Cellular Senescence Network: Technology Development and Application (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA RM 21 009

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 21 009

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released this discretionary funding opportunity, RFA-RM-21-009, titled "Cellular Senescence Network: Technology Development and Application (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)," to speed up the creation and real-world use of tools that can reliably find and characterize senescent cells in human tissues. The central need behind the announcement is that senescent cells are difficult to identify with confidence across different tissues and settings, so NIH is looking for novel analytics and enabling technologies that can detect, map, and profile these cells in ways that are practical, scalable, and broadly usable.

The program is structured as a two-stage cooperative agreement (meaning NIH is expected to have substantial involvement in guiding and coordinating the work), with an initial UG3 phase followed by a UH3 phase. The UG3 stage lasts up to two years and is meant for accelerated development work: investigators are expected to build or substantially advance emerging methods, demonstrate feasibility, and provide proof-of-principle that their approach can identify and spatially map senescent cells in mammalian tissues. In other words, the UG3 period is where a team shows that the underlying technology works and can produce interpretable signals that correspond to senescence in tissue contexts, not just in simplified lab systems.

If the UG3 effort hits clearly defined, quantifiable milestones, projects can transition to the UH3 phase. That transition is not automatic; it is an administrative decision made by NIH staff based on whether the milestones were met and whether funds are available. The UH3 phase focuses on moving from feasibility to initial validation in human tissues, along with optimization and scale-up. This includes refining the method so it performs consistently, adapting it to be applied across multiple human tissue types, and producing "production-level" datasets, meaning data of sufficient quality, throughput, and standardization to be genuinely useful to the broader research community. Overall, the UG3/UH3 structure is designed to reduce the typical lag between an exciting technical concept and a validated tool that others can apply at scale.

Applications must be submitted as a single, integrated package that includes both the UG3 and UH3 components. That requirement signals that NIH wants applicants to plan the full path from early development through human-tissue validation from the beginning, rather than proposing an open-ended tool-building project. Importantly, the funding opportunity explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," indicating that the supported work should not involve clinical trial activities, and instead should focus on technology and analytical development and validation in tissue-based research contexts.

The eligible applicant pool is broad, spanning many types of U.S. and non-U.S. organizations. 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; and Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized. It also includes public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in that category), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses. The announcement further calls out additional eligible groups 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 faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and foreign organizations (non-U.S. entities).

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is categorized under Health (CFDA 93.310) and uses the cooperative agreement mechanism for funding. The source information lists an original closing date of March 22, 2021, and a creation date of January 6, 2021. While the provided record does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, the emphasis of the program is clear: deliver technology that can be integrated into broader workflows, scaled up, and applied across multiple tissue contexts, with a strong expectation of milestone-driven progress and community-relevant data generation by the UH3 stage.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cellular Senescence Network: Technology Development and Application (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 2021-01-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-03-22. (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 21 009

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