Innovative Molecular and Cellular Analysis Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA CA 19 019

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 19 019

The grant opportunity titled "Innovative Molecular and Cellular Analysis Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding announcement under the NIH (Department of Health and Human Services) that supports exploratory, early-stage technology development aimed at improving how researchers measure, interrogate, and understand cancer at the molecular and cellular levels. It uses the R21 mechanism, which is generally designed for high-risk, high-reward concepts that are still at a formative stage and need initial proof-of-concept work rather than large-scale validation. A key boundary of this particular opportunity is that clinical trials are not allowed, meaning the work should focus on creating and refining tools, methods, platforms, or analytical capabilities rather than testing interventions in trial settings.

The central purpose of the FOA is to push forward highly innovative technologies that create brand-new or substantially improved capabilities for targeting, probing, or assessing molecular and cellular features relevant to cancer biology. The emphasis is not on incremental upgrades to established methods, but on technical innovation that could meaningfully expand what can be measured, how precisely it can be measured, or how feasibly it can be done in real research or clinical-laboratory contexts. Projects that fit well are those that can plausibly accelerate research timelines, open up previously inaccessible biological questions, or enable more informative characterization of tumors, precancerous changes, tumor microenvironments, or cancer-related cellular processes.

Although the technology development is the core, the FOA makes clear that the intended impact should connect to major cancer research and public health needs. The technologies should have potential to enhance or speed progress in areas such as fundamental cancer biology, early detection and screening, clinical diagnosis, treatment and treatment monitoring, cancer control, and epidemiology. The announcement also explicitly recognizes cancer health disparities as a relevant impact area, encouraging technologies that could help address unequal outcomes or unequal access to high-quality molecular and cellular characterization. Importantly, even if a proposed platform is meant to be broadly useful across diseases, the development effort under this FOA must be centered on improving cancer-relevant molecular and/or cellular characterization.

This opportunity sits within the broader NCI Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program, which is aimed at stimulating creation of next-generation analysis tools for cancer research. In practical terms, that framing signals an interest in platforms and methodologies that could become enabling technologies for many downstream studies, rather than tools that only answer a narrow, one-off question. Successful applications typically make a strong case that the proposed technology, once developed, could be adopted widely by the cancer research community or could significantly improve the quality, depth, or interpretability of molecular and cellular measurements used in cancer studies.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding opportunity number is RFA-CA-19-019, categorized as a discretionary grant within the health and education activity area (CFDA 93.394). The listed award ceiling is $200,000, and the announcement anticipated roughly 17 awards. The original posting date was January 7, 2019, with an original closing date of September 27, 2019. Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and institutions, including state and local governments, tribal governments and tribal organizations, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), and other entities as allowed in the full eligibility language.

Overall, the FOA can be read as an invitation to propose bold, early-stage technology concepts that could change what is possible in molecular and cellular analysis for cancer, with a clear expectation that the work is tool- and capability-driven (not clinical trial-driven) and that the cancer relevance is direct and central rather than incidental.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Innovative Molecular and Cellular Analysis Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.394.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 07, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 27, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 17 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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