James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program

The James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program is administered through the Florida Department of Health and the Biomedical Research Advisory Council. The program is established under section 215.5602, Florida Statutes, and supports biomedical research addressing health care problems affecting Floridians in the areas of tobacco-related cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and pulmonary disease. Its stated goals include improving prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cures; expanding biomedical knowledge concerning diseases related to tobacco use; strengthening Florida academic health centers through research advances; attracting additional research funding from outside Florida; and stimulating biomedical-related economic activity in the state. For this funding opportunity, James and Esther King Program proposals must be relevant to tobacco-related diseases and must align with an available grant category and an applicable research focus. Program priorities include reduction of morbidity and mortality; improved screening accuracy and detection; resistance to front-line treatments in recurrent disease; prevention and treatment research evaluating tobacco-use reduction and prevention programs; research on the biological mechanisms and health effects of electronic-cigarette use, transitions from combustible tobacco to electronic cigarettes, associations between electronic-cigarette use and cancer, effects of use among people treated for cancer, and interventions to reduce or prevent electronic-cigarette use; and research examining relationships among obesity, cancer, treatment responsiveness, and treatment-related morbidities. The program gives preference to applications addressing lung, breast, prostate, or colon cancer, melanoma, or pediatric-specific cancers where applicable. Available James and Esther King Program mechanisms and maximum total amounts, including direct and indirect costs, are Clinical Trials/Socio-Behavioral Interventions, up to $1,500,000 for 48 months; High-Risk, High-Reward Clinical Research, up to $750,000 for 48 months; Discovery Science, up to $600,000 for 36 months; Emerging Therapeutics and Technologies, up to $600,000 for 36 months; High-Risk, High-Reward Discovery Science, up to $300,000 for 36 months; New Investigator Research, up to $300,000 for 36 months; Non-typical Clinical Trials/Socio-Behavioral Research, up to $250,000 for 36 months; Research Infrastructure, up to $1,500,000 for 36 months; Equipment, up to $100,000 for 12 months; and Bridge, up to $100,000 for six months. Funding is contingent on Florida legislative appropriations and spending authority. Indirect costs may not exceed 15 percent of total direct costs. Allowable costs can include project-related salaries, fringe benefits, supplies, equipment, laboratory services, consultants within the stated limit, patient and animal care, regulatory committee fees, contractual costs, specified data fees, domestic travel, and approved participant incentives. Disallowed costs include Department personnel salaries, construction or renovation, international travel, vehicles, entertainment, employment subsidies, dues or membership fees, lobbying, most meals or food outside allowable travel, malpractice insurance, and specified immigration or legal processing costs. The FOA does not establish a required cost share or matching contribution. Eligible applicants are Florida-based universities or established research institutes, with the FOA definitions also describing eligible institutions as Florida universities or research hospitals, Florida-based Veterans Administration hospitals, and established research institutes in Florida. An established research institute is defined as a Florida-based nonprofit organization legally registered with the Florida Department of State, maintaining a physical Florida location, and having a stated scientific, biomedical, or biotechnological research or development purpose. Grant-funded work and expenditures generally must occur in Florida at the applicant and collaborating entities; an exception may be approved for an essential service available only outside Florida when the amount is less than 10 percent of the total award. Each proposal must designate one Corresponding Principal Investigator who is an employee of the applicant organization, meets institutional PI requirements, and is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Co-PIs are permitted, but only one Corresponding PI may be designated. Scientific, financial, or commitment overlap is prohibited. A Letter of Intent is mandatory and must precede a full application. For the stated competition, emailed questions were due by 5:00 p.m. ET on November 30, 2025; answers were scheduled to be posted by December 1, 2025; the LOI system was scheduled to open by 5:00 p.m. ET on December 2, 2025; and the LOI deadline was 12:00 p.m. ET on December 16, 2025. The LOI must identify the program, PI contact information, research personnel, lead and collaborating institutions, project title, research priority, grant category, a general audience abstract of no more than 3,500 characters, and keywords. The full application was anticipated to open December 22, 2025 and was due by 12:00 p.m. ET on January 12, 2026. Applications must be submitted through the Department's online application system, and late submissions are not considered. Required application materials include general project information, general audience and scientific abstracts, health impact and cancer-relatedness narratives, collaborator information, biographical sketches, specific aims, applicable human-subjects, animal, recombinant DNA and survey materials, a budget summary and narrative, applicable letters of support, and a Work Plan containing measurable outcomes, activities, timelines, responsible personnel, and performance metrics. The Department first conducts an administrative review for timely submission, eligibility, completeness, and possible scientific or budgetary overlap. Eligible applications proceed to peer review by experts located outside Florida. Reviewers assess overall impact using significance, investigators, innovation, approach, environment, and health impact, and also assess the strength of the cancer and/or tobacco-related disease relationship, budget concerns, and human or animal subject protections. Applications scoring within the top 30 percent during individual review advance to the panel stage. The Department and BRAC then conduct programmatic review, considering peer-review results, funding availability, program goals, and preferences before making recommendations to the State Surgeon General. Funding decisions are communicated by email to the applicant organization and PI, and the State Surgeon General's or designee's funding decisions are final. The Department lists research@flhealth.gov and 850-245-4585 for questions regarding the FOA and scientific or programmatic matters, while Help.FLDOH@orau.org is used for online application technical issues. The source does not provide a specific award-notification date. The cover page states an award period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, while the budget instructions separately state an anticipated project start date of July 1, 2026; this discrepancy should be verified with the Department before relying on a performance-period date. Funded projects require quarterly progress summaries, annual and quarterly financial reports, and post-award information upon Department request for five years after the grant period. The FOA references a previous fiscal-year funding competition and is structured as a fiscal-year competition, supporting treatment of the opportunity as recurring for data-entry purposes, although no official next-cycle application or LOI dates are stated in the source.

Align the proposal closely with James and Esther King Program priorities, particularly tobacco-use prevention and reduction, electronic-cigarette research, morbidity and mortality reduction, screening, treatment resistance, and obesity-related research where relevant. Make a compelling case for the cancer and/or tobacco-related disease relationship and Florida health impact. Address significance, investigators, innovation, approach, environment, and health impact because these are scored peer-review criteria. Submit the required LOI on time and use the same project title in the full application. Include a measurable Work Plan that can serve as contract deliverables. Avoid scientific, financial, or commitment overlap. Follow all file, signature, character-limit, and PDF-format requirements exactly and submit early.