Single Source: NCI National Clinical Trials Network - Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA CA 24 034

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 24 034

This funding opportunity (RFA-CA-24-034) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) solicitation to support the continued operation of a centralized Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Center for the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). The core purpose is to provide high-level scientific and technical expertise that helps NCTN clinical trials consistently and safely incorporate radiotherapy and imaging-related interventions. In practical terms, the Center is expected to function as a network-wide resource that standardizes and strengthens quality assurance (QA) processes and manages imaging-related data needs so that trial results are reliable, comparable across sites, and suitable for rigorous scientific and regulatory expectations.

A major emphasis of the NOFO is integrated quality assurance and image data management for NCTN trials that use radiotherapy and/or imaging modalities. This includes supporting the technical and operational infrastructure needed to ensure that participating sites deliver radiotherapy according to protocol requirements and that imaging is acquired, handled, and curated in a consistent way. The intent is to reduce variability across institutions, improve protocol compliance, and protect the integrity of trial endpoints that depend on imaging or radiotherapy delivery. Although the announcement does not list every specific task, the scope strongly implies centralized services such as establishing QA standards and workflows, providing expertise to study teams, supporting credentialing or other protocol-driven readiness checks where applicable, and handling the secure intake, organization, and management of imaging datasets and related metadata to make them usable for trial conduct and analysis.

Beyond NCTN, the Center must also have the capacity to extend similar radiotherapy and imaging core services to other approved NCI-supported clinical trial network programs. Examples named in the announcement include NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) early phase clinical trial network activities and the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). This signals that NCI is looking for a core that can operate at scale, serve multiple program contexts, and adapt its support model to different trial phases and network environments while maintaining consistent QA and data management standards.

The award mechanism is a U24 cooperative agreement, meaning NCI expects substantial programmatic involvement with the awardee compared with a standard grant. Cooperative agreements typically come with close coordination, shared governance expectations, and active federal stewardship in areas such as prioritization, performance metrics, and alignment with network-wide trial operations. The NOFO also explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," indicating the funded activity is not intended to conduct an independent clinical trial under this award. Instead, the Center supports other NCI-approved trials by providing enabling infrastructure and expertise, rather than acting as the sponsor or operator of a new clinical trial.

From an eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is open to a wide range of domestic applicants, including eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and Indian/Native American Tribal Governments that are not federally recognized. The listing also notes other eligible applicant types such as independent school districts and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, along with "others," reflecting a broad eligibility framework typical of NIH opportunities when an organization can credibly perform the required specialized functions. At the same time, there are clear limits on foreign participation: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which generally means a U.S. applicant can include certain foreign activities or collaborations when justified and permitted under NIH rules, even though the applicant organization itself must be domestic.

Key administrative details include the sponsoring agency (National Institutes of Health, through NCI), the opportunity category (discretionary), and the funding instrument (cooperative agreement). The activity category is listed under education and health, and the relevant CFDA numbers are 93.394 and 93.395. The original closing date is February 24, 2025. The award ceiling is stated as $8,140,000, indicating NCI anticipates a substantial budget consistent with running a national-scale core that supports multiple multi-site trials and networks. The posting record shows a creation date of October 9, 2024.

Overall, the NOFO is aimed at sustaining a specialized, network-level core center that ensures radiotherapy and imaging elements of NCI-supported network trials are executed with consistent quality, and that imaging data are managed in ways that support trial operations and credible outcomes. The Center is positioned as shared infrastructure for NCTN and potentially other NCI trial network programs, with responsibilities centered on standardization, technical support, and coordinated QA and data management rather than initiating new clinical trials.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Single Source: NCI National Clinical Trials Network - Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Center (U24 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): 93.394, 93.395.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-24. (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 $8,140,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Independent school districts, Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Others.

Apply for RFA CA 24 034

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