3D Technologies to Accelerate HTAN Atlas Building Efforts (UH2 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA CA 21 037

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 21 037

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), within the Department of Health and Human Services and as part of the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative, issued this funding opportunity to speed up progress in cancer research by strengthening the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN). The scientific focus aligns with the Blue Ribbon Panel priority on building detailed human tumor atlases, with the core idea being that better, more spatially realistic maps of tumors in people will help the field understand how cancers form, evolve, spread, and evade treatment. Rather than emphasizing traditional flat (2D) tissue analysis, this program is centered on adopting and applying three-dimensional (3D) imaging approaches to capture the complex structure of tumors as living ecosystems made up of cancer cells, immune cells, stromal components, vasculature, and other microenvironment features that change over time.

The goal is practical and deliverable-driven: each funded project is expected to produce multiplexed 3D characterizations for at least one cancer “transition” that HTAN is already studying. These transitions include the shift from pre-malignant to malignant disease, the progression from primary tumors to metastatic lesions, and the change from therapy-responsive disease to therapy-resistant disease. In other words, the program is not simply funding development of imaging gadgets in isolation; it is funding 3D technology implementations that directly contribute to HTAN atlas-building by revealing how cellular neighborhoods, tissue architecture, and spatial interactions reorganize as cancer advances or adapts.

A major requirement of the initiative is that the outputs must be broadly useful beyond the individual awardees. The FOA emphasizes that data products and analytical tools created under these awards will be shared with the wider research and clinical communities through the HTAN Data Coordinating Center. This implies an expectation for standardized, interoperable data formats and robust computational methods for handling large 3D datasets, including pipelines for image processing, cell/structure segmentation, spatial quantification, and integration with other HTAN data types. The intended impact is to make 3D tumor mapping a community resource that others can reuse to generate hypotheses, validate biomarkers, improve biological understanding of tumor evolution, and ultimately guide translational work.

From an administrative standpoint, the mechanism is a cooperative agreement, meaning NCI is likely to have substantial programmatic involvement compared with a standard grant. The opportunity is identified as RFA-CA-21-037, with a UH2 activity code and an explicit “Clinical Trial Not Allowed” restriction, indicating the projects should be technology- and atlas-building oriented rather than testing interventions in clinical trial settings. The opportunity was posted in April 2021 with an original closing date of November 22, 2021. The award ceiling is listed as $250,000, and the program anticipated making about four awards, signaling a small, targeted portfolio intended to push specific 3D imaging capabilities into active HTAN workflows.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can contribute to this kind of interdisciplinary effort, such as public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and various government entities (state, county, city/township, special districts), as well as eligible Native American tribal governments and organizations and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The wide eligibility scope reflects the reality that cutting-edge 3D tumor imaging and analysis often requires collaborations spanning academic labs, engineering groups, computational teams, imaging technology developers, and organizations with specialized instrumentation and software expertise.

Overall, this FOA is aimed at accelerating HTAN’s mission by bringing advanced 3D, multiplexed imaging into the process of building human tumor atlases, ensuring that resulting datasets and computational tools are shared through the HTAN infrastructure. The expected outcome is a more comprehensive and spatially faithful picture of tumor biology across key disease transitions, with resources that the broader community can use to drive new discoveries.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "3D Technologies to Accelerate HTAN Atlas Building Efforts (UH2 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" 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 Apr 14, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 22, 2021. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 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 21 037

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