Epidemiologic Research on Emerging Risk Factors and Liver Cancer Susceptibility (R01 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PA 18 677

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 677

This NIH funding opportunity (PA 18-677) supports R01 grant applications focused on the causes of liver cancer in the United States, with a specific emphasis on newer or rapidly changing risk factors and how they combine with well-established drivers of disease. The scientific goal is etiologic (cause-focused) epidemiologic research that tests novel and innovative hypotheses about why hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other liver cancer subtypes occur, who is most susceptible, and how multiple exposures or conditions interact over time. The initiative explicitly calls for studies that look at emerging biological, environmental, and social risk factors, and it encourages work that examines their interplay with established factors such as viral hepatitis. In practical terms, the program is aiming to move beyond single-factor explanations and toward clearer models of combined risk, susceptibility, and real-world exposure patterns that can explain liver cancer trends in the U.S.

The scope is broadly epidemiologic and mechanistic in the population sense, meaning it is designed for studies that identify and quantify risk factors, characterize susceptible groups, and clarify how different risks compound each other. Projects can center on biological risks (for example, metabolic conditions, biomarkers, host susceptibility, immune or inflammatory profiles), environmental risks (such as chemical exposures or place-based factors), and social risks (including structural and community-level determinants that shape exposure, prevention, screening, treatment access, and disease progression). A key feature is the explicit interest in interactions: how newer risks may amplify, modify, or be modified by classic liver cancer risks like hepatitis virus infection. While the program centers on U.S. liver cancer, it permits foreign components as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which can be relevant when unique exposure measurement, assays, or collaborative resources outside the U.S. are needed, so long as the applicant organization and overall eligibility rules are satisfied.

The award mechanism is an NIH R01, which typically funds multi-year, hypothesis-driven research with a strong analytic plan, appropriate study design, and rigor in exposure and outcome assessment. The notice is labeled “Clinical Trial Not Allowed,” which signals that applications should not propose clinical trials as defined by NIH (for example, prospectively assigning human participants to an intervention to evaluate effects on health-related outcomes). In other words, the opportunity is intended for observational studies, etiologic analyses, risk modeling, and related epidemiologic approaches rather than intervention testing. The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is listed under education and health (CFDA 93.393), aligning it with NIH cancer and related research portfolios.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include 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; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not higher education institutions when categorized that way); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The announcement also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, Hispanic-serving Institutions, HBCUs, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it draws a clear boundary around foreign eligibility: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the primary applicant, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed under NIH policy, meaning a U.S.-based applicant may include a foreign component when it is well-justified and compliant with NIH requirements.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was created on February 23, 2018, and the listed original closing date is May 7, 2021. The source data does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, which usually means applicants must rely on NIH’s standard R01 budgeting rules and the specific Institute/Center guidance associated with the announcement. Overall, the program is best read as an invitation for strong, creative epidemiologic proposals that can explain changing patterns of liver cancer risk in the U.S., especially by integrating emerging exposures and social conditions with long-recognized causes like viral hepatitis and by identifying who is most vulnerable and why.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Epidemiologic Research on Emerging Risk Factors and Liver Cancer Susceptibility (R01 - 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): 93.393.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-02-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-07. (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 PA 18 677

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