Expanding the Target Landscape by Drugging the Undruggable (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Expanding the Target Landscape by Drugging the Undruggable (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is sponsored by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS/NIH). This R21 grant opportunity focuses on expanding the understanding of therapeutic targets and developing strategies to 'drug the undruggable' in various disease areas. Clinical trials are not allowed.

PAR-25-442: Expanding the Target Landscape by Drugging the Undruggable (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Department of Health and Human Services Part 1.

Overview Information Participating Organization(s) National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) Components of Participating Organizations National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences ( NCATS ) National Eye Institute ( NEI ) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID ) National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research ( NIDCR ) National Institute of Mental Health ( NIMH ) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( NICHD ), July 29, 2025 - Participation added ( NOT-HD-25-028 ) Funding Opportunity Title Expanding the Target Landscape by Drugging the Undruggable (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant July 29, 2025 - Notice of NICHD Participation in PAR-25-442, "Expanding the Target Landscape by Drugging the Undruggable (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)".

See Notice NOT-HD-25-028 . April 4, 2024 - Overview of Grant Application and Review Changes for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2025. See Notice NOT-OD-24-084 .

August 31, 2022 - Implementation Changes for Genomic Data Sharing Plans Included with Applications Due on or after January 25, 2023. See Notice NOT-OD-22-198 . August 5, 2022 - Implementation Details for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy.

See Notice NOT-OD-22-189 . Funding Opportunity Number (FON) Companion Funding Opportunity See Part 2, Section III. 3.

Additional Information on Eligibility. Assistance Listing Number(s) 93. 350, 93.

121, 93. 867, 93. 242, 93.

855, 93. 865 Funding Opportunity Purpose The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to solicit applications for exploratory and early-stage projects that focus on undruggable target classes (targets that cannot be engaged with high affinity through conventional means) within intractable human disease.

Applicants will identify a human disease relevant undruggable target class and develop a method or agent that is selective for one or more targets within that target class. This NOFO is intended to jumpstart research that demonstrates innovative strategies to modulate targets that cannot be addressed by established therapeutic types, furthering the development of methods and/or agents selective for undruggable target classes.

Funding Opportunity Goal(s) NCATS' mission is to turn research observations into health solutions through translational science. We work to develop or enhance the development, testing, and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics for a wide range of diseases and conditions.

Key approaches include understanding what’s similar across diseases to spur multiple treatments at a time, developing models that better predict a person’s reaction to treatment, enhancing clinical trials so results more accurately reflect the patient population, and leveraging real-world data and data science approaches to address public health needs.

Facilitating these approaches are our robust partnerships with other government agencies, including other NIH institutes, centers, and offices; industry; academia; nonprofit organizations; and patients, patient advocates, and other communities. NCATS' vision is to bring more treatments for all people more quickly.

Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) Renewal / Resubmission / Revision (as allowed) AIDS - New/Renewal/Resubmission/Revision, as allowed All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

Required Application Instructions It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the How to Apply - Application Guide , except where instructed to do otherwise (in this NOFO or in a Notice from NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts ). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the NOFO) is required and strictly enforced.

Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

There are several options available to submit your application through Grants. gov to NIH and Department of Health and Human Services partners. You must use one of these submission options to access the application forms for this opportunity.

Use the NIH ASSIST system to prepare, submit and track your application online. Use an institutional system-to-system (S2S) solution to prepare and submit your application to Grants. gov and eRA Commons to track your application.

Check with your institutional officials regarding availability. Workspace to prepare and submit your application and eRA Commons to track your application. Part 1.

Overview Information Part 2. Full Text of Announcement Section I. Notice of Funding Opportunity Description Section II.

Award Information Section III. Eligibility Information Section IV. Application and Submission Information Section V.

Application Review Information Section VI. Award Administration Information Section VII. Agency Contacts Section VIII.

Other Information Part 2. Full Text of Announcement Section I. Notice of Funding Opportunity Description The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is transforming the translational science process so that new treatments and cures for disease can be delivered to patients faster.

NCATS strives to develop innovations to reduce, remove or bypass costly and time-consuming bottlenecks in the translational research pipeline in an effort to speed the delivery of new drugs, diagnostics and medical devices to patients. High throughput screening emerged toward the end of the last century and plays a critical role in the discovery and ultimately development of small molecule treatments today.

