Human Tumor Atlas Network: Data Coordinating Center (U24) | RFA CA 17 036

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 17 036

The Human Tumor Atlas Network: Data Coordinating Center (U24) funding opportunity (RFA-CA-17-036) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement tied to the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a major federal effort designed to speed up progress in cancer research. The core goal of this announcement is to support work that enables a comprehensive, high-resolution understanding of tumors as living, evolving ecosystems. Rather than treating a tumor as a single uniform mass, the program focus is on capturing the tumor microenvironment and its changing, multidimensional biology over time, including the different cell types present, their spatial organization, molecular states, and how these features shift during disease progression or treatment.

This FOA specifically aligns with a scientific priority identified by the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel: the Generation of Human Tumor Atlases. In practical terms, that means creating or enabling atlas-style resources that map human tumors in ways that integrate multiple layers of data (for example, genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, imaging, spatial, and clinical annotations) to reveal how cancer develops and adapts. The emphasis on a Data Coordinating Center indicates that the funded activity is meant to serve as shared infrastructure for the broader Human Tumor Atlas Network, supporting consistent data collection, quality control, harmonization across sites, and dissemination of data and associated standards so that the resulting atlases are usable and comparable across projects.

The award mechanism is a U24 cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial NIH programmatic involvement compared to a standard research grant. This generally reflects the complexity of coordinating network-wide resources, aligning multiple contributing groups, and ensuring shared practices for data management and sharing. The activity category listed is Education and Health, and the opportunity is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399), reflecting NIH cancer-related funding authorities that can support different components of the overall program.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts, as well as public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education. The FOA also allows applications from federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other Native American tribal organizations, as well as public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. Nonprofit organizations are eligible whether or not they have 501(c)(3) status, and for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses may apply as well. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign participation is restricted in specific ways. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities or foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, the FOA allows foreign components as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S. applicant can include certain foreign elements within the project when justified and compliant with NIH policy, even though a foreign organization cannot serve as the applicant institution itself.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on October 20, 2017, with an original closing date of January 18, 2018. The listing notes an award ceiling field but does not provide a numeric ceiling in the provided text, and the expected number of awards is not specified in the excerpt. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a network-enabling grant aimed at building the data coordination backbone for a national effort to generate integrated, multidimensional human tumor atlases that can accelerate discovery, improve biological understanding of cancer ecosystems, and support the broader Cancer Moonshot mission.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Human Tumor Atlas Network: Data Coordinating Center (U24)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-10-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-01-18. (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 17 036

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