Implementation Science for Cancer Control: Developing Centers (P50 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA CA 19 005

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 19 005

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity RFA-CA-19-005, titled "Implementation Science for Cancer Control: Developing Centers (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)," is designed to help launch and grow developing research centers focused on implementation science in cancer control. The core idea is to build up institutional and regional capacity to study how proven cancer control interventions actually get adopted in real-world settings, how well they are implemented, and how they can be sustained over time. Rather than funding basic discovery work, this opportunity is centered on closing the gap between what is known to work (evidence-based interventions) and what is routinely delivered in clinics, health systems, and community organizations.

A key emphasis of the program is creating "developing centers" that can mature into strong hubs for cancer control implementation science. These centers are expected to strengthen the workforce and infrastructure needed to do rigorous implementation research, including developing implementation laboratories. In this context, implementation laboratories generally mean networks of existing clinical and community sites that already deliver services across the cancer control continuum and can be used as real-world settings to test, refine, and compare implementation strategies. The aim is to make it faster and more practical to study what helps evidence-based interventions spread and stick in diverse settings, including those serving populations that are often under-reached.

Scientifically, the FOA is aligned with Cancer Moonshot priorities and specifically points to high-priority topics highlighted by the Blue Ribbon Panel (BRP). The named priority areas include prevention and screening implementation of evidence-based approaches, symptom management, prevention and screening for high-risk cancers, and other cross-cutting Moonshot priorities. In practice, that means applicants are expected to focus their center around cancer control interventions with strong evidence behind them and to study implementation barriers and solutions tied to screening, prevention, symptom control, and related delivery challenges where better uptake could meaningfully improve outcomes.

Another major goal is improving the "state of measurement and methods" in implementation science. The announcement explicitly calls for advances in methods used to study implementation and for the development and validation of reliable measures for key implementation science constructs. That includes the kinds of constructs implementation scientists routinely track, such as adoption, fidelity, reach, acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness, costs, and long-term sustainment. The intention is to strengthen the field by producing tools and methodological approaches that other researchers and health systems can reuse, not just one-off findings from a single project.

This FOA sits within the broader Implementation Science Centers in Cancer Control (ISCCC) Program. The ISCCC program is structured to support both P50 Developing Centers (funded under this announcement) and P50 Advanced Centers (funded under a companion announcement, RFA-CA-19-006). Collectively, these centers are meant to form a large consortium of implementation scientists connected not only to each other but also to other Moonshot initiatives. That consortium structure signals an expectation that awardees will contribute to shared learning, harmonization of measures and methods where useful, and the broader goal of accelerating progress in how cancer control interventions are implemented nationwide.

From an administrative standpoint, the mechanism is a P50 Center grant, with clinical trials listed as optional, meaning applicants may propose clinical trials if they fit the implementation science aims but are not required to do so. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary grant funding within education and health-related activity categories, and it is administered by NIH. The original closing date listed is February 11, 2019, and the award ceiling shown in the source data is $600,000. The CFDA numbers associated with this opportunity are 93.353 and 93.399.

Eligibility is broad across many types of U.S.-based organizations. Eligible applicants include various levels of government (state, county, city or township, and 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 other than federally recognized governments, public housing authorities and 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 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, there are clear limits related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic (non-U.S.) institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, foreign components, as NIH defines them in its Grants Policy Statement, are allowed. In practical terms, that typically means a U.S. applicant organization can include certain foreign elements or collaborations when justified and compliant with NIH policy, but the applicant organization itself must be domestic and the center cannot be built around a non-U.S. organizational component.

Overall, this grant opportunity is aimed at building developing centers that can rapidly generate actionable evidence on how to implement cancer control interventions effectively in the real world, strengthen and standardize implementation research methods and measures, and participate in a coordinated national consortium aligned with Cancer Moonshot priorities. The expected end result is not only more implementation studies, but better infrastructure and shared tools that help evidence-based prevention, screening, and symptom management interventions reach more people and remain in place over time.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Implementation Science for Cancer Control: Developing Centers (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.353, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-11-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-02-11. (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 $600,000.00 in funding.
• 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 CA 19 005

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