The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) invites applications for the Awards Supporting Cutting-Edge Technologies for Translational Science (ASCETTS) to foster investigator-initiated development of highly innovative technologies to address barriers, limitations, or bottlenecks in translational science – particularly for therapeutic development.
Donor Name: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
State: All States
County: All Counties
U.S. Territories: American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/19/2023
Size of the Grant: up to $275,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
This program will support the early-stage proof of concept, high-risk and potentially high-reward studies for feasibility and exploratory technology development, which can transform or significantly improve the efficiency of therapeutic development to achieve NCATS ultimate goals – more treatments to all people more quickly. The research proposed should be for the development of technology that can break new ground or extend present technology toward new directions or novel applications. With this initiative, we expect to support the development and/or prototyping of new technologies that will lead to improved efficiency in the therapeutic development pipeline.
Research Objectives and Scope:
There is a distinct lack of funding opportunities for investigator-initiated innovation in translational sciences. Therefore, the goal of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to support proof of concept, and exploratory development of high-risk, high-reward technology for broader utilization in the therapeutic development process. Applications are expected to describe the development of an innovative technology that has the potential to address a current bottleneck or barrier in translational science, with special emphasis on those projects that increase efficiency of the therapeutic development process.
The application must be focused on technology development rather than to immediately address biological questions. Examples could be
- Platform technology targeting common mechanisms across multiple diseases: Concepts addressing the bottlenecks involved in therapeutic development for multiple diseases, such as cell engineering platforms or drug delivery modalities.
- Data-driven Technology Solution: Innovative technologies that are driven by large-scale data and will lead to improvements in treatment modalities across a wide range of diseases are encouraged. Database development, data mining tools, and computational modeling applicable to multiple diseases or that shorten the therapeutic development timeline are all examples of technologies that may fit within the expectations of this NOFO.
Technologies that would be of interest may include, but are not limited to:
- Instrument or system development for predicting efficacy or toxicity
- Biomarker development or diagnostic technologies
- Synthetic biology tools to tackle multiple diseases
- Nanotechnology or drug delivery platforms
- Algorithms and software to support the design and implementation of new treatments
- Other innovative technologies meant to bring treatments from bench to bedside
Funding Information
Applications can request budgets that are up to $275,000 direct costs for the 2-year project period of the award. No more than $200,000 direct costs may be requested in any single year.
Project Period
The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 2 years.
Eligibility Criteria
Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
Local Governments
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or Township Governments
- Special District Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
Federal Government
- Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
- U.S. Territory or Possession
Other
- Independent School Districts
- Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
- Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
- Regional Organizations
Foreign Institutions
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
- Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.