Stem Cells and Cancer (R21)

The summary for the Stem Cells and Cancer (R21) grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Institutes of Health, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Stem Cells and Cancer (R21): Stem cells play a crucial role in all aspects of biology from the development of early embryos to the repair and maintenance of adult tissues. Embryonic stem cells can give rise to all the tissue types in the adult organism. Adult stem cells residing in a number of adult tissues are important to tissue self renewal and repair. These somatic stem cells are unique among adult cells, in that they can undergo self renewal divisions, although they have a limited capacity for multi-lineage differentiation. Examples of such stem cells are the hematopoietic stem cells that are crucial to the success of bone marrow transplantation in the therapy of cancer. Recently, a new type of stem cell has been isolated and characterized from a number of solid and liquid tumors. These tumor stem cells are a rare population of tumor cells that can reconstitute a new tumor with all the cell types represented in the tumor of origin. These tumor stem cells are putatively responsible for the transplantability and metastatic properties of tumors. The cells are capable of self renewal and asymmetric cell division, as are normal adult and embryonic stem cells. The isolation of such tumor stem cells is important to more completely understand the progression of malignant disease, as well as to the development of improved specific therapies for cancer. Thus far, tumor stem cells have been isolated from only a small number of histological tumor types, and stem cells from a greater spectrum of tumors must be isolated and biologically characterized. In addition, more research is needed to understand the genetic and biochemical regulatory mechanisms that control the self-renewal phenotype, asymmetric cell division, and the role of the stem cell niche in regulating the biological properties of both normal and tumor stem cells. The National Cancer Institute is interested in stimulating research on all aspects of stem cell biology, including research into the molecular and biochemical regulation of embryonic and adult stem cell behavior. We anticipate that the results of such research will ultimately improve the specificity and long-term effectiveness of cancer therapy, through the targeting of those cells most responsible for disease progression and metastasis. The Research Objectives section of this announcement will focus on the most recent research on tumor stem cells, because of the importance of these stem cells to understanding tumor biology. However, it should be emphasized that the purpose of this announcement is to encourage research on all aspects of stem cell biology. -Awards issued under this FOA are contingent upon the availability of funds and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications; therefore, the anticipated number of awards is not known. -This FOA utilizes the NIH Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21) mechanism and runs in parallel with an FOA of identical scientific scope, PA-05-086, that solicits applications under the NIH Research Project Grant (R01) mechanism. -Because the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary from application to application, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary. The total amount awarded and the number of awards will depend upon the mechanism numbers, quality, duration, and costs of the applications received. -The total project period for an application submitted in response to this funding opportunity may not exceed 2 years. Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over an R21 2-year period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year. -Eligible organizations include: for-profit organizations; non-profit organizations; public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals and laboratories; units of State governments; units of State Tribal governments; units of local governments; units of local Tribal governments; eligible institutions of the Federal government; domestic institutions; foreign institutions; and faith-based or community-based organizations. -Eligible Project Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) include any individuals from the applicant institutions who have the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. -Applicants may submit more than one application, provided each application is scientifically distinct.