Deadline: 17-Nov-23
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is now accepting proposals for the Early-Stage Development of Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management Program.
Purpose
- The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite Cooperative Agreement (U01) applications for the development of enabling informatics technologies to improve the acquisition, management, analysis, and dissemination of data and knowledge across the cancer research continuum including cancer biology, cancer treatment and diagnosis, early cancer detection, risk assessment and prevention, cancer control and epidemiology, and/or cancer health disparities.
- As a component of the NCI's Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) Program, this FOA focuses on early-stage development from prototyping to hardening and adaptation. Early-stage development is defined for the purpose of this FOA as initial tool development or the significant modification of existing tools for new applications. The central mission of ITCR is to promote research-driven informatics technology across the development lifecycle to address priority needs in cancer research. In order to be successful, proposed development plans must have a clear rationale on why the proposed technology is needed and how it will benefit the cancer research field. In addition, mechanisms to solicit feedback from users and collaborators throughout the development process must be included.
Objectives
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This FOA encourages applications that involve the development of new, user-friendly informatics technologies that support a wide range of cancer research, including discovery biology, population studies, as well as clinical and translational research. The emphasis will be on uniqueness and potential impact on cancer research. In addition, all projects proposed in response to this FOA must involve the following general attributes:
- Potential to advance the collaborating research projects and the cancer research field in general
- Novel informatics capabilities for the targeted cancer research domain
- Compelling plans and processes for engaging end users to evaluate and apply the tool or resource
- A realistic timeline and milestones for technology development
- Awardees will be expected to participate in additional collaborative research activities identified post-award, to enhance the utility and/or interoperability of the informatics technology being supported through the award. These expansion activities are intended to further the impact of the technology that is the subject of the award and may include collaborations with other ITCR awardees or with investigators outside of ITCR. Proposals for these expanded collaborative activities will be evaluated by processes established by the ITCR Steering Committee.
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Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Extension or adaptation of a tool to support the needs of a cancer research project
- Implementation of common Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to support data exchange among tools
- Use of a common software platform/interoperability infrastructure for tool integration
Scope
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Some examples of informatics technologies that may be appropriate for this FOA include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Data acquisition software, such as for laboratory equipment, wearable devices, and questionnaires;
- Data mining, visualization, and analytics tools and platforms;
- Data processing methods such as data compression, data provenance, and data wrangling;
- Data integration and workflow tools and platforms;
- Development of data standards, data exchange formats, data quality assurance methods, and data privacy management tools;
- Performance evaluation of software tools, algorithms, and data collection methods;
- Statistical methods, graph and network theory approaches, and machine learning methods;
- Natural language processing and text mining approaches;
- Clinical decision support and treatment planning tools;
- Technology to support next-generation clinical trials and clinical trial matching;
- Behavioral intervention tools;
- Platforms for research collaboration and algorithm performance evaluation;
- Environments for interactive modeling and simulation.
- Applications in support of informatics technologies that address under-represented areas in the program portfolio are of particular interest.
Funding Information
- NCI intends to commit $2,250,000 in FY 2024 to fund 5-6 awards.
- Budgets are limited to $300,000 Direct Costs per year.
- The maximum project period is three years.
Eligibility Criteria
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Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
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The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
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Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
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For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
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Local Governments
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or Township Governments
- Special District Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
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Federal Governments
- Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
- U.S. Territory or Possession
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Other
- Independent School Districts
- Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
- Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
- Regional Organizations
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions)
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Foreign Institutions
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are eligible to apply.
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are eligible to apply.
- Foreign components, are allowed.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.








































