Aging, Cancer-Initiating Cells, and Cancer Development (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA CA 20 040

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 20 040

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), offered this cooperative agreement opportunity to push forward research on how aging biology helps set the stage for cancer to begin. The central goal is to deepen mechanistic understanding of what changes during aging, at the cellular and tissue levels, that makes it easier for cancer-initiating cells to emerge, survive, and expand. A major theme is bringing aging researchers and cancer researchers together, since the FOA is intentionally aimed at bridging those fields rather than supporting work that sits entirely in one lane.

The scientific focus is on the idea that the "hallmarks of aging" can disrupt normal cellular function in ways that may promote tumor initiation. The opportunity highlights several aging-related cellular impairments that applicants are expected to address, including metabolic alterations, loss of proteostasis (the ability to correctly fold, maintain, and clear proteins), epigenetic changes that reshape gene regulation, and reduced DNA repair capacity that can allow damage to accumulate. In addition to these cell-intrinsic processes, the FOA stresses that aging also reshapes the surrounding microenvironment in ways that may enable cancer initiation, especially through chronic inflammation and immunosenescence (age-associated decline and remodeling of immune function). Projects are expected to connect these aging-driven changes to the development and outgrowth of cancer-initiating cells, meaning studies should be designed to explain not only what changes with age, but how those changes causally influence early cancer biology.

Administratively, this was released as a U01 cooperative agreement (Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement), which generally means NIH program staff anticipate having substantial involvement in the project compared with a standard investigator-initiated grant mechanism. The FOA is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," indicating proposed work should not be designed as a clinical trial under NIH definitions, even though the research question is highly relevant to human cancer risk and aging. The opportunity falls under the Education and Health activity category and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.396 and 93.866. The award ceiling listed is $300,000, and the original closing date was February 17, 2021 (with a creation date of July 2, 2020), indicating it was a time-bound solicitation rather than an open-ended standing program announcement.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local 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; and tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments. It also includes public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out 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), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the FOA draws clear boundaries around non-U.S. participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the primary applicant, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which typically means a U.S. applicant can include certain well-justified international elements or collaborations within a project, subject to NIH rules and approval, even though the prime applicant organization must be domestic.

In practical terms, the FOA is aimed at proposals that can explain, in a mechanistically rigorous way, why cancer risk rises with age by linking specific aging-associated molecular and cellular changes to the earliest steps of tumor formation. Competitive applications would be expected to clearly articulate the aging mechanism(s) under study, define what constitutes the cancer-initiating cell population in the chosen system, and show how aging-driven changes in cell function and the immune or inflammatory environment affect initiation and early outgrowth, all while fitting within a non-clinical-trial research framework and taking advantage of cross-disciplinary collaboration between aging and cancer biology teams.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Aging, Cancer-Initiating Cells, and Cancer Development (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.396, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-07-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-02-17. (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 $300,000.00 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.

Apply for RFA CA 20 040

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