account.  PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. See, Reminder: Notice of NIH's Encouragement of Applications Supporting Individuals from Underrepresented Ethnic and Racial Groups as well as Individuals with Disabilities, NOT-OD-22-019.

For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the How to Apply-Application Guide.

2. Cost Sharing

This NOFO does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 1.2 Definition of Terms.

3. Additional Information on Eligibility

Number of Applications

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time, per NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.3.7.4 Submission of Resubmission Application. This means that the NIH will not accept:

• A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.
• A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.
• An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NIH Grants Policy Statement 2.3.9.4 Similar, Essentially Identical, or Identical Applications).

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Requesting an Application Package

The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this NOFO. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the How to Apply - Application Guide except where instructed in this notice of funding opportunity to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Page Limitations

All page limitations described in the How to Apply- Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

The following section supplements the instructions found in the How to Apply- Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this NOFO.

SF424(R&R) Cover

All instructions in the How to Apply - Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Other Project Information

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

R&R or Modular Budget

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

R&R Subaward Budget

All instructions in the How to Apply-Application Guide must be followed.

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

PHS 398 Research Plan

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:

Research Strategy: The Research Strategy should be organized into sections as identified below.

1. Background and Significance: The importance of the markers and assays should be well justified for developing into a clinical test. Define the cancer problem to be addressed, including the marker and its assay and how they fit the intended clinical context in which they will be used. Provide the biologic or discovery research rationale for the marker and its importance. Outline the potential of the proposed marker/assay for affecting the intended clinical context in diagnosis, treatment, prevention, or cancer control trials.

2. Preliminary Data: Describe the current status of analytical validation of the assay in human specimens within the intended clinical context, including the current reagents, technologies, and types of specimens that the assay will use (e.g., fresh frozen or formalin-fixed tissue, serum or plasma). Applications should have completed analytical validation of the assay in human biospecimens and not just in cell lines by the time they submit their revision application, so that they can focus on clinical validation rather than analytical validation. An exception would be applications that strive to improve assay performance by inter-laboratory standardization or harmonization among different clinical laboratories.

3. Approach: Include plans for additional optimization of analytical validation that should primarily be limited to establishing thresholds or cut-offs for assay; plans to accrue specimens to perform clinical validation of assay including identification of the clinical resource or trial that will provide specimens; documentation of appropriate availability and pre-approvals to get specimens (i.e., documentation that the repository holder has identified and confirmed availability of specimens and that there is an appropriate process to get the specimens with reasonable certainty); plan for integration of clinical laboratory staff and statisticians into the project; provision of statistical power analysis that defines the number of specimens needed; plan for clinical validation of the assay within the intended clinical context of use; plans to address the regulatory requirements needed to get assay into clinical trial(s); identification of potential pitfalls and alternative approaches to overcome obstacles to clinical validation of the assay; plans to address other regulatory issues as applicable such as control of intellectual property and evaluation of significant risk of the assay within the clinical context of a clinical trial; and plans for collaboration with commercial entities to support the assay if it is successful.

Letters of Support: Letters of support must be included.

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the How to Apply- Application Guide.

Other Plan(s): 

All instructions in the How to Apply-Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:

• All applicants planning research (funded or conducted in whole or in part by NIH) that results in the generation of scientific data are required to comply with the instructions for the Data Management and Sharing Plan. All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, must address a Data Management and Sharing Plan.

Appendix: Only limited Appendix materials are allowed. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the How to Apply- Application Guide.

• No publications or other material, with the exception of blank questionnaires or blank surveys, may be included in the Appendix.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the How to Apply- Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered “Yes” to the question “Are Human Subjects Involved?” on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

Delayed Onset Study

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

PHS Assignment Request Form

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

Foreign Organizations

Foreign (non-U.S.) organizations must follow policies described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, and procedures for foreign organizations described throughout the How to Apply- Application Guide.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

See Part 2. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov

4. Submission Dates and Times

Part I. contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time.  If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.3.9.2 Electronically Submitted Applications.

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.

Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the How to Apply-Application Guide.

5. Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372)

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

6. Funding Restrictions

All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 7.9.1 Selected Items of Cost.

Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the How to Apply Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.

For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply – Application Guide. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.

Important reminders:

All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile form. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH. See Section III of this NOFO for information on registration requirements.

The applicant organization must ensure that the unique entity identifier provided on the application is the same identifier used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management. Additional information may be found in the How to Apply Application Guide.

See more tips for avoiding common errors.

Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by the NCI, NIH. Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.

Recipients or subrecipients must submit any information related to violations of federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations potentially affecting the federal award. See Mandatory Disclosures, 2 CFR 200.113 and NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 4.1.35.

Send written disclosures to the NIH Chief Grants Management Officer listed on the Notice of Award for the IC that funded the award and to the HHS Office of Inspector Grant Self Disclosure Program at [email protected].

