Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 21 209
The NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Early-stage Investigator Research Award is an R21 grant opportunity (PAR-21-209) from the National Institutes of Health designed specifically to bring Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) into the NIH Chemical Countermeasures Research Program (CCRP) within the broader CounterACT effort. The central goal is to support innovative, early-stage research aimed at discovering or advancing medical therapeutics that can reduce illness or injury caused by exposure to highly toxic chemicals. The projects supported under this FOA can be exploratory or applied, including proof-of-principle studies and other high risk, high impact ideas that may be too early or unconventional for more traditional mechanisms, but that could open up new countermeasure strategies.
A defining feature of this announcement is its unusually strict and ESI-friendly stance on preliminary data. Preliminary data are not required, not expected, and not encouraged, which is intended to reduce the barrier for new investigators who may not yet have extensive datasets in this area. If an applicant does have some early results, only minimal preliminary data are permitted, and the FOA sets a hard formatting limit: all preliminary data must be clearly labeled and confined to no more than one-half page total, and that half page may include only one figure. Applications that exceed these limits are considered noncompliant and will not proceed to peer review, so the intent is clearly to keep applications focused on rationale, approach, and innovation rather than extensive prior results.
Unlike many R21 opportunities that are shorter, this FOA provides an extended project period of up to three years. The expectation is that awardees will use this runway to produce the kind of foundational evidence and feasibility results that can support a later, more substantial application to NIH CounterACT programs or other related NIH funding opportunities. In other words, this mechanism is positioned as a launchpad: it funds the early work needed to de-risk a concept, generate key data, and build momentum toward larger-scale countermeasure development efforts, while still staying within the exploratory spirit of an R21.
This particular R21 is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the supported work must not include clinical trials as defined by NIH. Applicants should therefore design projects around preclinical studies, mechanistic work, model development, screening and evaluation of candidate therapeutics, biomarker-related research that does not constitute a clinical trial, or other non-trial activities aligned with chemical threat countermeasure development.
Eligibility is broad across many U.S.-based organization types, including state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also highlights a range of mission-relevant institution types as eligible applicants, including 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), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.
At the same time, there are important restrictions related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which typically means a U.S. applicant may include certain scientifically justified activities performed abroad under NIH rules, even though a foreign institution cannot serve as the applicant.
The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and uses the grant funding instrument. It is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.113, 93.279, 93.846, 93.853, 93.855, 93.867), reflecting the cross-cutting NIH institutes and program areas that can participate in CounterACT-related funding. The original closing date listed for this FOA was July 27, 2021, with a creation date of April 19, 2021. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source details, so applicants would typically rely on the full FOA text and NIH budget guidance for limits, allowable costs, and any institute-specific considerations.Apply for PAR 21 209
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Early-stage Investigator Research Award (R21 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): 93.113, 93.279, 93.846, 93.853, 93.855, 93.867.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2021-04-19.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-27. (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.
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Applicants also applied for:
Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (PAR 21 209) also looked into and applied for these:
| Funding Opportunity |
|---|
| Summer Research Education Experience Program (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 21 168 Funding Number: PAR 21 168 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $125,000 |
| The Role of Work in Health Disparities in the U.S. (R01 Clinical Trials Optional) Apply for PAR 21 275 Funding Number: PAR 21 275 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 - Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required (BESH)) Apply for PAR 21 273 Funding Number: PAR 21 273 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Emerging Global Leader Award (K43 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 21 252 Funding Number: PAR 21 252 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Emerging Global Leader Award (K43 Independent Clinical Trial Required) Apply for PAR 21 251 Funding Number: PAR 21 251 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Virtual Consortium for Translational/Transdisciplinary Environmental Research (ViCTER) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA ES 21 007 Funding Number: RFA ES 21 007 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $475,000 |
| Measures and Methods to Advance Research on Minority Health and Health Disparities-Related Constructs (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 22 072 Funding Number: PAR 22 072 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| Emergency Award: Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Tribal Data Repository (RADx TDR) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA OD 22 011 Funding Number: RFA OD 22 011 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $2,000,000 |
| CCRP Initiative: Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Therapeutics Discovery and Early-Stage Development (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 22 209 Funding Number: PAR 22 209 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $350,000 |
| Multi-Omics for Health and Disease - Disease Study Sites (U01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA HG 22 008 Funding Number: RFA HG 22 008 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| Multi-Omics for Health and Disease - Data Analysis and Coordination Center (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA HG 22 010 Funding Number: RFA HG 22 010 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $950,000 |
| Multi-Omics for Health and Disease - 'Omics Production Centers (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA HG 22 009 Funding Number: RFA HG 22 009 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $2,700,000 |
| The Intersection of Sex and Gender Influences on Health and Disease (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA OD 22 028 Funding Number: RFA OD 22 028 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $350,000 |
| Implementation Research on Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factors among Low- and Middle-Income Country and Tribal Populations Living in City Environments (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 23 042 Funding Number: PAR 23 042 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Genomic Community Resources (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 23 085 Funding Number: PAR 23 085 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Biomedical Data Repository (U24 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 23 079 Funding Number: PAR 23 079 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Biomedical Knowledgebase (U24 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 23 078 Funding Number: PAR 23 078 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Time-Sensitive Research Opportunities in Environmental Health Sciences (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA ES 23 004 Funding Number: RFA ES 23 004 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NIH Medical Scientist Partnership Program (FM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 23 109 Funding Number: PAR 23 109 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| CCRP Initiative: NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Translational Exploratory/Developmental Research Projects (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 23 139 Funding Number: PAR 23 139 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Environment, Health Funding Amount: $275,000 |
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