Innovative Biospecimen Science Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA CA 21 005

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 21 005

The National Institutes of Health, through the National Cancer Institute (NCI), issued this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support exploratory, early-stage research aimed at improving the quality and usefulness of biospecimens used in cancer research and clinical care. The opportunity is titled "Innovative Biospecimen Science Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is part of NCI's broader Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program. It uses the R21 mechanism, which is generally designed for high-risk, high-reward projects that test bold ideas and generate proof-of-concept data rather than supporting large, mature technology development programs. As stated in the title, clinical trials are not allowed under this FOA.

The core problem this FOA targets is pre-analytical variation: the changes and damage that can happen to important biological signals in a sample before the actual measurement or assay is performed. In cancer-relevant biospecimens, key analytes such as nucleic acids, proteins, metabolites, cells, extracellular vesicles, or other molecular and cellular features can degrade or shift due to how a specimen is collected, processed, handled, transported, and stored. Even small differences in time-to-processing, temperature, fixation methods, freeze-thaw cycles, or collection devices can introduce bias, reduce reproducibility, and limit the clinical or scientific interpretability of downstream analyses. This FOA is aimed at technologies that either prevent those issues or make them visible and measurable so researchers and clinicians can trust the sample quality.

Projects responsive to this opportunity are expected to propose highly innovative tools, devices, instrumentation, or methods that preserve, protect, stabilize, or otherwise maintain biospecimen integrity across real-world conditions. Another major emphasis is on technologies that can interrogate sample quality, meaning they can evaluate, verify, or certify whether a biospecimen meets defined criteria for fitness-for-purpose before it is used in downstream tests. In practical terms, this could include new approaches for built-in quality control, objective quality assessment metrics, or methods that document and standardize handling conditions so that biospecimens collected in different settings can be compared more reliably. The FOA also highlights the need for verification criteria and quality assessment/quality control practices that remain effective under diverse and sometimes challenging environments, which is often where sample quality problems are most severe.

The intended impact is to accelerate and strengthen cancer research and care by reducing pre-analytical degradation and variability that can obscure true biology or lead to misleading conclusions. By improving biospecimen reliability, the supported technologies are expected to enhance studies in cancer biology, early detection and screening, clinical diagnosis, treatment decision-making, and epidemiology. The FOA also explicitly connects biospecimen quality improvements to cancer health disparities, recognizing that inconsistencies in collection infrastructure, access to specialized processing, or transport and storage conditions can disproportionately affect certain populations and settings. Technologies that help standardize or safeguard sample integrity across varied clinical sites, community clinics, rural environments, and resource-limited contexts align with this goal.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations such as state, county, city, and special district governments; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses; and additional categories listed by the FOA. The announcement also calls out additional eligible applicants such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). The agency listed is NIH, the CFDA number is 93.394, and the opportunity number is RFA-CA-21-005. The original closing date provided is 2021-09-29, and the FOA is categorized as discretionary grant funding in the health and education activity area.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Innovative Biospecimen Science Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 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): 93.394.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-11-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-09-29. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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 21 005

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: