Grants for Researchers

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

This NIH fellowship funds individual predoctoral students conducting dissertation research in health-related fields under a faculty sponsor, with the goal of developing them into independent researchers. It is limited to individual applicants (not organizations); foreign organizations are named as an other-eligible category, and applicants may not lead an independent clinical trial. No specific award amount is listed, and the deadline is several years out.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open to U.S. universities, research institutions, nonprofits, foreign organizations, and certain government/tribal entities. This NIH X01 provides access to TOPMed genomic and multi-omics data resources to study heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders — it offers data generation, not direct funding. Aimed at researchers doing functional-genomics and mechanism studies.

Food and Drug Administration · Up to $1.3M

Open to public and private higher-education institutions, including HBCUs, tribal colleges, and other minority-serving institutions. This FDA U18 forms long-term academic partnerships to research avian influenza and emerging zoonotic threats, intentional genomic alterations in animals, and products for minor and veterinary species. Awards up to about $1,250,000.

Food and Drug Administration · Up to $900K

Open to nearly any organization — universities, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3)), for-profits and small businesses, state/local/tribal governments, and foreign organizations. This FDA R01 funds clinical trials of orphan products evaluating safety and efficacy to address unmet needs in rare diseases. Awards up to about $900,000; clinical trials are required.

National Institutes of Health · Up to $2.1M

Open to U.S. research institutions and universities, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations; foreign organizations cannot apply, and (as of May 2025) projects with foreign subawards are ineligible. This NIH U2C-TL1 funds institutional networks that recruit and train researchers in kidney, urologic, and hematologic disease research. Awards up to about $2,100,000.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open to eligible NIGMS-funded investigators and new investigators at U.S. institutions; foreign organizations are not eligible, and projects with foreign subawards are excluded. This NIH R35 (MIRA) gives an investigator stable, flexible single-grant support for their lab's research within the NIGMS mission, rather than project-by-project funding. Early-stage investigators should use the separate ESI MIRA notice.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open to U.S. universities, research institutions, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations; foreign organizations are not eligible. This NIH R61/R33 funds mechanistic clinical research on how mind-and-body interventions (e.g., meditation, yoga, acupuncture) affect emotional well-being and whole-person health, in two milestone-tied phases. Strong preliminary data are expected.

National Institutes of Health · Up to $500K

Open to U.S. and foreign research institutions, universities, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations. This NIH R01 funds groundbreaking, high-impact Down syndrome research across any relevant topic, with no preliminary data required. Awards up to about $500,000.

National Institutes of Health · Up to $200K

Open to U.S. and foreign research institutions, universities, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations. This NIH R21 funds exploratory, higher-risk Down syndrome research — feasibility studies, novel methods, or new applications of existing techniques. Awards up to about $200,000.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open to U.S. and foreign research institutions, universities, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations. This NIH R61/R33 funds milestone-driven development of clinical trials to treat co-occurring health conditions in people with Down syndrome — up to two years of planning followed by up to three years of trial support. Clinical trials are required.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open specifically to federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native tribes, tribal colleges and universities, tribal health programs, and tribal organizations. This NIH R34 planning grant funds preparatory work to develop competitive Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH) applications. Eligibility is narrow — limited to AI/AN tribal entities; award size follows standard R34 limits.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open to U.S. universities, research institutions, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations; foreign organizations are not eligible. This NIH R21 funds projects that improve clinical-trial readiness for rare diseases — developing biomarkers and outcome measures, or characterizing a disease's course to enable future trials. Award size follows standard R21 limits.

Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA · $750K–$50M

Open broadly to any type of entity — universities, nonprofits, businesses (including small businesses), and others. This Department of Defense / Defense Health Agency broad agency announcement funds extramural biomedical and human-performance research and development through FY28. Awards span a very wide range, from about $750,000 to $50 million.

Washington Headquarters Services · $2.5K–$800K

This Department of Defense program funds research on security cooperation and irregular warfare topics, open to individual researchers (with or without institutional affiliation), academic institutions, think tanks, and federally funded R&D centers; past awardees may reapply. Applicants can submit only one proposal at a time as principal investigator, and research products must be unclassified and made publicly accessible. Awards range from $2,500 to $800,000, and the deadline is not imminent.

National Institutes of Health · Up to $3M

Open to U.S. and foreign research institutions, universities, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations. This NIH UG3/UH3 funds discovery and development of interventions — medications and devices — to prevent and treat substance use disorders and overdose, including preclinical and clinical studies. Awards up to about $3,000,000.

National Institutes of Health · Up to $500K

Open to U.S. universities, research institutions, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations; foreign organizations are not eligible. This NIH R01 funds development of non-invasive or minimally invasive technologies to image the human olfactory system at high resolution. Awards up to about $500,000; multidisciplinary teams are encouraged.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open to U.S. universities, research institutions, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations; foreign organizations are not eligible. This NIH R01 supports early-stage investigators pursuing a new research direction, and applications must include no preliminary data. Award size follows standard R01 limits; aimed at researchers early in their independent careers.

National Institutes of Health · Up to $100K

This NIH award (SuRE, up to $100,000) funds investigator-initiated biomedical research by full-time faculty at resource-limited higher education institutions who do not currently hold other NIH research project grants, aiming to build research capacity and student research experience. Foreign organizations and their non-U.S. components are not eligible. The maximum award is under $100,000, and the application deadline is not imminent.

National Institutes of Health · Up to $125K

This NIH award (SuRE-First, up to $125,000) funds investigator-initiated biomedical research by full-time faculty at resource-limited institutions who have never previously held an independent, peer-reviewed external research grant, aiming to build research capacity and provide student research experience. Foreign organizations and their non-U.S. components are not eligible. The maximum award is small, and the deadline is not imminent.

National Institutes of Health · Amount varies

Open to U.S. and foreign research institutions, universities, nonprofits, and certain government/tribal organizations. This NIH/NCI R21 funds early-stage, exploratory research on cancer control — prevention behaviors, screening, etiology, and novel methods. Award size follows standard R21 limits.