Innovative Biospecimen Science Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA CA 19 021

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 19 021

The Innovative Biospecimen Science Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) funding opportunity (RFA-CA-19-021) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) initiative under the NIH and the broader Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program. It supports exploratory, early-stage research projects aimed at creating highly innovative technologies that improve the quality, integrity, and overall usefulness of biospecimens used in cancer research and, where relevant, clinical care workflows. The emphasis is on solving persistent problems that happen before a specimen is ever analyzed, particularly the pre-analytical factors that can quietly degrade or distort the molecular signals scientists and clinicians rely on.

A central focus of the FOA is addressing pre-analytical degradation of targeted analytes during specimen collection, processing, handling, transport, and storage. In practical terms, this means the program is looking for new tools and methods that prevent the loss or alteration of key molecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, metabolites, or other cancer-relevant markers while a sample is being drawn, preserved, shipped, frozen, thawed, or prepared for assays. The goal is not simply incremental improvement in standard operating procedures, but genuinely innovative approaches that either preserve sample integrity more effectively or allow researchers to measure and verify specimen quality in ways that are more informative and actionable than current practices.

The FOA encourages development of technologies such as devices, tools, instrumentation, and associated methods that can preserve, protect, or stabilize biospecimens under diverse and sometimes challenging real-world conditions. Just as important, it supports approaches that establish verification criteria for quality assessment and quality control, including methods that can interrogate a sample to determine whether it is fit-for-purpose for downstream analyses. The expectation is that improved biospecimen quality and better quality benchmarking will reduce pre-analytical variability, which is a major source of inconsistency across studies, sites, and populations. By tightening control over these upstream variables, the resulting downstream molecular analyses can become more reliable, comparable, and reproducible.

From an impact standpoint, the NCI frames these biospecimen-focused innovations as enabling and accelerating multiple areas of cancer work, including fundamental cancer biology, early detection and screening, clinical diagnosis, treatment decision support, epidemiology, and research addressing cancer health disparities. The health disparities angle is significant because biospecimen quality can be especially difficult to maintain in settings with limited infrastructure, long transport times, variable access to cold-chain storage, or differences in clinical workflows. Technologies that perform well across diverse conditions can help ensure that the benefits of advanced molecular testing and research are not limited to well-resourced institutions.

Mechanistically, this is an R21 opportunity, meaning it is designed for exploratory or developmental research rather than large-scale validation programs, and clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement. The award ceiling is listed as $200,000, and the FOA anticipated making about 4 awards. Eligible applicants span a wide range of organization types, including federal recognized tribal governments and tribal organizations, state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, independent school districts, special district governments, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, and for-profit organizations (including small businesses). The funding is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through NIH (CFDA 93.394). The opportunity was created on January 7, 2019, with an original closing date of September 27, 2019.

Overall, the announcement is essentially a targeted call for bold, early-stage biospecimen science and engineering solutions that make cancer biospecimens more stable, more measurable in terms of quality, and more dependable for the molecular assays that drive modern cancer research and clinical insights. By reducing the hidden noise introduced before analysis even begins, the program aims to improve the accuracy, reproducibility, and generalizability of cancer research findings and related clinical applications.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, 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 Trials 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 Jan 07, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 27, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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