Cancer Advancement through Partnerships in Research and Infrastructure (CAPRI) (U54 Clinical Trial Optional)

Cancer Advancement through Partnerships in Research and Infrastructure (CAPRI) (U54 Clinical Trial Optional), funding opportunity PAR-28-062, is a limited competition administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. The National Cancer Institute conducts and supports cancer research, training, health information dissemination, and related programs. CAPRI is intended to establish and strengthen comprehensive, mutually beneficial partnerships between Resource Limited Institutions and NCI-designated Cancer Centers. The program seeks to expand sustainable cancer research capacity, improve institutional research infrastructure and competitiveness, advance innovative collaborative research, develop Early-Stage Investigators and trainees, and implement outreach and education activities that extend research benefits nationwide. Each CAPRI partnership must include both a Resource Limited Institution and an NCI-designated Cancer Center. A qualifying Resource Limited Institution must have received less than 50 million dollars on average in annual NIH funds during the three years before application and must award degrees in biomedical or health professions and health-related sciences, including social and behavioral sciences. Partnerships involving more than two institutions require NCI approval before applying. Linked applications from each partnering institution are required. Joint research projects conducted primarily at Resource Limited Institutions may address any area of cancer research, including basic, clinical, translational, prevention, control, behavioral, population, outreach, emerging technology, precision medicine, and clinical trial research. Clinical trials are optional under this opportunity. Each partnership is expected to contain an Administrative Core, at least one Full Research Project, at least one Pilot Research Project, a Planning and Evaluation Core, and an Outreach and Engagement Core. Shared Resources are optional and may be proposed when they augment cancer research capabilities or collaborative research without duplicating existing resources. Full Research Projects may receive no more than 275000 dollars in direct costs per year and may continue for no more than three years. Pilot Research Projects may receive no more than 120000 dollars in direct costs per year for up to three years. Overall application budgets are limited to 1.3 million dollars in direct costs per year for partnerships of two institutions and 1.8 million dollars in direct costs per year for partnerships of three institutions. The maximum overall project period is five years. Cost sharing is not required. Pre-award costs are allowable only as provided by NIH grants policy. Eligible organization types include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, small businesses, other for-profit organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, independent school districts, faith-based or community-based organizations, and regional organizations, subject to the CAPRI partnership requirements. Resource Limited Institutions may include institutions with medical schools, institutions with focused Master's or PhD education and research programs, Baccalaureate institutions, and Tribal Colleges. Foreign organizations, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations, and foreign components are not eligible. Applicant organizations must maintain the required SAM, UEI, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov registrations, while all PDs and PIs must have eRA Commons accounts and valid ORCID registrations. Applications must follow the NIH Multi-Project application instructions and the program-specific requirements of the NOFO. Applicants must submit electronically through Grants.gov using NIH ASSIST or an eligible institutional system-to-system solution and track the application through eRA Commons. Required materials vary by component and include the applicable SF424 forms, research plans, Specific Aims, Research Strategies, budgets and justifications, senior and key personnel information, appropriate letters of support, and required attachments. The Overall component includes the partnership summary, facilities and resources information, institutional investment information where applicable, the overall Research Strategy, and a Data Management and Sharing Plan when the proposed research will generate scientific data. Resource Limited Institutions must provide a signed statement certifying their eligibility. Renewal applicants must provide the required performance assessment and progress information. NIH peer review will assess scientific and technical merit, including significance, investigators, innovation, approach, and environment. CAPRI-specific considerations include the likelihood that the partnership will strengthen sustainable cancer research capacity at the Resource Limited Institution, the quality and integration of research and outreach activities, institutional commitment, scientific and administrative leadership, integration and mutual benefit across partner institutions, the merit and future funding potential of pilot and full projects, the quality of outreach and engagement, and the adequacy of planning and evaluation. Applications will undergo scientific peer review followed by a second level of review by the National Cancer Advisory Board. Funding decisions consider scientific and technical merit, availability of funds, and relevance to program priorities. Each funded partnership must maintain an Internal Advisory Committee for ongoing internal evaluation and a Program Steering Committee for external annual evaluation, scientific feedback, and guidance. The opportunity was posted August 31, 2026, and the earliest submission date is December 25, 2026. Applications are due January 25, 2027, by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization, and the opportunity expires January 26, 2027. Scientific merit review is expected in July 2027, Advisory Council review in October 2027, and the earliest project start is December 2027. No separate letter of intent, concept paper, or other pre-application gating deadline is stated. Applicants are encouraged to contact the scientific and research contact before submission to discuss responsiveness. The NCI CRCHD Program Inbox is nci-crchd@mail.nih.gov and the scientific and research contact telephone number is 240-276-6170. The maximum award period is five years, and the source does not establish recurrence beyond this announced application cycle.

Demonstrate a genuinely integrated and mutually beneficial RLI and Cancer Center partnership; document strong institutional commitment and protected investigator time; show how proposed activities build sustainable cancer research capacity at the RLI; integrate research projects and cores with the overall partnership goals; provide rigorous and feasible research approaches and evaluation plans; show potential for pilot and full projects to generate competitive independent grant applications; align outreach and engagement with partnership research; submit early enough to correct electronic submission errors; contact the scientific and research program before submission when responsiveness is uncertain