Proteome Characterization Centers (PCCs) for Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA CA 21 023

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 21 023

The Proteome Characterization Centers (PCCs) for the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) funding opportunity (RFA-CA-21-023) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cooperative agreement (U24) designed to support a small number of specialized centers that can generate, analyze, and openly share high-quality cancer proteomics and proteogenomics resources. The program is managed by the NCI Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research (OCCPR) and is aimed at accelerating how the research community understands cancer by tightly linking proteomic data (what proteins are present, in what forms, and at what levels) with genomic information (the DNA and RNA changes that help drive cancer). A key idea behind CPTAC is that genomics alone does not fully explain tumor behavior, and that direct measurement of proteins and their modifications can reveal mechanisms, vulnerabilities, and biomarkers that are otherwise missed.

From a scientific standpoint, the FOA emphasizes comprehensive proteogenomic approaches to deepen understanding of cancer biology and tumor complexity. PCCs are expected to contribute to large-scale, systematic characterization of tumor samples in ways that connect genomic alterations to downstream protein expression, pathway activity, and post-translational modifications. By doing so, the centers help clarify how genetic changes actually translate into functional changes inside cells, which in turn supports more accurate models of disease and more actionable targets for intervention.

The opportunity also highlights translational goals, particularly around improving diagnostics and therapeutics. The centers are intended to expand support for developing novel cancer diagnostics and treatment strategies by using proteogenomic methods to study drug response and the development of resistance. The FOA notes this specifically in the context of clinical trials, meaning the scientific direction includes understanding how therapies affect tumors and how tumors adapt over time; however, the mechanism itself is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," so the funded PCC activities are not meant to run interventional clinical trials under this award. Instead, the work generally centers on generating and analyzing molecular data and associated resources that can inform clinical research and future trials conducted under other mechanisms.

A major deliverable theme is broad, rapid dissemination of resources to catalyze hypothesis-driven research across the wider community. CPTAC is structured to produce public resources such as datasets, validated assays, images, and reagents, enabling other investigators to reuse and build on these outputs rather than recreating them independently. In practice, this means PCCs are expected to function as community-facing infrastructure: producing standardized, high-quality molecular characterization outputs and making them accessible so researchers can ask new biological questions, validate targets, develop biomarkers, and compare findings across studies.

Administratively, this FOA is offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the NIH, with NCI as the lead institute. It uses a cooperative agreement funding instrument, which typically indicates substantial federal scientific or programmatic involvement during the project period, such as coordinated milestones, collaborative governance, and close alignment with consortium-wide standards and deliverables. The activity category is listed under Education and Health, and the relevant CFDA numbers are 93.394 and 93.395. The award ceiling is $750,000, and NCI anticipated making about three awards, reflecting an intent to fund a limited set of high-capability centers that can operate at consortium scale.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types: state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding those that are institutions of higher education in that specific category listing); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and additional entities as allowed in the FOA text. The posting was created on April 5, 2021, with an original closing date of June 30, 2021.

Overall, the grant is best understood as support for shared national capability in cancer proteogenomics: building and operating centers that can produce rigorous, standardized proteomic characterization tied to genomic context, use those analyses to illuminate tumor biology and treatment response mechanisms, and then push the resulting data and tools out to the public so that many independent research teams can move faster on biomarker discovery, target validation, and translational cancer research.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Proteome Characterization Centers (PCCs) for Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (U24 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): 93.394, 93.395.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 05, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 30, 2021. (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 $750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for RFA CA 21 023

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