Revisions for Incorporation of Novel NCI- Supported Technology to Accelerate Cancer Research (U01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA CA 19 024

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 19 024

Revisions for Incorporation of Novel NCI-Supported Technology to Accelerate Cancer Research (U01 Clinical Trial Optional) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding opportunity designed specifically for investigators who already hold an active NCI U01 cooperative agreement and want to submit a revision application to their existing project. The central idea is to speed up and strengthen ongoing cancer research by adding a new technical approach, tool, or instrument that was developed with support from NCI's Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) program. In practical terms, this FOA is not meant to start a brand-new standalone study; it is meant to expand the scope, capability, or pace of a currently funded U01 by integrating an IMAT-supported technology in a way that meaningfully advances the parent project's aims.

A key purpose of the announcement is to incentivize independent validation of emerging IMAT technologies. That means the NCI is looking for real-world testing and demonstration of these tools outside the original technology-development setting, in the hands of research teams working on important cancer questions. By embedding the technology into an active U01 research effort, the revision is intended to show whether the approach is robust, usable, and genuinely valuable for the broader cancer research community, not just promising in early development. The overall emphasis is on accelerating progress: either by expanding the original research questions, deepening the investigation, improving the precision or throughput of measurements, or enabling analyses that were not feasible under the parent award's original technical plan.

The funding mechanism is a cooperative agreement (U01), which generally signals substantial scientific or programmatic involvement by the NCI compared with a standard research grant. The "Clinical Trial Optional" label indicates that the proposed revision activities may include a clinical trial component if appropriate, but a clinical trial is not required. The activity category is listed under education and health, and the program aligns with cancer research acceleration through advanced molecular or analytical technologies.

In terms of scale and competitiveness, the FOA lists an award ceiling of $150,000 and anticipates making about three awards. That suggests a targeted, selective opportunity focused on well-justified add-on work rather than large expansions of project budgets. Because it supports revision applications, the main audience is current NCI-funded U01 teams that can credibly argue that incorporating an IMAT-derived technology will produce measurable gains in scientific output, timeliness, or translational impact for the parent study.

Eligibility is broad across many organization types, including various levels of government, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, tribal governments and organizations, independent school districts, and public housing authorities, among others. Even though eligibility is broad on paper, the practical eligibility constraint is that applicants must have an active, currently funded NCI U01 project suitable for a revision, since the FOA is explicitly about adding to an existing award rather than initiating a new one.

Administratively, the opportunity is run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institutes of Health, with NCI as the relevant institute. The FOA was created on January 7, 2019, with an original closing date of September 27, 2019, under funding opportunity number RFA-CA-19-024 (CFDA 93.394). Overall, the announcement reflects NCI's strategy of pairing innovative technology development (through IMAT) with real deployment and validation in active cancer research projects, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and helping promising tools mature into broadly adoptable methods that can accelerate discovery.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Revisions for Incorporation of Novel NCI- Supported Technology to Accelerate Cancer Research (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.394.
• 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 $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 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).

Apply for RFA CA 19 024

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