Catalyze: Enabling Technologies and Transformative Platforms for HLBS Research (R33 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA HL 26 016

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HL 26 016

Catalyze: Enabling Technologies and Transformative Platforms for HLBS Research (R33 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funding opportunity designed to push promising, early-stage scientific advances closer to real-world health impact. It sits within the larger NHLBI Catalyze Program, which is built around a practical mission: help investigators move basic research discoveries toward viable diagnostic or therapeutic candidates that are ready to be cleared for human testing, while also building a workforce of translational researchers who understand product development, regulatory expectations, and entrepreneurship. In other words, this is not just about generating new knowledge; it is about creating tools and platforms that can realistically be advanced and adopted, with an emphasis on the kind of rigorous validation that helps technologies survive the jump from academic proof-of-concept to broadly usable solutions.

This specific initiative focuses on enabling technologies and transformative, multi-use platforms rather than one-off, single-disease gadgets. The program is looking for platforms or technologies that, once validated, could be reused across many projects, settings, or disease applications, and that have a credible path to accelerating HLBS (heart, lung, blood, and sleep) research and its downstream clinical and public health benefits. Competitive projects are expected to show that the platform could meaningfully speed up or reshape one or more major areas along the translational pipeline, such as early detection and screening, model development (including better experimental or preclinical models), clinical diagnosis, treatment approaches, disease control strategies, behavior-related interventions, prevention, or epidemiology. The key theme is leverage: the proposed work should not just be incremental improvement, but something that can change timelines, reduce barriers, or open up new capabilities for the broader HLBS community.

Because this is an R33 award mechanism and explicitly states Clinical Trials Not Allowed, the supported work is meant to stay on the technology/platform validation side rather than moving into human efficacy testing. Applicants should interpret that as a signal to emphasize robust technical development, performance evaluation, reproducibility, scalability, and evidence that the platform is ready to be used as a reliable foundation for later-stage translational or clinical efforts. Even if a platform has wide applicability beyond HLBS, the application must make a clear case that it will improve the outlook for diseases and disorders within NHLBI's mission space and that the validation plan is rigorous enough to de-risk the technology for future adoption.

On eligibility, this opportunity is broad and welcomes applicants across government, academia, nonprofit, and industry. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts, as well as public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education. Tribal participation is supported through federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments. Nonprofits are eligible whether or not they have 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education), and both for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses can apply. The notice also explicitly highlights additional eligible groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply as applicants, although non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible, and foreign components (as NIH defines them in the Grants Policy Statement) are allowed. Practically, that means a U.S.-based applicant can include certain foreign collaborations or work elements when justified, but a foreign institution cannot be the primary applicant.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-HL-26-016) under NIH, with activity in the health category and CFDA numbers listed as 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, and 93.839. The posted award ceiling is $350,000, and the original closing date is 2027-12-23. Taken together, the structure and messaging indicate that NHLBI wants projects that are disciplined about milestones and validation, grounded in real translational utility, and oriented toward building durable platforms that can be picked up and used by others to accelerate HLBS research and, ultimately, improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options in these disease areas.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Catalyze: Enabling Technologies and Transformative Platforms for HLBS Research (R33 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.233, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-11-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2027-12-23.
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $350,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

Apply for RFA HL 26 016

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: