Cellular Senescence Network: Technology Development and Application in Human Systems (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA RM 22 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 22 004

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released this discretionary funding opportunity, RFA-RM-22-004, titled "Cellular Senescence Network: Technology Development and Application in Human Systems (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)." It uses the cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning NIH program staff are expected to have substantial involvement during the life of the project compared with a typical grant. The opportunity falls under the health funding activity category (CFDA 93.310) and was created on October 28, 2021, with an original application due date of January 18, 2022. As written, the FOA is explicitly not intended to support clinical trials.

The scientific focus is technology development aimed at characterizing rare cells at the single-cell level in the context of cellular senescence. In practical terms, the program is looking for novel, varied, and enabling tools that can detect, identify, and profile uncommon cell populations one cell at a time, which is often necessary when senescent cells are sparse, heterogeneous, or difficult to isolate. The emphasis on "technology development and application in human systems" signals that proposed platforms, methods, or assays should be relevant to human biology (for example, human tissues, primary human cells, organoids, or other human-derived systems), rather than being purely conceptual or limited to non-human-only demonstrations. The overall intent is to expand the technical toolbox so researchers can more reliably find and characterize senescent or senescence-associated rare cells and understand their features with high resolution.

The award structure is UG3/UH3, which generally reflects a two-phase, milestone-driven approach. The UG3 phase is commonly used for early-stage development, feasibility work, and de-risking a method, while the UH3 phase supports the next step where the approach is more mature and can be validated, scaled, or applied in more robust settings. Because this is a cooperative agreement, applicants should expect that progress toward defined milestones, go/no-go decision points between phases, and ongoing coordination with NIH staff are central to how projects are managed and evaluated.

A notable administrative point in the announcement is that NIH anticipates these applications will not fit cleanly into the missions or expertise of existing standing CSR study sections. As a result, the FOA indicates that peer review will require additional expertise and possibly modified review criteria appropriate for technology development proposals focused on single-cell characterization of rare cells. For applicants, this typically means the proposal should be written in a way that clearly communicates technical innovation, performance metrics, validation strategy, and practical utility, not just biological hypotheses, since reviewers may be drawn from multiple disciplines (for example, single-cell analytics, engineering, computational methods, assay development, and senescence biology).

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types across government, academia, nonprofits, and industry. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities/foreign organizations. This breadth suggests NIH is aiming to attract diverse teams and perspectives, including groups with specialized technical capabilities and those positioned to work with human systems and relevant samples.

Finally, some administrative fields in the source record (such as award ceiling and expected number of awards) are not populated, so the summary information provided does not specify a maximum award amount or how many awards NIH planned to make. The key takeaway is that this FOA was designed to fund milestone-driven, cooperative, technology-centered projects that push forward the ability to detect and deeply profile rare senescence-related cells at single-cell resolution in human-relevant systems, without supporting clinical trial activities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cellular Senescence Network: Technology Development and Application in Human Systems (UG3/UH3 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): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-10-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-01-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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.

Apply for RFA RM 22 004

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