Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 - Independent Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | PA 18 375

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 375

The Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 - Independent Clinical Trials Not Allowed), funding opportunity number PA-18-375, is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) career development grant designed to help early-career clinician-researchers build a strong, mentored pathway into independent patient-oriented research. The central aim is to provide protected time, structured mentoring, and career development support for individuals who hold a clinical doctoral degree and who are committed to conducting research that directly involves human subjects or human-derived materials in a clinical context. In practice, this mechanism is meant to help clinicians strengthen their research skills, publish, generate preliminary data, and become competitive for future independent NIH research support while staying closely anchored to questions that matter to patients and clinical care.

A defining feature of this specific K23 parent announcement is the restriction stated in the title: independent clinical trials are not allowed. That means applicants should not propose a study where the candidate is independently responsible for conducting a clinical trial as the main driver of the research plan under this award. While NIH policies can allow certain kinds of clinical research experiences depending on the details, the key takeaway for planning purposes is that the K23 research and training plan must be consistent with a mentored patient-oriented research trajectory that does not hinge on the candidate independently leading a clinical trial.

The opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant under the broad activity category areas that include education and health-related domains (with multiple CFDA numbers listed, reflecting that NIH Institutes and Centers may use this parent announcement across a wide range of biomedical and behavioral research areas). The sponsor agency is the National Institutes of Health. The source data provided lists an original closing date of January 7, 2019, and a creation date of November 21, 2017; in other words, the posting reflects a specific cycle of a continuing NIH parent funding announcement, and applicants typically need to verify the current open dates and any updated successor announcements before preparing an application.

Eligibility for applicant organizations is broad and includes many common U.S. organizational types that can administer NIH grants. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; 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; and tribal organizations that are not federally recognized. The list also includes public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (when not acting as institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. NIH also highlights a number of specific institution types as eligible, 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), as well as eligible federal government agencies and faith-based or community-based organizations. Regional organizations and U.S. territories or possessions are also included as eligible applicant types.

Foreign eligibility is handled with important nuance. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. At the same time, foreign components, as NIH defines them in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed. Practically, this distinction matters for research teams that may collaborate internationally: the grant must be led and administered by an eligible domestic applicant organization, but certain foreign collaborations may still be permitted if structured as allowable foreign components under NIH policy.

Overall, this K23 parent opportunity is best understood as a mentored career development pathway for clinically trained investigators who want to develop into independent patient-oriented researchers through a combination of supervised research and formal career development activities, administered through an eligible U.S.-based organization and structured to comply with the limitation that the candidate is not proposing an independent clinical trial as part of the award.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 - Independent 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): 93.113, 93.121, 93.173, 93.213, 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.307, 93.361, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.847, 93.855, 93.859, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-01-07. (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 PA 18 375

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