NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Academic Community Sites (UG1 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA CA 27 008

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 27 008

The NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Academic Community Sites funding opportunity (RFA-CA-27-008) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement (UG1) focused on strengthening a nationwide, community-based cancer research network led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The central goal is to make cancer research findings more generalizable and easier to disseminate by ensuring that participants are enrolled from a broad range of real-world community settings, not only major academic centers. NCORP is built to engage people with cancer, people at risk of cancer, and the health systems that serve them in rigorous research spanning cancer control, prevention, screening, treatment-related supportive care, and care delivery. A major theme of the program is improving access and representation, so that study results better reflect the diverse populations and practice environments where most patients actually receive care.

This specific NOFO supports one of three major NCORP components and is limited to “Academic Community Sites.” These sites are structured as consortia led by an academic medical center that is formally connected to a network of community hospitals, oncology practices, public hospitals, and/or other healthcare centers. The academic hub is expected to provide a robust operational and research infrastructure that enables consistent study startup, participant accrual, regulatory compliance, data quality, and coordination across affiliated organizations. The community network should serve patient populations that meaningfully enhance the representativeness of participants enrolled to NCORP studies, particularly for cancer control, prevention, treatment-related studies, and care delivery research conducted with human participants.

NCORP, as a broader program, supports studies for both adults and children and includes cancer control and prevention trials, screening studies, care delivery and quality-of-life research, and other human subjects studies. It also serves as a mechanism to enhance patient and provider access to treatment and imaging trials that are conducted under the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Even so, this particular Academic Community Sites NOFO is labeled “Clinical Trials Not Allowed,” meaning applicants to this funding opportunity are not proposing independent clinical trials as part of the application. Instead, the emphasis is on building and sustaining the capacity to participate in and accrue to NCORP-related studies and to carry out the network functions required to make those studies successful in community settings, consistent with the cooperative agreement structure where NCI has substantial involvement in program oversight and coordination.

The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and uses the cooperative agreement mechanism, reflecting an expectation of active collaboration with NCI program leadership and alignment with NCORP network policies, priorities, and performance expectations. The CFDA numbers associated with the program include 93.393, 93.395, and 93.399, all within NIH’s health research portfolio. The listing indicates an anticipated total of about 50 awards, and an award ceiling is not specified in the provided summary.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based entities and includes 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 (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) as well as other Native American tribal organizations. Despite the wide domestic eligibility, foreign involvement is explicitly restricted: non-U.S. organizations cannot apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed.

Key administrative details include an original application due date of 2026-09-18 and a posting/creation date of 2026-05-21. Overall, the NOFO is best understood as support for an academic-led, community-embedded research consortium that can reliably bring cancer research opportunities into everyday care settings, enroll more representative participants into NCORP studies, and help ensure that evidence from prevention, control, and care delivery research can be implemented broadly across the U.S. health system.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Academic Community Sites (UG1 Clinical Trials 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, 93.395, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2026-05-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-09-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• 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 27 008

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