Sustained Support for Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management (U24 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA CA 20 010

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 20 010

This funding opportunity, titled "Sustained Support for Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)" (RFA-CA-20-010), is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cooperative agreement program designed to keep proven cancer informatics resources running, improving, and broadly available to the research community. Rather than paying for brand-new tool creation, the focus is on sustained operations and ongoing enhancement of existing, widely used informatics tools, platforms, or resources that already provide clear value to cancer researchers. The overarching goal is to strengthen how cancer-related data and knowledge are acquired, managed, analyzed, and shared across the full cancer research continuum, including basic cancer biology, diagnosis and treatment, early detection, risk assessment and prevention, cancer control and epidemiology, and efforts addressing cancer health disparities.

A central theme of the FOA is that applicants must make a strong, evidence-based case for why the resource should continue to be supported. That means clearly documenting the resource's current impact, who is using it, how it enables or accelerates research, and why ongoing sustainment is necessary for the field. Since this FOA sits within NCI's Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) Program, it aligns with ITCR's broader mission of supporting research-driven informatics technology across the full development lifecycle. In practical terms, this specific announcement covers the later "keep it reliable, improve it, and support users" phase, while companion ITCR announcements typically cover earlier-stage development and more advanced new feature creation.

Because this is a U24 cooperative agreement, the relationship with NIH/NCI is expected to be more collaborative than a standard grant. Applicants should plan for active coordination with program staff and should propose a sustainment approach that is realistic and operationally mature, including staffing, maintenance, upgrades, documentation, user support, and plans for reliability and availability. A major emphasis is placed on improving user experience and ensuring that the tool or resource remains accessible and dependable for its user base. The FOA also stresses the importance of deep engagement with the target research community, so proposals should include mechanisms to assess user needs, collect feedback, measure usage and value, and iteratively improve the resource in ways that match real-world research workflows. Community-building, training, outreach, and collaboration models are therefore not side items; they are part of demonstrating that the resource will remain useful and actively used.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types, such as public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), and various government entities, including state, county, city/township governments, special districts, certain housing authorities, and eligible tribal governments and tribal organizations. The announcement is issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institutes of Health, with the relevant CFDA listing as 93.394. The opportunity was created on January 23, 2020, and the original closing date was November 18, 2020. The notice indicates an expectation of two awards, and the posted award ceiling is listed as 0, which typically signals that applicants should rely on the FOA text for budget guidance rather than assuming a fixed cap from the summary field.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as NCI's way of preventing high-value cancer informatics infrastructure from becoming outdated, under-supported, or inaccessible after initial development funding ends. Competitive applications will look less like a prototype-building plan and more like a well-justified sustainment and service plan, backed by demonstrated adoption, clear benefit to cancer research, measurable impact, and a credible strategy for long-term operations, continuous improvement, and strong community partnership.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Sustained Support for Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.394.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 23, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 18, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for RFA CA 20 010

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