The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.
The grant aims to support exploratory research projects that focus on the development and validation of emerging technologies designed to improve the quality of samples for cancer research or clinical care. It targets new capabilities to mitigate pre-analytical degradation of targeted analytes in biospecimens related to cancer. The grant seeks applications for technologies that have passed initial feasibility tests, as shown by preliminary data, yet require further development and rigorous validation for wider adoption. The objective is to foster the creation of innovative technologies that maximize the utility and quality of biological samples for subsequent analysis. This includes the development of tools, devices, instrumentation, and methods to preserve sample integrity or establish quality control criteria, aiming to boost cancer research, enhance early detection, clinical diagnosis, treatment, and epidemiology, and address cancer health disparities by minimizing pre-analytical variations that compromise biospecimen quality.