Proteogenomic Data Analysis Centers (PGDACs) for Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA CA 21 024

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 21 024

The Proteogenomic Data Analysis Centers (PGDACs) funding opportunity (RFA-CA-21-024) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cooperative agreement (U24) designed to support the data analysis arm of the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC), which is managed by NCI's Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research (OCCPR). The overall aim is to strengthen the infrastructure and expertise needed to analyze and integrate large-scale cancer proteomics and genomics data (proteogenomics) so researchers can better understand how genomic alterations translate into protein-level changes that actually drive tumor behavior. By emphasizing coordinated, consortium-style work and broad sharing of outputs, the program is meant to accelerate discovery and make high-value datasets and tools broadly usable by the cancer research community.

At a scientific level, the opportunity centers on comprehensive proteogenomic approaches to deepen understanding of cancer biology and tumor complexity. CPTAC's focus reflects the reality that genomic data alone often does not capture functional biology: proteins and their modifications are closer to mechanism, phenotype, and drug response. PGDACs, as supported by this FOA, are expected to contribute analytical capabilities that connect DNA- and RNA-level events with proteomic measurements, helping to map how molecular changes propagate through pathways, signaling networks, and cellular systems in tumors. The end result the program is pushing toward is more actionable knowledge about tumor mechanisms, including potential biomarkers and therapeutic vulnerabilities that may only become obvious when multi-omic layers are analyzed together.

A second major emphasis is on enabling development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics by using proteogenomic strategies to understand drug response and the emergence of resistance, specifically in the context of clinical trials. While this FOA is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning applicants cannot propose running a clinical trial as part of the U24 award, the consortium's broader mission includes analyzing clinical trial-related datasets or samples generated elsewhere to learn how tumors respond to treatment and how resistance develops. In practice, this means the PGDAC role is to provide sophisticated computational and statistical analyses that can tie treatment exposure and clinical outcomes to multi-omic tumor profiles, identify response-associated patterns, and support biomarker and target discovery that can inform future translational research.

A third core goal is translation and community impact through public resources. The FOA highlights dissemination of resources such as datasets, assays, images, and reagents that catalyze hypothesis-driven science. In the PGDAC context, this typically points to producing analysis-ready data products, standardized pipelines, reproducible workflows, and well-documented results that can be reused by other investigators, rather than remaining locked inside a single project. The intent is to reduce barriers for the broader community by making high-quality proteogenomic outputs easy to find, interpret, and integrate into new studies, which helps multiply the impact of the original data generation efforts.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, this is a discretionary federal grant offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with NCI as the sponsoring institute. The mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically means NIH/NCI staff have substantial scientific involvement during the project period, coordinating activities across the consortium and helping align centers to shared standards, milestones, and deliverables. The opportunity listed an award ceiling of $550,000 and anticipated up to 4 awards. It was created on April 5, 2021, with an original closing date of June 30, 2021. The program is associated with CFDA numbers 93.394 and 93.395.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can contribute advanced computational, analytic, and data resource capabilities. 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; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (outside higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and additional categories as described in the full announcement. This wide eligibility reflects the reality that proteogenomic data science capacity can live in academic medical centers, universities, nonprofits, government labs, and specialized private-sector groups.

In short, this FOA funds PGDACs as key analytical hubs within CPTAC to deliver high-quality proteogenomic integration, generate insights into tumor biology and therapy response, and produce sharable, reusable public resources. The emphasis is not simply on running analyses for a single study, but on building consortium-grade data processing, integration, and dissemination capabilities that expand the reach and usefulness of CPTAC data for the entire cancer research community.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Proteogenomic Data Analysis Centers (PGDACs) for Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (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 Apr 05, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 30, 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 $550,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 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).

Apply for RFA CA 21 024

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