However, significant numbers of human diseases are caused by currently undruggable proteins or mechanisms, meaning that they cannot readily be treated via current conventional target-based approaches using small molecules and biologics.

A significant number of human disease conditions are considered untreatable as they are caused by pathologies for which we lack drug development options, such as protein misfolding, proteins with hidden active sites, defective protein-protein interactions or where the targets are “other cellular entities” (e.g., RNAs and metabolites, among others).

In order to address these issues, NCATS invites applications for exploratory and early-stage projects that focus on currently undruggable target classes within intractable human diseases. Research Objectives and Scope This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) solicits applications for exploratory and early-stage projects that focus on undruggable target classes within intractable human diseases.

Applicants will identify a human disease relevant undruggable target class and develop a method or agent that is selective for one or more targets within that target class.

Projects proposed in response to this NOFO must address targets traditionally considered undruggable and perform preclinical proof of concept studies to further the development of methods and/or agents selective for undruggable target classes in intractable human disease.

For the purposes of this NOFO, a druggable target is a target that can be engaged with high affinity through ‘conventional’ means - conventional referring to small molecules (typically produced through fully synthetic or semisynthetic methods) and biologics (typically produced in a living system) , which reversibly bind to a target as either an inhibitor, activator, agonist, or antagonist, to achieve a level of target occupancy that elicits an effect on the biology associated with the bound target.

An undruggable target is considered to be a target that cannot be engaged with high affinity through conventional means, and includes targets such as intrinsically disordered proteins, RNA, organelles, and metabolites, among others.

An intractable disease is considered to be any disease or class of diseases that is not easily treated, relieved, or cured, or is unable to be treated, relieved, or cured through currently available therapies. Projects should identify gaps preventing or slowing the development of treatments for diseases associated with undruggable targets and propose a preclinical method or agent that addresses the identified gap.

Projects submitted in response to this NOFO are expected to identify an undruggable target class relevant to an intractable human disease (or diseases) and develop a method and/or agent that is selective for a target (or targets) within that undruggable target class. Projects that address multiple classes of undruggable targets and/or groups of intractable diseases are encouraged.

The proposed project should serve as a use case that demonstrates modulation of a traditionally undruggable target, but that also serves as a proof of concept for a larger study and/or technology development that could be applied to the undruggable target class as a whole.

Topics of Low Programmatic Priority Projects that focus on (1) well established methods, such as small molecule development or gene therapy, (2) a target or group of targets that are considered druggable (such as receptors, enzymes, transporters etc.) or (3) disease(s) with significant numbers of existing effective treatments will be considered low programmatic priority.

An application on a low programmatic priority topic may be deprioritized for funding despite scoring better than an application not in one of these low programmatic priority areas. Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support.

Early-stage investigators are encouraged to apply. Applications Not Responsive to this NOFO: The following types of studies are not responsive to this NOFO. Applications proposing such studies will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed or considered for funding.

Projects where the majority of the proposed work focuses on cancer. See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

Section II. Award Information Grant: A financial assistance mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity. Application Types Allowed The OER Glossary and the How to Apply Application Guide provide details on these application types.

Only those application types listed here are allowed for this NOFO. Not Allowed: Only accepting applications that do not propose clinical trials. Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial?

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. The combined budget for direct costs for the two-year project period may not exceed $275,000. No more than $200,000 may be requested in any single year.

The total project period may not exceed 2 years. NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this NOFO. Section III.

Eligibility Information Higher Education Institutions - Includes all types Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education Private Institutions of Higher Education Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education) Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education) For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses) City or Township Governments Special District Governments Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized) Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized).

Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government U.S. Territory or Possession Independent School Districts Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments) Faith-based or Community-based Organizations Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are not eligible to apply.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement , are not allowed. Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the How to Apply- Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award.

All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. Failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission, please reference the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.

3. 9. 2 Electronically Submitted Applications for additional information.

System for Award Management (SAM) – Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually . The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.

NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code – Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) - A UEI is issued as part of the SAM. gov registration process.

The same UEI must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application. eRA Commons - Once the unique organization identifier is established, organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their Grants. gov registrations; all registrations must be in place by time of submission.

eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application. Grants. gov – Applicants must have an active SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.

gov registration. Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s)) All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons.

