Basic Research in Cancer Health Disparities (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 24 291

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 24 291

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering a discretionary grant opportunity titled "Basic Research in Cancer Health Disparities (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)," published as Funding Opportunity Number PAR-24-291 (CFDA 93.393). The program uses the NIH R21 mechanism, which is generally intended to support exploratory, early-stage, and high-impact projects that can generate key mechanistic insights or proof-of-concept data. As stated in the title, clinical trials are not allowed under this notice, so applications should remain firmly in the realm of basic or mechanistic research rather than testing interventions in human participants through clinical trial designs. The original closing date listed for this opportunity is 2024-11-16.

The central goal of this NOFO is to stimulate basic, mechanistic research that clarifies the biological and genetic underpinnings of cancer health disparities. In practical terms, NIH is looking for studies that move beyond documenting disparities and instead explain why differences in cancer incidence, progression, and outcomes may occur across populations, using biological, molecular, genomic, or related mechanistic frameworks. The emphasis is on understanding causal or contributory mechanisms that could help explain unequal cancer burdens, including mechanisms relevant to cancer biology and biologically grounded prevention strategies. This focus supports a pipeline from fundamental discovery to future translational work, even though the work proposed here must remain non-clinical-trial in scope.

The NOFO highlights several types of projects it intends to support. First are mechanistic studies of biological factors associated with cancer health disparities, which could include research on tumor biology, host biology, immune responses, metabolism, genetics, epigenetics, or other foundational processes that plausibly differ by population due to ancestry-related genetic variation, gene-environment interactions, or other biologically measurable factors. Importantly, the notice frames this as "basic, mechanistic" work, meaning reviewers will likely expect a clear biological hypothesis, credible approaches for testing mechanisms, and an explanation of how the findings would illuminate a disparity rather than simply describing differences. Second, the NOFO encourages the development and testing of new methodologies and models, which can include novel experimental systems, improved analytic methods, and more representative models for studying cancer disparity mechanisms. Third, it explicitly includes secondary data analyses, which opens the door for investigators to use existing datasets, biospecimen-linked resources, or previously collected molecular and clinical annotation data to ask new mechanistic questions about disparities without needing to run interventional human studies.

A distinctive feature of this opportunity is its workforce and infrastructure-building intent. Beyond individual projects, NIH signals a desire to help grow a nationwide cohort of scientists with strong basic research expertise focused on cancer health disparities. Alongside that talent development aim, the NOFO underscores expanding resources and tools that make this research feasible and rigorous, such as biospecimens, patient-derived models, and specialized methods. In other words, applications that not only answer an important mechanistic question but also strengthen the broader ecosystem (for example, by validating a model system, refining an assay, or enabling better use of biospecimens for disparity-focused hypotheses) may fit well with the program's direction, provided they remain aligned with R21 scope and the non-clinical-trial restriction.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations, such as state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. Eligible academic applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education as well as private institutions of higher education. The opportunity is also open to nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status) and to for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), along with small businesses. Tribal eligibility includes federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments. The NOFO additionally calls out a range of "other eligible applicants" that NIH particularly welcomes or recognizes, including 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, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations). This breadth reflects an intent to bring more institutions and investigators into the basic science of cancer disparities, including organizations serving populations that experience disproportionate cancer burdens.

In summary, PAR-24-291 is an NIH R21 grant opportunity aimed at exploratory, innovative basic research that can explain biological and genetic mechanisms driving cancer health disparities. It supports mechanistic investigations, new model and method development, and secondary analyses, while also seeking to expand the national capacity, tools, and scientific workforce needed to do high-quality basic disparities research. The key boundary condition is that proposed work must not be a clinical trial, so successful applications will typically emphasize laboratory, computational, or other mechanistic approaches that can uncover causes and pathways underlying unequal cancer outcomes across populations.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Basic Research in Cancer Health Disparities (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): 93.393.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-16. (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 PAR 24 291

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