Assay development and screening for discovery of chemical probes, drugs or immunomodulators (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Develop assays to find small molecules for treating diseases by targeting biological processes, supported by NCI NOFO for discovery research to identify potential therapeutics and immunomodulators.
Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: May 6, 2025 (Letter of Intent) | June 5, 2025 (New) | July 5, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | October 5, 2025 (New) | November 5, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | Additional cycles through 2026
Funding Amounts: No budget limit; project period up to 3 years; budgets must reflect actual needs.
Summary: Supports discovery research to develop and validate assays for identifying small molecules as chemical probes or therapeutic leads for cancer biology—clinical trials are not allowed.
Key Information: Contact NCI program staff if requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs in any year; foreign and domestic applicants eligible; data sharing to PubChem is expected.
Description
This NIH/NCI funding opportunity supports research projects focused on the discovery and development of small molecules that can serve as chemical probes or as leads for drug or immunomodulator development relevant to cancer biology. The program is designed to advance the early stages of small molecule discovery, including assay development, screening, and hit validation, but does not support clinical trials or extensive medicinal chemistry optimization.
Projects may address one or more of the following stages:
- Development and validation of primary screening assays for novel cancer targets or pathways.
- Implementation of high-throughput or moderate-throughput screening to identify initial hits.
- Hit validation, including secondary/orthogonal assays, cheminformatics, and initial medicinal chemistry inspection.
The ultimate goal is to generate validated small molecule tools to probe cancer biology, validate targets, or serve as the basis for future drug development.
