Centers of Excellence for Translational Research (CETR) (U19 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AI 17 042

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 17 042

The Centers of Excellence for Translational Research (CETR) funding opportunity (RFA-AI-17-042) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement (U19) designed to build and support multidisciplinary translational research centers that can move promising medical countermeasures forward against selected emerging infectious diseases and pathogens identified as priorities by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In practical terms, the program is meant to organize teams with the scientific range and operational capacity to take early discoveries and push them through the kinds of applied research steps needed to generate, validate, and advance countermeasures such as vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for high-consequence or emerging infectious threats, with a clear focus on translational progress rather than basic discovery alone.

Because the award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, recipients should expect substantial scientific and programmatic involvement from the federal sponsor compared to a standard research grant. That usually means the work is carried out in close coordination with NIAID program staff, with defined milestones, coordination across projects and cores, and an emphasis on deliverables that demonstrate forward movement of candidate countermeasures. The FOA is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which signals that the scope should not include conducting clinical trials under this award. Applicants would instead be expected to concentrate on preclinical and translational activities that de-risk and position candidates for later-stage development, such as candidate generation and optimization, assay development and validation, in vitro and in vivo evaluation, and other preparatory work that supports advancement toward clinical readiness without actually running human clinical studies under this specific funding opportunity.

The opportunity is categorized under the Health funding activity area and is associated with CFDA number 93.855. The program allows applications from a wide range of organization types, reflecting an intent to attract both academic and non-academic capabilities and to support collaborations when needed. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education, state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, special districts, and independent school districts), federally recognized Native American tribal governments, tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education when applicable), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. Beyond those broad categories, the FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs); Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Hispanic-serving Institutions; Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs); eligible federal agencies; faith-based or community-based organizations; regional organizations; U.S. territories or possessions; and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). The inclusion of both single institutions and consortia indicates that applicants can propose either a centralized center at one organization or a multi-institution partnership structured to bring together complementary expertise and infrastructure.

From a funding perspective, the announcement lists an award ceiling of $5,000,000, indicating the maximum level of support per award as presented in the source information. The original closing date for applications was March 30, 2018, and the opportunity was created on November 30, 2017. While the source data does not specify the exact number of expected awards in the provided excerpt, the overall intent is clearly to establish a set of translational research centers capable of sustained, coordinated work on NIAID-designated emerging infectious disease threats. Overall, the CETR program is best understood as a center-based translational engine: it funds organized, cross-disciplinary teams to generate and validate countermeasure candidates and to advance them along the development pathway up to, but not including, clinical trials under this specific U19 FOA.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Centers of Excellence for Translational Research (CETR) (U19 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): 93.855.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-03-30. (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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• 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 AI 17 042

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