Cancer Tissue Engineering Collaborative: Enabling Biomimetic Tissue-Engineered Technologies for Cancer Research (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 19 113

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 113

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Cancer Tissue Engineering Collaborative: Enabling Biomimetic Tissue-Engineered Technologies for Cancer Research (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-19-113) supports research projects aimed at building and rigorously characterizing advanced, biomimetic tissue-engineered platforms that can be used to study cancer. The main idea is to move beyond overly simplified lab models by creating in vitro and ex vivo systems that better reproduce real cancer biology, including the physical structure and functional behavior of tumors and their surrounding microenvironments. These technologies are expected to help researchers model cancer pathophysiology more faithfully, making it easier to study how cancers develop, interact with surrounding tissues, and respond to therapeutic interventions.

A central feature of this announcement is its emphasis on collaborative, multidisciplinary work. Competitive projects are expected to bridge expertise across regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, biomaterials, and bioengineering, while being deeply grounded in cancer biology. The goal is to combine these fields to create experimental systems that are not just novel, but also well-characterized and useful to the broader research community. In practice, this means applicants should be thinking about both engineering performance (such as architecture, mechanical properties, perfusion, extracellular matrix features, and cell-cell interactions) and cancer-relevant biological function (such as invasion, metastasis-associated behavior, immune interactions, stromal dynamics, hypoxia, and treatment response).

Awardees funded under this FOA will form and participate in a coordinated program known as the Cancer Tissue Engineering Collaborative (TEC) Research Program. The Cancer TEC Program is designed to function as a community of funded teams that collectively push the field forward rather than working in isolation. Program goals include catalyzing the development of innovative, carefully validated tissue-engineered systems for cancer research; expanding the range of these systems across multiple cancer types so the toolkit is not limited to a narrow set of diseases; and encouraging researchers to use biomimetic tissue-engineered platforms to explore key cancer phenomena that are difficult to study with traditional models. In other words, the program is trying to both improve the technology itself and increase its adoption and usefulness across cancer research.

This opportunity uses the NIH R01 grant mechanism, with clinical trials listed as optional, meaning proposals may include a clinical trial component if it is appropriate, but a clinical trial is not required. The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity areas fall under education and health, with CFDA numbers listed as 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, and 93.399. The posted award ceiling in the provided source data is $400,000 (typically interpreted as a limit tied to direct costs per year unless otherwise specified in the full FOA), and the opportunity was created on 2018-12-17, with an original closing date of 2022-01-07. The source data also notes "ExpectedAwards:" without a value provided, so the number of awards is not specified in the excerpt.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations as well as some non-U.S. participation. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility is consistent with the collaborative nature of the program and its intent to pull together diverse expertise and institutional strengths.

Overall, this FOA is aimed at accelerating next-generation cancer research models that more closely mirror real human disease, while building an interconnected research community around tissue-engineered cancer technologies. A strong application, based on the description provided, would be expected to propose a cutting-edge biomimetic platform, demonstrate a clear plan for thorough characterization and validation, show tight integration between engineering and cancer biology, and fit within the shared goals of the Cancer TEC Research Program to broaden model availability across cancer types and enable deeper exploration of cancer behavior in physiologically realistic systems.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cancer Tissue Engineering Collaborative: Enabling Biomimetic Tissue-Engineered Technologies for Cancer Research (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-12-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-01-07. (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 $400,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

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