NIAID Career Transition Award (K22 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 22 075

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 22 075

The NIAID Career Transition Award (K22, Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is a National Institutes of Health funding opportunity meant to help advanced postdoctoral fellows make the jump into independent faculty-level research careers. The program is structured to support the critical transition period when a researcher moves from a mentored postdoctoral setting into an assistant professor (or equivalent) position and begins establishing an independent research program. In practical terms, it is designed to provide resources and credibility at a moment when early-stage investigators are building a lab, generating preliminary data, publishing, and competing for longer-term research grants.

A defining feature of this specific K22 announcement is the clinical trial restriction. The proposed research must not include the applicant leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. That said, the FOA does allow applicants to gain research experience in a clinical trial as long as the trial is led by another investigator, which can be important for applicants whose long-term research interests relate to clinical or translational work but who are not positioned to serve as the trial’s independent leader under this award.

The opportunity is issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the health funding activity category and is associated with CFDA number 93.855. The funding opportunity title is "NIAID Career Transition Award (K22 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)," and the opportunity number is PAR-22-075. The mechanism is a discretionary grant. The original closing date listed for the opportunity is January 7, 2025, and the FOA record indicates it was created on January 20, 2022. Some fields in the source summary, such as an award ceiling and expected number of awards, are not specified in the provided excerpt.

Eligibility is broad across many U.S.-based organization types, reflecting NIH’s typical approach to institutional eligibility for research and career development awards. 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; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), excluding higher education institutions in those nonprofit categories as specified); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other applicants as allowed by the FOA. The announcement also explicitly calls out additional eligible organizational categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal government agencies, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the FOA places clear limits on foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. In addition, foreign components, as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed under this announcement. These restrictions mean the work and the applicant’s primary institutional context must remain within eligible U.S.-based organizational structures, without foreign components included in the project as defined by NIH policy.

Overall, this K22 is aimed at postdoctoral researchers who are ready to step into independence and want support specifically tailored to launching their own research trajectory in NIAID-relevant biomedical areas, while keeping the proposed scope outside of applicant-led independent clinical trial leadership.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIAID Career Transition Award (K22 Independent 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): 93.855.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-01-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-07. (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 PAR 22 075

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