If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator) Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support.

For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the How to Apply-Application Guide. This NOFO does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 1. 2 Definition of Terms .

3. Additional Information on Eligibility Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct. The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time, per NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.

3. 7. 4 Submission of Resubmission Application .

This means that the NIH will not accept: A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application. A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.

An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NIH Grants Policy Statement 2. 3. 9.

4 Similar, Essentially Identical, or Identical Applications ). Section IV. Application and Submission Information 1.

Requesting an Application Package The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants. gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.

gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this NOFO. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution. 2.

Content and Form of Application Submission It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the How to Apply - Application Guide except where instructed in this notice of funding opportunity to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced.

Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review. All page limitations described in the How to Apply- Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed. Instructions for Application Submission The following section supplements the instructions found in the How to Apply- Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this NOFO.

All instructions in the How to Apply - Application Guide must be followed. SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed. SF424(R&R) Other Project Information All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the How to Apply-Application Guide must be followed.

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions: Selection of Undruggable Target Class and Target(s) for Study - The research strategy must contain a background section that clearly states (1) what undruggable target class(es) were chosen for study, (2) why the target class(es) are considered undruggable and (3) what the target's relevance is to human disease.

The research strategy should also contain a description of the target (or targets) that will serve as a use case for the method, agent and/or technology development. Description of Intractable Disease - the application must include a description of the intractable disease(s) selected for study.

This must include (1) a summary of currently available treatments for the disease(s) (if any) and (2) how this proposed study will address currently untreated aspects of the disease(s) and address unmet medical needs.

Rationale for Method/Agent/Technology Selection - Projects should identify gaps preventing or slowing the development of treatments for diseases associated with undruggable targets and propose a preclinical method, agent, or technology that addresses the identified gap.

The proposed project should serve as a use case that demonstrates modulation of a traditionally undruggable target, but that also serves as a proof of concept for a larger study and/or technology development that could be applied to the undruggable target class as a whole. Resource Sharing Plan : Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the How to Apply- Application Guide.

All instructions in the How to Apply-Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions: All applicants planning research (funded or conducted in whole or in part by NIH) that results in the generation of scientific data are required to comply with the instructions for the Data Management and Sharing Plan.

All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, must address a Data Management and Sharing Plan. Appendix: Only limited Appendix materials are allowed. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the How to Apply- Application Guide.

No publications or other material, with the exception of blank questionnaires or blank surveys, may be included in the Appendix.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the How to Apply- Application Guide, with the following additional instructions: If you answered “Yes” to the question “Are Human Subjects Involved?

” on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or Delayed Onset Study record. Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start). All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed. PHS Assignment Request Form All instructions in the How to Apply- Application Guide must be followed.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) See Part 2. Section III.

1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants. gov 4. Submission Dates and Times Part I.

contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday , the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Organizations must submit applications to Grants. gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons , NIH’s electronic system for grants administration.

NIH and Grants. gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.

gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.

3. 9. 2 Electronically Submitted Applications .

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission. Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the How to Apply-Application Guide. 5.

Intergovernmental Review (E. O. 12372) This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement . Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 7. 9.

1 Selected Items of Cost. 7. Other Submission Requirements and Information Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the How to Apply Application Guide.

Paper applications will not be accepted. Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III.

Eligibility Information contains information about registration. For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply – Application Guide . If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance.

For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII. All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile form . Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH.

See Section III of this NOFO for information on registration requirements. The applicant organization must ensure that the unique entity identifier provided on the application is the same identifier used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management. Additional information may be found in the How to Apply Application Guide.

See more tips for avoiding common errors. Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by components of participating organizations, NIH. Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.

Recipients or subrecipients must submit any information related to violations of federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations potentially affecting the federal award. See Mandatory Disclosures, 2 CFR 200. 113 and NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 4.

1. 35 . Send written disclosures to the NIH Chief Grants Management Officer listed on the Notice of Award for the IC that funded the award and to the HHS Office of Inspector Grant Self Disclosure Program at [email protected] .

Post Submission Materials Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy Section V. Application Review Information Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.

For this particular announcement, note the following: The R21 exploratory/developmental grant supports investigation of novel scientific ideas or new model systems, tools, or technologies that have the potential for significant impact on biomedical or biobehavioral research. An R21 grant application need not have extensive background material or preliminary information.

