Limited Competition: CCRP Initiative: Promoting a Basic Understanding of Chemical Threats to Skin (R34 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PA 25 093

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 25 093

This funding opportunity, titled "Limited Competition: CCRP Initiative: Promoting a Basic Understanding of Chemical Threats to Skin (R34 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number PA 25 093), is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program aimed at strengthening the scientific foundation needed to better understand how hazardous chemicals injure the skin. The core purpose is basic, fundamental research rather than late-stage product development or human testing. Projects should focus on skin injuries caused by chemicals recognized as public health threats, with a strong emphasis on identifying what different chemical injuries have in common, mapping shared biological responses, and pinpointing signaling pathways or molecular targets that could eventually support the development of medical countermeasures.

A central theme of the NOFO is cross-cutting insight: instead of studying each chemical in isolation, applicants are encouraged to investigate convergent mechanisms of skin damage, such as common inflammatory cascades, cell death pathways, barrier disruption processes, immune signaling, tissue remodeling, or other shared response programs that appear across multiple chemical exposures. The goal is to generate knowledge that can be leveraged for broadly useful interventions, including the discovery of potential therapeutic targets that might apply to more than one chemical threat. While the NOFO highlights medical countermeasure relevance, it is framed as early-stage target and pathway discovery work that supports future countermeasure development rather than direct clinical evaluation.

The award mechanism is an R34, and the NOFO explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning proposed work should not include clinical trials. In practical terms, the research should be preclinical or otherwise non-clinical-trial in nature, such as mechanistic studies, model development, biomarker exploration, pathway interrogation, or other foundational experiments that clarify how chemical exposures translate into skin injury and how those injuries progress or resolve. Applicants should design projects that are clearly aligned with building basic understanding and that logically connect mechanistic findings to plausible countermeasure concepts, without crossing into clinical trial activities.

Eligibility is broad across government, academic, nonprofit, and industry sectors. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township 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; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The NOFO also calls out additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is restricted. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" are allowed as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which generally means a U.S. applicant organization may include certain project elements performed outside the U.S. when they meet NIH rules and are well-justified, even though a foreign institution cannot be the direct applicant.

The opportunity is categorized under Health as the funding activity area and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.846 and 93.855. It was created on October 4, 2024, and lists an original closing date of January 7, 2028, indicating a multi-year window in which applications may be accepted according to NIH submission cycles and the specific instructions in the NOFO. The listing does not provide an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the provided source data, so prospective applicants would need to consult the full announcement for budget limits, project period expectations, and review or set-aside details tied to the limited-competition structure.

Overall, the NOFO is best read as an invitation to do rigorous, mechanism-focused skin research that helps the field move from chemical-specific descriptions of damage toward a clearer map of shared injury biology. Strong applications will typically make a convincing case that the work will reveal generalizable pathways, identify actionable targets, and create knowledge that directly supports, but does not yet constitute, medical countermeasure testing in humans.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: CCRP Initiative: Promoting a Basic Understanding of Chemical Threats to Skin (R34 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): 93.846, 93.855.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2028-01-07.
• 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 PA 25 093

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