Enabling Technologies and Transformative Platforms for HLBS Research (R33 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA HL 20 022

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HL 20 022

The Enabling Technologies and Transformative Platforms for HLBS Research funding opportunity (RFA-HL-20-022) is a National Institutes of Health grant announcement under the NHLBI Catalyze program that supports later-stage technology development for heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) research. It uses the R33 funding mechanism and is specifically focused on pushing promising enabling technologies or transformative platforms beyond early feasibility and into rigorous development and validation. The intent is to help technologies mature to a point where they are ready for downstream demonstration, real-world use, and broader adoption, and ultimately to position projects to meet entry expectations for later NHLBI Catalyze steps such as Product Definition or Preclinical-focused opportunities.

A key theme of the FOA is that applicants should already have cleared major feasibility hurdles. In practical terms, this means the proposed technology or platform should not be at a speculative or purely conceptual stage. Instead, it should be supported by preliminary data showing that the core idea works, while still needing substantial engineering, optimization, scaling, robustness testing, analytical validation, or other rigorous validation work to make it truly usable and reliable. The NHLBI is looking for projects where targeted funding can accelerate the technology to a point where it can realistically enable or transform future predictive, diagnostic, or therapeutic products relevant to HLBS conditions.

The types of advances this FOA aims to catalyze are broad, as long as the work is genuinely technology- or platform-centered. Appropriate projects are those that could accelerate or change the game in areas like early detection and screening, development of disease models, clinical diagnosis approaches, treatment strategies, disease control and prevention, or epidemiology related to HLBS disorders. The emphasis is on technologies and platforms that enable next-generation capabilities rather than incremental extensions of what is already commonly available. In other words, the technology itself needs to represent the main innovation, with a clear case for why it will unlock new possibilities or meaningfully improve performance, speed, cost, accessibility, scalability, or reliability for HLBS-related applications.

The FOA also draws a firm boundary around what it will not support. Projects that mainly apply existing, established technologies to a new biological question, disease area, or patient population are considered a poor fit if the novelty is primarily in the target rather than in the technology. If the technology is already mature and the proposal is essentially a standard application study (even if the health question is important), that is not what this announcement is designed to fund. The review focus is on further developing and validating enabling technologies or transformative platforms, not on using off-the-shelf methods to interrogate a new hypothesis.

This opportunity does not allow clinical trials, which signals that the supported work should remain in development and validation phases rather than testing clinical outcomes in human participants through trial designs. While projects may involve clinically relevant samples, workflows, or validation against clinical reference standards (depending on NIH policy and the specific study design), the FOA is structured so that the funded activities do not constitute a clinical trial.

On eligibility, the FOA is open to a wide range of applicant organizations, reflecting the translational and cross-sector nature of technology development. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, HBCUs, tribally controlled colleges and universities, Indian/Native American tribal governments (other than federally recognized), regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is more limited and specific. Non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible to apply, and foreign components are allowed as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. This structure allows international collaboration or performance of certain project elements abroad when justified, while keeping the primary applicant organization U.S.-based.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health category, with CFDA numbers listed as 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, and 93.840. The source data lists an award ceiling of $300,000. The original closing date in the provided record is 2021-08-11, and the record creation date is 2019-09-09, indicating this specific FOA instance is associated with that period of availability.

Overall, the FOA is best read as an invitation to teams that already have a working prototype or strong proof-of-concept for a technology/platform relevant to HLBS needs, and who can lay out a credible development and validation plan that reduces remaining technical risk. Competitive proposals would clearly explain what makes the technology enabling or transformative (not just useful), what gaps remain after feasibility has been shown, how the project will rigorously validate performance and robustness, and how the resulting platform will be positioned for broader utilization and the next stage of NHLBI Catalyze translation.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Enabling Technologies and Transformative Platforms for HLBS Research (R33 - 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): 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-08-11. (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 $300,000.00 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 20 022

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