Accordingly, reviewers will emphasize the conceptual framework, the level of innovation, and the potential to significantly advance our knowledge or understanding. Appropriate justification for the proposed work can be provided through literature citations, data from other sources, or, when available, from investigator-generated data. Preliminary data are not required for R21 applications; however, they may be included if available.

Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following scored review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed). An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have a major scientific impact.

Reviewers will consider Factors 1, 2 and 3 in the determination of scientific merit, and in providing an overall impact score. In addition, Factors 1 and 2 will each receive a separate factor score. Factor 1.

Importance of the Research (Significance and Innovation) Evaluate the importance of the proposed research in the context of current scientific challenges and opportunities, either for advancing knowledge within the field, or more broadly. Assess whether the application addresses an important gap in knowledge in the field, would solve a critical problem, or create a valuable conceptual or technical advance.

Evaluate the rationale for undertaking the study, the rigor of the scientific background for the work (e.g., prior literature and/or preliminary data) and whether the scientific background justifies the proposed study. Evaluate the extent to which innovation influences the importance of undertaking the proposed research.

Note that while technical or conceptual innovation can influence the importance of the proposed research, a project that is not applying novel concepts or approaches may be of critical importance for the field. Evaluate whether the proposed work applies novel concepts, methods or technologies or uses existing concepts, methods, technologies in novel ways, to enhance the overall impact of the project.

Evaluate the extent to which the application addresses an intractable human disease with an unmet medical need. Evaluate the extent to which the application demonstrates a focus on an undruggable target class. Evaluate whether the project identifies a gap preventing or slowing the development of treatments for intractable diseases associated with undruggable targets.

Evaluate whether this work will inform further studies and/or technology development in the area of undruggable target classes. Factor 2. Rigor and Feasibility (Approach) Evaluate the scientific quality of the proposed work.

Evaluate the likelihood that compelling, reproducible findings will result (rigor) and assess whether the proposed studies can be done well and within the timeframes proposed (feasibility). Evaluate the potential to produce unbiased, reproducible, robust data. Evaluate the rigor of experimental design and whether appropriate controls are in place.

Evaluate whether the sample size is sufficient and well-justified. Assess the quality of the plans for analysis, interpretation, and reporting of results. Evaluate whether the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex or age, in the design, analysis, and reporting.

For applications involving human subjects or vertebrate animals, also evaluate: the rigor of the intervention or study manipulation (if applicable to the study design). whether outcome variables are justified. whether the results will be generalizable or, in the case of a rare disease/special group, relevant to the particular subgroup.

whether the study population appropriately models the target population. For applications involving human subjects, including clinical trials, assess the adequacy of inclusion plans as appropriate for the scientific goals of the research. Considerations of appropriateness may include disease/condition/behavior incidence, prevalence, or population burden, population representation, and/or current state of the science.

Evaluate whether the proposed approach is sound and achievable, including plans to address problems or new challenges that emerge in the work. For proposed studies in which feasibility may be less certain, evaluate whether the uncertainty is balanced by the potential for major advances.

For applications involving human subjects, including clinical trials, evaluate the adequacy and feasibility of the plan to recruit and retain a study population that appropriately models the target population. Additionally, evaluate the likelihood of successfully achieving the proposed enrollment based on age, race, ethnicity, and sex. For clinical trial applications, evaluate whether the study timeline and milestones are feasible.

Evaluate the specificity of the proposed preclinical method or agent to undruggable targets. Evaluate if the work proposed will serve as a use case and/or proof of concept for a larger study and/or technology development that could be applied to the undruggable target class as a whole. Factor 3.

Expertise and Resources (Investigator(s) and Environment) Evaluate whether the investigator(s) have demonstrated background, training, and expertise, as appropriate for their career stage, to conduct the proposed work. For Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI) applications, assess the quality of the leadership plan to facilitate coordination and collaboration.

Evaluate whether the institutional resources are appropriate to ensure the successful execution of the proposed work. Additional Review Criteria As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, but will not give criterion scores for these items, and should consider them in providing an overall impact score.

Protections for Human Subjects For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to subjects; 2) adequacy of protection against risks; 3) potential benefits to the subjects and others; 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained; and 5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.

For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption; 2)