Post Submission Materials

Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy

Section V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.

Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following scored review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed). An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have a major scientific impact.

Reviewers will evaluate Factors 1, 2 and 3 in the determination of scientific merit, and in providing an overall impact score. In addition, Factors 1 and 2 will each receive a separate criterion score. 

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, but will not give criterion scores for these items, and should consider them in providing an overall impact score.

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.

2. Review and Selection Process

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by the Center for Scientific Review, in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.

As part of the scientific peer review, all applications will receive a written critique.

Applications may undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.

Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this NOFO. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the appropriate national Advisory Council or Board. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:

• Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.
• Availability of funds.
• Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.

If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.5.1. Just-in-Time Procedures. This request is not a Notice of Award nor should it be construed to be an indicator of possible funding.

Prior to making an award, NIH reviews an applicant’s federal award history in SAM.gov to ensure sound business practices. An applicant can review and comment on any information in the Responsibility/Qualification records available in SAM.gov. NIH will consider any comments by the applicant in the Responsibility/Qualification records in SAM.gov to ascertain the applicant’s integrity, business ethics, and performance record of managing Federal awards per 2 CFR Part 200.206 “Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants.” This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.

3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.

Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.4.4 Disposition of Applications.

Section VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices

A Notice of Award (NoA) is the official authorizing document notifying the applicant that an award has been made and that funds may be requested from the designated HHS payment system or office. The NoA is signed by the Grants Management Officer and emailed to the recipient’s business official.

In accepting the award, the recipient agrees that any activities under the award are subject to all provisions currently in effect or implemented during the period of the award, other Department regulations and policies in effect at the time of the award, and applicable statutory provisions.

Recipients must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.6. Funding Restrictions. Any pre-award costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the applicant's own risk.  For more information on the Notice of Award, please refer to the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 5. The Notice of Award and NIH Grants & Funding website, see Award Process.

Institutional Review Board or Independent Ethics Committee Approval: Recipient institutions must ensure that protocols are reviewed by their IRB or IEC. To help ensure the safety of participants enrolled in NIH-funded studies, the recipient must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

The following Federal wide and HHS-specific policy requirements apply to awards funded through NIH:

• The rules listed at 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.
• All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the terms and conditions in the Notice of Award (NoA). The NoA includes the requirements of this NOFO. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Recipients, and Activities.
• If a recipient receives an award, the recipient must follow all applicable nondiscrimination laws. The recipient agrees to this when registering in SAM.gov. The recipient must also submit an Assurance of Compliance (HHS-690). To learn more, see the Laws and Regulations Enforced by the HHS Office for Civil Rights website.
  • HHS recognizes that NIH research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator’s scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research. For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this NOFO.

All federal statutes and regulations relevant to federal financial assistance, including those highlighted in NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 4 Public Policy Requirements, Objectives and Other Appropriation Mandates.

Recipients are responsible for ensuring that their activities comply with all applicable federal regulations.  NIH may terminate awards under certain circumstances.  See 2 CFR Part 200.340 Termination and NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.5.2 Remedies for Noncompliance or Enforcement Actions: Suspension, Termination, and Withholding of Support. 

Not Applicable

Consistent with the 2023 NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing, when data management and sharing is applicable to the award, recipients will be required to adhere to the Data Management and Sharing requirements as outlined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Upon the approval of a Data Management and Sharing Plan, it is required for recipients to implement the plan as described.

4. Reporting

When multiple years are involved, recipients will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.4.1 Reporting. To learn more about post-award monitoring and reporting, see the NIH Grants & Funding website, see Post-Award Monitoring and Reporting.

A final RPPR, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.6 Closeout. NIH NOFOs outline intended research goals and objectives. Post award, NIH will review and measure performance based on the details and outcomes that are shared within the RPPR, as described at 2 CFR Part 200.301.

Section VII. Agency Contacts

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.

eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons, application errors and warnings, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, and post-submission issues)

Finding Help Online: https://www.era.nih.gov/need-help (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)

General Grants Information (Questions regarding application instructions, application processes, and NIH grant resources)
Email: [email protected] (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-480-7075

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: [email protected]

For cancer diagnosis, prognosis, treatment response, and monitoring biomarkers and assays.
Sumana Dey, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-5748
Email: [email protected]

For molecular/cellular/imaging markers and assays involving cancer epidemiology and population science.
Rao Divi, Ph.D.
National Cancer institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6913
Email: [email protected]

For cancer prevention markers and assays.
Asad Umar, DVM, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-7070
Email: [email protected]

Examine your eRA Commons account for review assignment and contact information (information appears two weeks after the submission due date).

Shane Woodward
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6303
Email: [email protected]

Section VIII. Other Information

Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 2 CFR Part 200.