Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 734
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Small Research Grants for Establishing Basic Science-Clinical Collaborations to Understand Structural Birth Defects" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR 18 734) is a discretionary grant program that uses the NIH R03 mechanism and explicitly does not allow clinical trials. The central goal is to help researchers form new, early-stage collaborations between basic science and clinical investigators focused on structural birth defects. In practical terms, this is meant to support the first steps of team formation and joint pilot work that can connect laboratory-based discovery with patient-oriented observations, clinical data, and medically relevant questions about how structural birth defects arise.
The FOA is designed for interdisciplinary teams rather than single-discipline projects. NIH is signaling that progress in understanding structural birth defects often requires coordination among people who study development and biology at the molecular and cellular level and those who diagnose, treat, and characterize birth defects in real-world clinical settings. Teams may include developmental biologists and cell biologists who can model early development, geneticists and genomicists who can investigate inherited or de novo variants, and physician scientists and clinicians who can provide clinical insight, patient phenotyping expertise, and access to relevant samples or datasets. The announcement also highlights that collaborations can include professionals such as epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and bioinformaticists, reflecting an expectation that many projects will rely on rigorous study design and modern data analysis, including computational approaches to genetics and genomics. It also explicitly includes physician scientists with DVM/VMD degrees, which suggests NIH is open to comparative or translational perspectives where animal health and models can inform mechanisms relevant to human structural birth defects.
Because this is an R03 small grant, the intent is typically to fund limited-scope, well-defined projects that generate preliminary data, validate feasibility, or establish shared methods and workflows across labs and clinics. The award ceiling listed is $75,000, reinforcing that this is not meant to be a large, multi-year research program, but rather a targeted investment to help teams get started, align on shared aims, and produce early results that could support future applications for larger NIH mechanisms. The funding activity sits within NIH health-related research categories and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.121, 93.273, 93.853, and 93.865, which correspond to NIH research assistance programs across institutes and centers that can be relevant to developmental biology, child health, and related biomedical research areas.
Eligibility is broad and includes a wide range of domestic organizations and certain non-domestic entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and a variety of nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status). It also includes for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses, as well as public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. The FOA also emphasizes eligibility for Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments). In addition, the opportunity explicitly welcomes applications from a set of mission-relevant institution types and community-linked organizations, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and foreign organizations (non-U.S. entities). That broad eligibility language reflects NIH interest in encouraging diverse partnerships and widening participation across geographic regions, institution types, and communities.
Administratively, the opportunity was created on 2018-03-30 and lists an original closing date of 2019-09-07 in the source data provided. While the FOA details in your text focus on collaboration-building and eligible applicant types, the title and clinical trial restriction are also important: applicants need to propose research that advances understanding of structural birth defects without conducting a clinical trial. That typically means the work could involve laboratory experiments, analysis of existing clinical or genomic datasets, development of new collaborations around patient phenotyping and sample pipelines, or other translational planning and pilot studies that do not meet NIH's definition of a clinical trial.
Overall, this NIH R03 FOA functions as a catalyst program: it aims to lower the barrier to launching new basic science-clinical partnerships in the structural birth defects space by providing modest, focused funding for early collaborative work. The expected outcome is that teams use the small-grant period to establish productive cross-disciplinary relationships, generate initial findings or proof-of-concept results, and build a foundation for more comprehensive studies and future funding aimed at uncovering mechanisms, risk factors, and biological pathways underlying structural birth defects.Apply for PAR 18 734
- The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Small Research Grants for Establishing Basic Science-Clinical Collaborations to Understand Structural Birth Defects (R03 - 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): 93.121, 93.273, 93.853, 93.865.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2018-03-30.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-09-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $75,000.00 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.
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| Rare Genetic Syndromes as a Window into the Genetic Architecture of Mental Disorders (Collaborative U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA MH 19 201 Funding Number: RFA MH 19 201 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| Enhancing Developmental Biology Research at Academic Research Enhancement Award Eligible Institutions (R15 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 18 834 Funding Number: PAR 18 834 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $300,000 |
| Role of Gut Microbiome in Regulating Reproduction and Its Impact on Fertility Status in Women Living with and Without HIV (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PA 18 838 Funding Number: PA 18 838 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $499,999 |
| Role of Gut Microbiome in Regulating Reproduction and Its Impact on Fertility Status in Women Living with and Without HIV (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PA 18 839 Funding Number: PA 18 839 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $200,000 |
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| Novel Approaches to Safe, Non-Invasive, Real Time Assessment of Human Placenta Development and Function Across Pregnancy (R21 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 18 885 Funding Number: PAR 18 885 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| Novel Approaches to Safe, Non-Invasive, Real Time Assessment of Human Placenta Development and Function Across Pregnancy (R01 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 18 884 Funding Number: PAR 18 884 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Clinical Trial Readiness for Rare Diseases, Disorders, and Syndromes (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 18 953 Funding Number: PAR 18 953 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $200,000 |
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| Reproductive Medicine Collaborative Clinical Trials Program (Collaborative R01 Clinical Trial Required) Apply for RFA HD 19 022 Funding Number: RFA HD 19 022 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| Contraception Research Centers Program (U54 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA HD 19 023 Funding Number: RFA HD 19 023 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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