Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet): SenNet Technology Projects (SenTecs) (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NIH offers five-year, milestone-driven awards to develop and validate technologies for studying senescent cell diversity and its effects on aging and disease; clinical trials are not allowed.
Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: November 23, 2026 (Application, 5:00 PM applicant organization’s local time)
Funding Amounts: $6 million estimated program funding, 15 expected awards; up to $400,000/year UG3 and $550,000/year UH3 in direct costs; maximum 5 years
Summary: Supports innovative technologies to identify and characterize senescent-cell heterogeneity and advance strategies for targeting senescent cells in human aging and disease.
Key Information: Both UG3 and UH3 plans are required at application; transition to UH3 is not automatic.
Description
The NIH Common Fund’s Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet) supports development of innovative senescence technologies (SenTecs), including adaptation of existing technologies. Projects should identify, characterize, or explain the biological consequences of senescent-cell heterogeneity within tissue environments and secretomes. The goal is to improve strategies for modulating senescent cells in vivo and predicting the outcomes of targeting them in human aging and disease.
Administered by the National Cancer Institute, these milestone-driven cooperative agreements support technology feasibility followed by optimization, scaling, and validation. Technologies must be developed for human systems and models, although initial proof-of-principle experiments may use nonhuman models. Relevant approaches include lipidomics, proteomics, metabolomics, multiscale modeling, AI/ML, genomics, epigenomics, lineage analysis, and imaging. Awardees join SenNet and collaborate on technology validation, data interoperability, and dissemination.
