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U.S. National Institutes of Health
Funding Opportunities

Funding Opportunities for Bioengineering Technologies for Cancer Diagnosis

The Cancer Diagnosis Program (CDP) of the National Cancer Institute supports the development of technologies that have the potential to be used for analysis of human tumors.

The program funds bioengineering research on:

  • Micro-technology, nano-technology or MEMS, lab-on-a-chip, microfabrication, on-chip separation and detection, point-of-care technologies, microfluidics, signal amplification and systems for comprehensive molecular analysis
  • Technologies for circulating tumor cells (CTC), dormant cancer cells and other rare cells
  • Technologies for automated sample preparation and other automated, high-throughput systems
  • Integration of technologies into detection, analysis and/or diagnostic systems
  • Technologies for DNA/RNA analysis
  • Technologies for proteomic and metabolomic analysis
  • Other technologies relevant to cancer diagnosis

The program participates in several funding programs for bioengineering originated from the NIH Bioengineering Consortium (BECON):

Bioengineering Research Grants (BRG) PA-10-009
The BRGs support multi-disciplinary research performed in a single laboratory or by a small number of investigators that applies an integrative, systems approach to develop knowledge and/or methods. A BRG application may propose hypothesis-driven, discovery-driven, developmental, or design-directed research.
Funding Mechanism: R01. In FY09, the average NCI award for a BRG grant was ~$390,000 a year for up to 5 years.

Exploratory/Developmental Bioengineering Research Grants (EBRG) PA-10-010
The BRGs support innovative and high risk/impact bioengineering research in new areas. EBRG applications contain minimal or no preliminary data, and may propose hypothesis-driven, discovery-driven, developmental, or design-directed research. The research proposed under this program can explore approaches and concepts new to a particular substantive area; research and development of new technologies, techniques or methods; or initial research and development of data for future research.
Funding Mechanism: R21. The total project period may not exceed two years. Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over a two-year period.

Bioengineering Research Partnerships (BRP) PAR-10-234
The BRPs support large basic, applied, and translational multi-disciplinary research that applies an integrative, systems approach, which includes appropriate bioengineering or allied quantitative sciences in combination with biomedical and/or clinical components. A BRP goal or deliverable should be achieved in a 5-10 year timeframe.
Funding Mechanism: large R01. In FY09, the average NCI award for BRG grant was ~$890,000 a year.

To find out the appropriate funding program for your research please contact:
Miguel Ossandon, ossandom@mail.nih.gov