Limited Competition: High Impact Specialized Innovation Programs in Clinical and Translational Science for UM1 CTSA Hub Awards (RC2 Clinical Trials Optional) | PAR 24 054

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 24 054

This funding opportunity (PAR-24-054) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program that uses the RC2 mechanism and is described as a limited competition tied to existing UM1 Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program Hubs. It is focused on High Impact Specialized Innovation Programs (SIPs) in clinical and translational science, with clinical trials listed as optional. In practical terms, NIH is looking for targeted, high-value projects that build and demonstrate specialized capabilities at CTSA hubs rather than general infrastructure or routine incremental improvements. The intent is to move quickly on persistent bottlenecks in translational research by standing up something distinctive, testable, and usable that materially improves how clinical and translational science gets done.

The core purpose of the SIPs is to support the development and demonstration of unique hub capabilities, research platforms, and/or resources that can address critical gaps or roadblocks at awarded UM1 CTSA hubs (referencing the UM1 CTSA hub awards under PAR-21-293). The emphasis on "development and demonstration" signals that applicants should not only propose an idea or build a tool, but also show it working in a real-world hub setting with clear evidence that it solves the identified problem. These projects are expected to be time-sensitive and impact-oriented, meaning the proposal should make a strong case for why the gap is urgent, why current approaches are insufficient, and how the proposed capability will produce meaningful improvements on a reasonable timeline.

A defining expectation of this program is that successful SIPs should lay a strong foundation for future adoption and/or dissemination to additional CTSA hubs. That means NIH is not only funding something that helps one institution; it is looking for innovations that can realistically spread across the CTSA consortium. Competitive projects will therefore typically build in elements that make expansion feasible, such as transferable workflows, scalable platforms, reusable resources, documentation and training approaches, governance models, evaluation metrics, and a dissemination plan that anticipates the needs and constraints of other hubs. Even when a project is locally piloted, it should be designed with portability in mind so that other CTSA sites could adopt it without reinventing it from scratch.

From the basic opportunity data provided, the funding instrument is a grant and the activity category is health (CFDA 93.350). The award ceiling is listed as $500,000, setting an upper bound on the total award amount under this opportunity. The original closing date is September 14, 2026, giving applicants a long runway but also suggesting that applicants should still consult the full Notice of Funding Opportunity for the specific application due dates, cycles, and any special submission requirements that often apply to NIH limited competitions.

Eligibility is constrained in ways typical for a limited competition. The opportunity is specifically oriented to UM1 CTSA Program Hubs, so the applicant organization generally needs to be positioned within, aligned to, or eligible through an awarded CTSA hub structure as described in the associated UM1 hub FOA. The provided source data lists eligible applicants as small businesses, which may indicate that small businesses can apply in this limited competition context, but the practical applicability will still depend on the detailed eligibility language in the full FOA and how NIH defines the relationship to an eligible CTSA hub. On the international side, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply, 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. This typically means the primary applicant must be a U.S.-based eligible entity, but certain discrete project activities may be conducted through a foreign component if well justified and consistent with NIH policy.

Overall, this opportunity is best read as NIH targeting high-impact, specialized, and demonstrably useful innovations that remove concrete barriers in clinical and translational science at CTSA hubs, with a strong expectation that what gets built can become a model or shared resource for the broader CTSA network. The most competitive proposals will usually be those that identify a clearly defined translational bottleneck, propose an innovation that is realistically implementable within the hub environment, include a credible demonstration and evaluation plan, and show a practical path to broader uptake beyond the initial site.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: High Impact Specialized Innovation Programs in Clinical and Translational Science for UM1 CTSA Hub Awards (RC2 Clinical Trials Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.350.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-11-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-09-14. (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 $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

Apply for PAR 24 054

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