Small Business Informatics Tools for the Pangenome (R41 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 25 309

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 25 309

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through a Program Announcement with special receipt, referral, and/or review considerations (PAR 25-309), is soliciting Phase I STTR (R41) grant applications from eligible U.S. small business concerns to create new informatics tools that help the genomics community adopt, access, and scientifically use the human pangenome reference. This pangenome resource is being developed and maintained by the NHGRI Human Genome Reference Program (HGRP), and the intent of this funding opportunity is to accelerate practical, tool-driven use of that reference across real-world research and translational settings. The solicitation is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the work proposed should be tool development and validation rather than a clinical trial.

The focus is on innovative, commercially relevant software or computational methods that can demonstrate proof of principle or clear feasibility in a Phase I project. In other words, the program is looking for early-stage but credible tool concepts that can be built into products or services used by others, not just one-off internal pipelines. Applications should show how the proposed tool makes it easier to work with pangenome references, and why it would materially improve scientific workflows compared with existing options. A strong fit would be a tool that reduces barriers to pangenome use (for example, by simplifying data structures, improving usability, boosting performance, or improving interoperability with common genomics formats and platforms), and that is positioned to be adopted by a defined user base.

NIH places particular emphasis on tools that support compelling, well-argued use cases spanning multiple sectors of the genomics community. The opportunity highlights clinical genomics, population genomics, and functional genomics as examples of broad areas where pangenome-aware tools could meaningfully change how results are generated or interpreted. A competitive proposal would typically connect the tool to one or more concrete scenarios, such as improving variant representation and interpretation in diverse genomes, enabling better mapping and comparison across populations, or supporting functional annotation and downstream analyses that benefit from richer reference representations. The key theme is enabling uptake and scientific use: the tool should help users actually work with the pangenome reference in practice, not simply describe it or repackage it.

Eligibility is limited to small businesses, consistent with the STTR mechanism, and the applicant organization must be U.S.-based. Foreign (non-U.S.) organizations are not eligible to apply, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. However, "foreign components" as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement may be allowed in certain circumstances, which typically means specific elements of the project can be conducted outside the U.S. if they are well-justified and meet NIH policy requirements.

This is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health funding category (CFDA 93.172). The maximum award amount (ceiling) listed for this opportunity is $400,000 for Phase I. The original closing date provided is March 3, 2025. Overall, the program is aimed at catalyzing early-stage, pangenome-focused informatics innovations from small businesses, with an expectation that successful Phase I efforts will provide a strong technical foundation and commercialization path toward tools that the wider genomics community can adopt and rely on.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Small Business Informatics Tools for the Pangenome (R41 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): 93.172.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-03-03. (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 $400,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

Apply for PAR 25 309

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