Alternatives to Utilizing the PLCO Biospecimens Resource to Bridge Gaps in Cancer Etiology and Early Detection Research (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites applications for projects to expand, improve, or transform the utility of mammalian cancer and tumor models for translational research. With this NOFO, the NCI intends to encourage submission of projects devoted to demonstrating that mammalian models or their derivatives used for translational research are robust representations of human biology, are appropriate to test questions of clinical importance, and provide reliable information for patients' benefit. These practical goals contrast with the goals of many mechanistic, NCI-supported R01 projects that employ mammals, or develop and use mammalian cancer models, transplantation tumor models, or models derived from mammalian or human tissues or cells for hypothesis-testing, non-clinical research. Among many other possible endeavors, applicants in response to this FOA could propose demonstrations of how to overcome translational deficiencies of mammalian oncology models, define new uses of mammalian models or their genetics for unexplored translational challenges, advance standard practices for use of translational models, test approaches to validate and credential models, or challenge current practices for how models are used translationally

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this R25 program is to encourage individuals who have not had substantial biomedical research experience, or who have the potential to significantly benefit from additional biomedical research experience to pursue further studies or careers in research. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this NOFO will support educational activities with a primary focus on: (1) Research Experiences, (2) Curriculum or Methods Development and (3) Outreach. The NCI’s mission is to conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs concerning cancer. This funding opportunity seeks to facilitate educational activities that encourage students to become knowledgeable about cancer and available to focus on cancer later in their careers. To promote broad interest in pursuing a career in biomedical research via early intervention strategies, the NCI Youth Enjoy Science (YES) Program will support efforts to create and maintain an institutional program to engage grades 6-12 and/or undergraduate students in cutting edge cancer research experiences. The proposed institutional programs may also provide research experiences for the grade 6-12 teachers and undergraduate faculty members. The goals are to inspire interest in biomedical sciences, help envision research as a career path, and strengthen practical research and career skills. In alignment with these goals, institutions may develop unique programs that capitalize on their research strengths and are responsive to their target populations.

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) intends to accelerate the adoption and validation of molecular/cellular/imaging markers (referred to as "markers" or "biomarkers") and assays for cancer detection, diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring, and prediction of response or resistance to treatment, as well as markers for cancer prevention and control. This NOFO will also support the validation of pharmacodynamic markers and markers of toxicity. Applicants to this NOFO must have an assay(s) whose performance has been analytically validated in specimens similar to those for the intended clinical use of the marker(s) and assay(s). As chemotherapies and/or radiation therapies are increasingly combined with immunotherapies to enhance the durability of anti-cancer responses, assays for measuring multiple markers, including immune markers, can be developed and validated simultaneously. The UH3 mechanism will support the clinical validation of established assays for up to 3 years using specimens from retrospective or prospective clinical trials or studies. This NOFO may be used to validate existing assays for use in other trials, observational studies, or population studies. Efforts to harmonize clinical laboratory tests, including investigation into the performance and reproducibility of assays across multiple clinical laboratories, are also appropriate for this funding opportunity. Projects proposed for this NOFO will require multi-disciplinary interaction and collaboration among scientific investigators, oncologists, statisticians, and clinical laboratory scientists. This NOFO is not intended to support early-stage development of technology or the conduct of clinical trials but is intended for validation of assays to the point where they could be integrated into clinical trials/studies as investigational assays.

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to invite research grant applications (R01) for the development and use of current and emerging molecular imaging methods to gain fundamental insights into cancer inflammation in vivo. The motivation for this initiative is that much of current imaging research into the role of inflammation in cancer is largely based on in vitro and ex vivo methods with limited utilization of imaging approaches that could lead to significant new insights relevant to dynamic cancer and inflammation interactions. Utilization of molecular imaging probes in pre-clinical and clinical investigations for precise temporal resolution at the molecular and cellular level are valuable approaches for identification and characterization of in vivo inflammatory cellular physiology in cancers and of molecular changes in response to treatment. This FOA encourages applications that focus on developing integrated imaging approaches to interrogate the role of inflammation in cancer through strong cross-field collaboration between cancer basic science researchers and imaging scientists. These collaborations are expected to advance science and understanding of cancer inflammation interactions.

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites applications for support of investigator-initiated studies addressing mechanisms by which bariatric surgery impacts cancer risk, and seeks to draw in talented scientists who study bariatric surgery to investigate its effects on cancer, rather than shorter-term outcomes such as weight loss and diabetes.

The Biomedical Research Environment and Sponsored Programs Administration Development (BRE-SPAD) Program aims to promote broad participation in the biomedical research ecosystem by supporting resource limited organizations to conduct research, enhance the research environment, and increase sponsored programs administration capacity.This program intends to support eligible, domestic organizations with limited research resources and few biomedical doctoral students.

The purpose of the Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools is to stimulate basic and clinical research in educational institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced degrees for a significant number of the Nation's research scientists, but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. REAP grants create opportunities for scientists and institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in NIH research programs to contribute to the Nation's biomedical and behavioral research effort. REAP grants are intended to support small-scale research projects proposed by faculty members of eligible, domestic institutions, to expose undergraduate and/or graduate students at health professional schools or graduate schools to meritorious research projects, and to strengthen the research environment of the applicant institution.Eligible institutions must award NIH-relevant baccalaureate or advanced degrees in health professions and have received less than $6 million per year of NIH support (total costs) in 4 of the last 7 fiscal years. In this NOFO, a college is a stand-alone entity and not a component of a university system.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The over-arching goal of this NCI R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nations biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on Research Experiences. Applications are encouraged that propose innovative, state-of-the-art programs that address the cause, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, or the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to invite Small Research Grant (R21) applications that propose to study the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of human genetics and genomics. Applications may propose studies using either single or mixed methods. Direct involvement of key stakeholders where appropriate is encouraged. These applications should be for small research projects, such as those that involve single investigators. Of particular interest are projects that propose normative or conceptual analyses, including focused legal, economic, philosophical, anthropological, or historical analyses of new or emerging issues. This mechanism can also be used for the collection of preliminary data and the secondary analysis of existing data.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The over-arching goal of this NIDA R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nations biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. This NOFO is intended to support research education activities that enhance the knowledge of substance use and substance use disorder research. The program is intended for those in clinically focused careers and/or those training for careers as clinicians/health service providers, clinical researchers, or optimally a combination of the two. This mechanism may not be used to support non-research-related clinical training.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The over-arching goal of this NCI R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nations biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on Courses for Skills Development. Applications are encouraged that propose innovative, state-of-the-art programs that address the cause, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, or the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.

NLM wishes to accelerate access to, and availability of, secure, complete datasets and computational models that can serve as the basis for transformative biomedical discoveries. Innovative at-scale computational approaches that increase the speed and scope of curation processes are needed for data mining and knowledge discovery from growing quantities of biomedical data being produced from ongoing data science advances.