New Cohorts for Environmental Exposures and Cancer Risk (CEECR; UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA CA 20 049

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 20 049

The New Cohorts for Environmental Exposures and Cancer Risk (CEECR; UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity (RFA-CA-20-049) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cooperative agreement designed to launch brand-new prospective cohort studies that can answer important, unresolved questions about how environmental exposures contribute to cancer risk and the biological steps involved in carcinogenesis. The central aim is to build forward-looking cohorts that collect exposure information and health outcomes over time, closing major gaps in what is known about cancer causes, especially where exposure data have historically been weak, inconsistent, or missing.

A defining feature of this opportunity is its strong emphasis on environmental exposures, broadly defined as physical, chemical, and biological factors outside the individual, along with related behavioral factors that shape exposure or response. The FOA pushes applicants to go beyond traditional questionnaires alone and instead use validated, reproducible, and innovative exposure measurement methods that are well matched to the scientific questions being asked. In practical terms, this encourages approaches such as improved biomonitoring, wearable or sensor-based measurements, geospatial or environmental monitoring linkages, and other modern strategies that can capture exposure timing, intensity, mixtures, and variability with higher accuracy and comparability.

Equity and representation are core expectations rather than optional enhancements. The cohorts are expected to include racial and ethnic minority groups and other understudied populations, with the explicit goal of addressing the unequal burden of cancer experienced by these communities. That focus signals that proposals should be intentional about recruitment, retention, community engagement, culturally appropriate study operations, and data completeness, so that the resulting cohort can support credible analyses of disparities, susceptibility, and exposure differences that may drive unequal cancer outcomes.

This FOA uses the UG3/UH3 phased cooperative agreement structure. In general, that means projects start with a time-limited planning and start-up phase (UG3) with specific milestones, and only transition to the implementation phase (UH3) after demonstrating that the cohort can be successfully launched and managed according to those milestones. As a cooperative agreement, substantial involvement from NCI is expected, typically through shared governance, milestone-driven oversight, and coordination across projects to maximize scientific value and harmonization. Clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement, reinforcing that the intent is observational cohort infrastructure and etiologic research rather than testing interventions.

The cohort awards funded through this announcement are meant to operate as part of a broader program. This FOA was published in parallel with a separate companion solicitation for a CEECR Coordinating Center (RFA-CA-20-050; U24), and together the funded cohorts plus the coordinating center form the Cohorts for Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk (CEECR) program. The coordinating center concept implies an expectation that individual cohorts will align on shared practices where feasible, such as common data elements, exposure assessment standards, biospecimen procedures, quality control, governance policies, and cross-cohort collaboration to enable pooled or comparative analyses.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institutes of Health, with NCI as the sponsoring institute. It is categorized as discretionary funding and uses a cooperative agreement mechanism. The listed CFDA numbers are 93.113, 93.393, and 93.399. The anticipated scale of funding includes an award ceiling of $750,000, with an expected five awards. The original posting lists a creation date of October 14, 2020 and an original closing date of January 29, 2021.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types that could realistically build and sustain prospective cohorts. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other entities as described in the full announcement’s eligibility language. This wide eligibility aligns with the program’s need for multidisciplinary capacity, access to diverse populations, and the operational infrastructure required to recruit, follow, and measure exposures and outcomes over time.

Overall, the CEECR UG3/UH3 opportunity is best understood as an investment in new cohort infrastructure and high-quality exposure science aimed at strengthening causal evidence about environmental contributors to cancer, while also ensuring that the resulting knowledge base is relevant to populations that have often been left out of large cohort research and that bear disproportionate cancer burdens.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "New Cohorts for Environmental Exposures and Cancer Risk (CEECR; UG3/UH3 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, 93.393, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 14, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 29, 2021. (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 $750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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