Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40) (Clinical Trials Not-Allowed) | RFA OD 20 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 20 002

The Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40) funding opportunity (RFA-OD-20-002) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program designed to support national-scale research resource centers that strengthen and enable biomedical research. The focus is not on funding a single hypothesis-driven research project, but on building, sustaining, or expanding shared infrastructure and collections that many investigators can use. These centers are expected to serve the broader research community on a local, regional, and especially national basis by providing reliable access to specialized laboratory animal colonies and other widely useful biological materials and tools. Clinical trials are not allowed under this opportunity, which signals that the work supported here is intended to be resource development, resource maintenance, and resource distribution rather than testing interventions in human participants.

A central goal of this program is to improve scientific rigor, transparency, and experimental reproducibility across biomedical research. In practical terms, NIH is looking for resource centers that make it easier for researchers to use well-characterized animals, biological specimens, genetic stocks, cultures, reagents, and related informatics tools in a standardized way. These kinds of shared resources can reduce variability between labs, improve quality control, and make it easier for other scientists to replicate results. The FOA explicitly recognizes that strong, professionally managed resource centers can have an outsized impact by setting consistent standards for animal and material quality, husbandry, verification, recordkeeping, and distribution practices.

The resources supported under this FOA can include special colonies of laboratory animals as well as a broad range of biological and technical assets. Examples named in the announcement include informatics tools, reagents, cultures such as cells, tissues, and organs, and genetic stocks. The intent is that these assets are not narrow or boutique offerings for a small group, but instead are broadly applicable resources used across multiple biomedical research areas. Because this program is administered in alignment with the NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) mission, proposed centers must be relevant to multiple NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs). That trans-NIH expectation is a key fit requirement: applicants need to show their center will address needs that cut across disciplines or disease areas and will be valuable to a wide swath of NIH-funded researchers.

The FOA is structured to support both the continuation of existing, proven resources and the development of new resources when there is a clear national need. For established centers, the application typically needs to make the case for ongoing demand, demonstrated impact, and a strong plan for operations, quality assurance, user access, and long-term sustainability. For new centers, applicants generally need to show a compelling gap in national infrastructure, a credible plan to build capacity, and evidence that the proposed resource will reach and benefit a broad user base rather than remaining locally constrained. Across both types, the emphasis is on practical deliverables: maintaining animals and materials, documenting and validating them appropriately, and making them accessible to the research community in ways that raise overall research quality.

NIH strongly encourages prospective applicants to consult with ORIP scientific or research staff before preparing an application. This is positioned as more than a courtesy; it is meant to help applicants confirm that their resource concept fits the program, aligns with ORIP priorities, and is competitive. Early conversation can also help clarify expectations around scope, user community, operations, and how the proposed center would demonstrate national impact. Given the trans-NIH mission requirement, this pre-application consultation can be especially important for shaping a plan that clearly extends beyond a single institute, disease area, or narrow investigator network.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education as well as private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those specific nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other eligible entities. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies. Regional organizations and U.S. territories or possessions are also included in the eligible universe.

At the same time, the foreign eligibility rules are specific. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may be able to include certain foreign activities or collaborations if they meet NIH policy requirements and are properly justified, even though the main applicant organization must be domestic.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is a grant mechanism in the health funding category (CFDA 93.351) under NIH. The original closing date listed for this FOA was January 7, 2023, and it was created on January 8, 2020. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data, which often means applicants need to rely on the FOA text, NIH discussions, or program staff guidance for budgeting expectations and overall funding context.

In plain terms, this program is best understood as NIH investing in the backbone of biomedical research: curated animals, validated biological materials, and the systems that track, characterize, and distribute them. Competitive applications are likely to be those that can demonstrate broad national need and usage, strong operational competence, clear policies for access and distribution, and concrete ways the center will improve rigor and reproducibility for many different NIH-supported research communities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40) (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): 93.351.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-01-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-01-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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 OD 20 002

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