Improving Outcomes for Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors (U01 Clinical Trial Required) | RFA CA 19 033

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 19 033

The grant opportunity titled "Improving Outcomes for Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors (U01 Clinical Trial Required)" is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement program (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-CA-19-033) created in connection with the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment Access, and Research (STAR) Act of 2018. The STAR Act is aimed at speeding discovery and improving access to effective treatments and care for children and young people affected by cancer. In this specific announcement, the focus is not on developing new anti-cancer drugs, but on improving the long-term health and well-being of people who have survived pediatric cancers or cancers diagnosed during adolescence and young adulthood (AYA). The opportunity is designed to move beyond describing survivorship problems and instead push the field toward practical, evidence-based solutions that can be implemented at scale.

The central purpose of the FOA is to stimulate the development and rigorous testing of interventions that address adverse physical and psychosocial effects experienced by pediatric and AYA cancer survivors. These late and long-term effects can include chronic medical conditions related to prior treatment, functional limitations, neurocognitive challenges, fatigue, pain, cardiometabolic complications, mental health conditions (such as anxiety, depression, or trauma-related symptoms), social and educational disruption, employment challenges, and overall reduced quality of life. The announcement emphasizes that interventions should be effective, feasible, and scalable, meaning they should be designed with real-world delivery in mind and should have a credible pathway to broader adoption in clinical settings, community settings, or health systems.

Applications are invited in two broad, complementary areas. First, investigators may propose to develop and test interventions intended to prevent, mitigate, or manage adverse outcomes among survivors of pediatric and/or AYA cancers. This can include interventions delivered by health care providers, multidisciplinary survivorship clinics, schools, community organizations, digital health platforms, or other service delivery channels, as long as the approach is grounded in sound science and can be evaluated rigorously. Second, applicants may propose studies that evaluate models of care aimed at improving how survivorship services are organized and delivered over time. These models of care are expected to strengthen coordination and continuity, improve the quality of follow-up across the survivor's lifespan, reduce barriers to access (including barriers to long-term follow-up care and specialty services), and ultimately improve measurable survivor outcomes. In practice, that means the FOA is interested in system-level solutions such as care coordination strategies, navigation programs, shared-care models between oncology and primary care, telehealth-supported survivorship care, and health system interventions that increase adherence to surveillance and management guidelines.

A major and explicit priority is addressing disparities in survivorship outcomes and disparities in access to appropriate follow-up care. The FOA highlights the importance of meeting the needs of minority and medically underserved pediatric and AYA populations, recognizing that survivorship burdens and service gaps often fall disproportionately on groups affected by structural barriers, geographic isolation, lower access to specialty care, insurance and cost issues, language barriers, and other inequities. Competitive proposals under this announcement would typically be expected to incorporate equity-focused design elements, recruit and retain diverse participant populations, and address practical barriers to implementation so that interventions do not only work in well-resourced academic centers but can be deployed effectively in underserved settings as well.

Mechanistically, this is a U01 cooperative agreement, which generally means NIH anticipates substantial programmatic involvement with awardees compared with a traditional research grant. The funding instrument type is "Cooperative Agreement," and the activity category is listed under education and health. The FOA requires a clinical trial, signaling that funded projects must include prospective, structured evaluation of an intervention or care model with human participants, using a design appropriate to test outcomes. The posted award ceiling is $500,000, indicating the maximum award amount specified in the source information. The original closing date listed for this opportunity is January 3, 2020, and the creation date is January 11, 2019.

Eligibility is broad and intentionally inclusive across many organization types. Eligible applicants include various levels of government (state, county, city/township, and special district governments), independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (outside higher education), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant categories that align with its emphasis on reaching underserved groups and diverse communities, including 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), Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This range of eligible applicants signals NIH interest in partnerships that can link clinical expertise with community reach, education systems, and health system implementation capacity.

In short, this FOA is built to fund pragmatic, testable interventions and care-delivery strategies that measurably improve the long-term physical and psychosocial health of pediatric and AYA cancer survivors. It prioritizes approaches that can be delivered through providers, communities, and health care systems, and it places special emphasis on reducing inequities in outcomes and access to survivorship care. It is positioned as an implementation-oriented survivorship research opportunity tied to national policy goals under the STAR Act, with the expectation that funded projects will generate actionable evidence that can improve survivorship care across the lifespan.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Improving Outcomes for Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors (U01 Clinical Trial Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.353, 93.393, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-01-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-01-03. (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 $500,000.00 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 19 033

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