Provocative Questions (PQs) in Cancer with an Underlying HIV Infection (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA CA 19 032

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 19 032

This National Institutes of Health funding opportunity (RFA-CA-19-032) supports R01 grant applications focused on cancers that occur in people living with HIV or with a diagnosis of AIDS. The central aim is to improve understanding of cancer risk, how these malignancies develop and progress, how they can be diagnosed more effectively, and how they can be treated in the context of underlying HIV infection. A key feature of the announcement is that it is structured around a small, targeted set of research challenges called "Provocative Questions" (PQs). These PQs are intentionally framed to push investigators toward understudied problems and apparent paradoxes in HIV-associated cancer research, rather than to cover the entire landscape of National Cancer Institute priorities in this area.

Applications must be tightly aligned to the PQ format: each proposed project has to choose one and only one of the six designated Provocative Questions and build the research plan around that specific question. In other words, the proposal is not meant to be a broad program covering multiple unrelated aims; it should be a coherent, hypothesis-driven (or otherwise rigorously justified) project that directly addresses the selected PQ. The FOA also encourages cross-cutting, transdisciplinary approaches when they strengthen the science behind the chosen PQ, meaning applicants can combine methods and perspectives from multiple fields (for example, oncology, virology, immunology, epidemiology, genomics, implementation science, behavioral science, pathology, bioinformatics, or health services research) as long as the work remains clearly focused on the single PQ target.

The grant mechanism is an NIH R01, with clinical trials listed as optional, which means applicants may propose either non-clinical-trial research or a study that includes a clinical trial component if it is appropriate to answering the selected question and meets NIH requirements. The activity category is health and education, and the program is associated with CFDA numbers 93.393 and 93.395. While the announcement text emphasizes scientific priorities and project structure, it does not provide an award ceiling or an expected number of awards in the provided source data.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations as well as certain non-U.S. entities. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or 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 and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (when not an institution of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based and community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and foreign (non-U.S.) organizations.

From a timing standpoint, the opportunity was created on January 24, 2019, and the original closing date shown in the source data is August 3, 2020. Overall, the FOA is best understood as a targeted research push: it is not asking for any HIV-and-cancer project in general, but for carefully designed R01 studies that squarely tackle one of six specific, high-impact questions that NCI viewed as important yet insufficiently addressed in the existing HIV-associated cancer research portfolio.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Provocative Questions (PQs) in Cancer with an Underlying HIV Infection (R01 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, 93.395.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-01-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-08-03. (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 19 032

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