NHLBI Emerging Investigator Award (EIA) (R35 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA HL 20 012

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HL 20 012

The NHLBI Emerging Investigator Award (EIA) (R35, Clinical Trial Optional) is a National Institutes of Health funding opportunity from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) designed to provide long-term, flexible support to established investigators who have already demonstrated strong productivity and leadership in heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) research. Rather than funding a single narrowly defined project, this award is meant to sustain an investigator's broader research program, giving them room to adapt their science over time, follow new leads, and pursue higher-risk ideas that may need a longer runway to mature. The overall goal is to boost scientific innovation and impact by reducing the constraints that often come with traditional project-based grants.

A key feature of the EIA is that it targets experienced Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs) who are already well supported by NHLBI and have a clear track record of accomplishment. Specifically, applicants are expected to be current PD/PIs on at least two NHLBI R01-equivalent awards and to have an outstanding record suggesting they can make major contributions to the HLBS fields. The intent is that the EIA becomes the primary and most likely the sole source of NHLBI support through individual grant awards for that investigator during the award period, simplifying the funding structure around the investigator's program and enabling sustained focus on long-term scientific goals.

In terms of scope and scientific focus, the research program supported under this award must fall within the NHLBI mission, meaning it should directly relate to advancing understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and conditions involving the heart, lungs, blood, and sleep, or to related fundamental and translational science aligned with NHLBI priorities. Because the mechanism is "Clinical Trial Optional," applicants may propose work that includes a clinical trial if appropriate, but they are not required to do so. The award is structured to support up to seven years of research, which is notably longer than many standard NIH grant periods and is explicitly intended to enable work that benefits from continuity and time.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is listed as RFA-HL-20-012 and is categorized as a discretionary grant opportunity in the health funding area. The published award ceiling is $600,000 (as provided in the source data), and the opportunity is associated with CFDA numbers 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, and 93.840. The original closing date shown is 2021-04-15, with a creation date of 2019-01-25, indicating this specific announcement was tied to that application window and timeline.

Eligibility is broad at the organizational level and includes many common NIH applicant organization types such as public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (including those with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and various levels of government (state, county, city/township, special districts), as well as independent school districts and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. It also explicitly highlights 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, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations and certain tribal and regional entities. However, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. At the same time, foreign components are allowed when they meet NIH policy definitions, meaning a U.S.-based applicant organization can include certain international elements in the research if justified and compliant with NIH Grants Policy Statement requirements.

In practical terms, the EIA is built for investigators who are already operating at a high level with multiple NHLBI awards and who can credibly present a coherent, ambitious, and evolving research program with major potential to move HLBS science forward. The long duration and program-focused structure are meant to reduce the constant churn of writing multiple project-specific applications, while increasing the freedom to innovate, pivot as discoveries emerge, and pursue difficult or unconventional questions that might not fit neatly into shorter, tightly scoped grant formats.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NHLBI Emerging Investigator Award (EIA) (R35 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-01-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-04-15. (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 $600,000.00 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 HL 20 012

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