Mentored Career Transition Award for Intramural Fellows (K22 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | PA 18 614

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 614

The Mentored Career Transition Award for Intramural Fellows (K22, Clinical Trials Not Allowed) is a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) career development grant run through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its main purpose is to help postdoctoral fellows currently working in the NIMH Division of Intramural Research Programs (DIRP) move smoothly and quickly from an NIH intramural postdoctoral position into an extramural, tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty role at an eligible US institution. The program is built around the idea that early-career scientists often need structured mentoring and reliable research support to make that jump successfully, and it is designed to shorten the gap between postdoc training and launching an independent academic research program.

A key feature of this opportunity is its two-phase structure. The first phase takes place while the applicant is still an intramural fellow at NIMH and continues to emphasize mentored career development and preparation for independence. The second phase begins once the awardee secures an eligible extramural faculty position at a US institution. During that extramural phase, the K22 provides research support intended to help the investigator establish a lab or research program, generate early results, publish, and become competitive for larger independent NIH funding later on. Importantly, mentoring remains part of both phases, so the award is not simply a start-up package; it is a mentored transition mechanism meant to bridge training into independence.

This specific FOA is limited to projects that do not involve the applicant leading an independent clinical trial. That means applicants cannot propose to be the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary study to a clinical trial under this announcement. However, the FOA does allow applicants to include clinical trial-related research experience as long as the trial itself is led by a mentor or co-mentor, rather than by the K22 applicant. If an applicant wants to lead a clinical trial or lead an ancillary study tied to an ongoing clinical trial, they are directed to apply under the companion FOA referenced in the announcement (PA-18-NNN).

Eligibility for applicant organizations is broad on the extramural side and includes many common US research settings, such as public or state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant types such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as eligible federal agencies. Even with that breadth, the program is fundamentally aimed at supporting NIMH intramural postdoctoral fellows as individuals, with the extramural award phase activated through a US-based institution that can host the awardee in a tenure-track or equivalent role.

The announcement makes clear boundaries regarding foreign involvement. Non-US (foreign) institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-US components of US organizations are also not eligible to apply. At the same time, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning the research program can include certain international elements (for example, specific collaborations or performance sites) when permitted under NIH policy, even though the primary applicant organization must be US-based.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding instrument is a grant, the activity category is health, and it is associated with CFDA number 93.242. The FOA number is PA-18-614, it was created on January 31, 2018, and the listed original closing date is January 7, 2021. The public listing does not provide an award ceiling or an expected number of awards in the source data provided here, but the overall intent is clear: provide structured mentored support for NIMH intramural postdocs to transition into independent, extramural faculty careers while pursuing research that does not place them in the lead role for a clinical trial.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mentored Career Transition Award for Intramural Fellows (K22 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-01-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-01-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, 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 PA 18 614

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