Pilot Projects Investigating Understudied G Protein-Coupled Receptors, Ion Channels, and Protein Kinases (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA RM 21 012

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 21 012

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through its Common Fund program Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG), offered this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support small pilot projects focused on a specific set of "understudied" but potentially druggable human proteins. The opportunity targets three major protein families that are central to modern therapeutics: non-olfactory G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), ion channels, and protein kinases. The core idea is to push beyond what the IDG Centers can do on their own by funding external investigators to generate new, disease-relevant functional insights, along with additional datasets and practical tools, for IDG-eligible targets that have not been deeply characterized in the literature.

This FOA is designed to do two things at once: expand knowledge about specific understudied proteins and validate the usefulness of resources produced by the IDG program. Applicants are expected to leverage and showcase IDG-generated reagents, datasets, and approaches, then extend them by producing added experimental evidence, new annotations, or enabling tools that clarify what these proteins do and why they matter for human disease biology. In practice, that can mean generating functional data that links an understudied receptor, channel, or kinase to a disease mechanism, creating or refining assays, producing complementary datasets that strengthen target characterization, or otherwise delivering tangible outputs that other researchers can use. A key emphasis is on demonstrating quality and utility to the broader scientific community, increasing awareness and use of IDG resources, and moving these targets further along the path from "dark" or poorly understood to experimentally tractable and biologically interpretable.

The award mechanism is an NIH R03, which is typically used for short, focused projects that can quickly produce proof-of-concept results or fill critical knowledge gaps. The FOA explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the supported work must be non-clinical-trial research. Projects should be oriented toward basic, translational, or preclinical-style investigations that elucidate protein function and disease relevance rather than testing interventions in humans under a clinical trial framework.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, and 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 (outside higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other categories identified by NIH. The FOA also highlights inclusion of a wide range of institution types 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 (AANAPISISs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies. U.S. territories or possessions are also listed among other eligible applicants.

On the other hand, the FOA restricts foreign participation in a specific way. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as applicant organizations, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components, as NIH defines them in its Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may include certain foreign collaborations or elements if they meet NIH policy requirements and are justified within the project.

The opportunity is identified as RFA-RM-21-012, categorized as a discretionary grant within the health area, and associated with CFDA number 93.310. The posting indicates an original closing date of July 15, 2021, and a creation date of April 1, 2021. While the listing does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided text, the practical intent is clear: fund compact pilot efforts that generate actionable data and tools around IDG-prioritized understudied GPCRs, ion channels, and kinases, and then feed those outputs back into the broader IDG ecosystem to accelerate target illumination and downstream therapeutic discovery.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pilot Projects Investigating Understudied G Protein-Coupled Receptors, Ion Channels, and Protein Kinases (R03 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): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-04-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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.

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