Sustained Support for Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management (U24 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA CA 22 024

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 22 024

The National Institutes of Health, through the National Cancer Institute (NCI), released this discretionary funding opportunity (RFA-CA-22-024) to support the sustained operation and continued improvement of informatics technologies that are already widely used in cancer research. The award mechanism is a Cooperative Agreement (U24), which signals an active partnership between the funded team and the NIH/NCI program staff. The core idea is not to invent brand-new tools from scratch, but to keep high-value, community-adopted resources running reliably, improve their usability and availability, and ensure they continue to deliver measurable benefit to cancer researchers over time.

This FOA sits within NCI's Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) Program and specifically targets the "sustainment" phase of the informatics lifecycle. It emphasizes maintaining and enhancing existing tools that support key data-related needs across the full cancer research continuum. That includes improving how cancer data are acquired, managed, analyzed, visualized, and interpreted in areas such as basic cancer biology, treatment and diagnostics, early detection, risk assessment and prevention, cancer control and epidemiology, and cancer health disparities. In practical terms, the program is looking to fund resources that help researchers handle real-world cancer data challenges at scale, while reducing friction for end users and keeping the resource accessible and dependable.

A central expectation is a strong sustainment plan with a clear justification for why the resource deserves continued investment. Applicants are expected to demonstrate that the tool or resource has already provided tangible value to the field (for example, broad adoption, citations, integration into workflows, training uptake, or clear downstream scientific impact) and explain how it will keep benefiting cancer research going forward. Beyond simply keeping servers on or releasing occasional updates, proposals should describe concrete strategies to improve the user experience, strengthen availability, and support a stable operational model. The FOA also calls for mechanisms to assess and maximize the resource's value to researchers, meaning teams should have credible ways to gather user feedback, measure usage and impact, prioritize enhancements, and communicate improvements back to the community.

Another major theme is deep engagement with the target research community. The FOA highlights the need for collaboration between the resource team and the researchers who rely on it, so that development priorities are driven by real user needs and scientific directions rather than isolated engineering goals. Applicants should describe how they will build and maintain that engagement, such as through user groups, community forums, co-development partnerships, documentation and training, responsiveness to issues, outreach, and other practices that keep the tool aligned with evolving cancer research questions and data standards. While clinical trials are listed as optional under this U24, the overall focus remains on informatics research resources that can broadly support cancer research and management rather than on funding clinical testing as the primary purpose.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. and non-U.S. organizations. Eligible applicants span state, county, city, township, and 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; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), 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 non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities.

Administratively, the opportunity is categorized under Education and Health and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, and 93.399. It was created on 2022-03-24, with an original closing date of 2022-11-17. Overall, the funding opportunity is designed for mature, high-impact cancer informatics resources that have already proven their usefulness and now need structured, community-centered support to remain robust, improve over time, and continue serving as shared infrastructure for the cancer research ecosystem.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Sustained Support for Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-03-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-11-17. (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 22 024

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