At a glance
This NOFO funds extramural research on how preanalytical differences in biospecimen collection, processing, storage, and handling affect clinical biomarker assay development and validation. It focuses on small tumor biopsies, blood used for liquid biopsies, and other specimen types such as swabs, secretions, aspirates, feces, sweat, urine, CSF, breast milk, BAL, and saliva. Applicants may include nonprofits, universities, for-profits, governments, faith-based or community-based organizations, and foreign organizations or foreign components of U.S. organizations. Awards use a cooperative agreement mechanism, with direct costs limited to $250,000 per year, a maximum project period of 5 years, and the number of awards depending on NIH appropriations and meritorious applications. Clinical trials are not allowed, and the announcement says it does not support biomarker discovery or early detection biomarker projects.
What it funds
Official description from grants.gov
Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) intends to support extramural research to investigate and mitigate challenges facing clinical assay development and subsequent analytical validation due to preanalytical variability in tumor tissue biopsies, blood biospecimens utilized as liquid biopsies", or other biospecimens as described in this NOFO. Extramural research funded under this NOFO may include investigations of preanalytical variability associated with the procurement and study of small biopsies (core biopsies, small excision samples), blood utilized for "liquid biopsies", tissue swabs, tissue secretions, pleural and esophageal aspirates, feces, or bodily fluids like sweat, urine, CSF, breast milk and saliva. Investigator-designed experiments will explore how different biospecimen preanalytical conditions affect emerging and clinically relevant biomarkers quantified by a variety of testing platforms. The results from this research program will improve the understanding of how analytical quantification of clinically relevant biomarkers is affected by variation in biospecimen collection, processing, and storage procedures. The overall goal is to expedite biomarker clinical assay development through evidence-based standardization of biopsy handling practices.
Who can apply
- City or township governments
- County governments
- For-profit organizations other than small businesses
- Independent school districts
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized)
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Others
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Public housing authorities / Indian housing authorities
- Small businesses
- Special district governments
- State governments