Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity in Biomedical Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA HL 22 011

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HL 22 011

The Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity in Biomedical Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed), Funding Opportunity Number RFA-HL-22-011, is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant opportunity designed to strengthen and diversify the biomedical research workforce supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The central goal is to expand the pool of highly trained investigators from diverse backgrounds, with explicit emphasis on supporting faculty who are from groups underrepresented in research areas aligned with NHLBI priorities. The award supports a mentored career development period intended to move the candidate toward research independence through structured training, intensive supervision, and a focused research project.

The program is aimed at faculty whose interests fall within cardiovascular, pulmonary, and hematologic diseases, as well as sleep disorders, including work relevant to the general population and to health disparities populations. It is open to basic, clinical, and translational science, but the expectation is that the proposed career development and research plan will be grounded in advanced methods and experimental approaches that can meaningfully address key scientific or clinical problems in these NHLBI mission areas. In practical terms, the FOA is looking for applicants who will use the mentored period to build the skills, publication record, and scientific direction needed to compete successfully for independent research support later on.

A defining feature of this announcement is the required mentoring structure. Applications are submitted by institutions on behalf of eligible faculty members, and the work must be conducted under the guidance of an accomplished mentor (or mentoring team) with strong expertise in the proposed research area and a demonstrated track record of developing independent investigators. The FOA emphasizes special study and supervised research, meaning the award is not just funding for a project, but support for a deliberately planned career trajectory that combines research with professional development activities appropriate for the candidate's stage.

This specific K01 FOA is intended for candidates who are not proposing to lead an independent clinical trial. The research and career development activities supported under RFA-HL-22-011 must not include serving as the lead investigator on an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or a separate ancillary clinical trial. However, the announcement does allow candidates to gain experience through participation in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor, which can be an important training opportunity without placing the candidate in the role of trial leader. Candidates who do plan to lead a clinical trial or lead an ancillary clinical trial are directed to apply instead to the companion FOA referenced in the text (RFA-HL-22-010).

In terms of who can apply as an institution, eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. Higher education institutions are eligible across categories, including public/state-controlled and private institutions of higher education. The FOA also allows applications from nonprofits (both with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses, as well as Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and other Native American tribal organizations. The opportunity explicitly highlights inclusion of institutions 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), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal government agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign organizations and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply directly, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. At the same time, the FOA notes that "foreign components" are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which typically means portions of the research can be carried out in a foreign setting if properly justified and approved under NIH policy, even though the applicant organization itself must be eligible and based in the U.S.

Administrative details in the source data indicate this is a discretionary grant in the health area, with CFDA numbers 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, and 93.840. The sponsoring agency is NIH, the FOA was created on 2021-05-26, and the original closing date listed is 2024-05-07. The award ceiling shown in the summary data is 150,000, though NIH career development awards often have specific budget rules and cost categories that applicants must follow in the full FOA (for example, how much can be requested for salary and for research development support), so applicants typically need to confirm the exact budgeting structure in the official announcement.

Overall, RFA-HL-22-011 is best understood as a mentored faculty career development pathway that combines a supervised research experience with targeted training, all designed to help promising investigators from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds build the expertise and momentum needed to become independent researchers in NHLBI-relevant fields, while clearly separating itself from proposals in which the candidate would lead an independent clinical trial.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity in Biomedical Research (K01 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): 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-05-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $150,000.00 in funding.
• 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 HL 22 011

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