Pilot Projects Investigating Understudied G Protein-Coupled Receptors, Ion Channels, and Protein Kinases (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA RM 20 019

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is this funding opportunity?

This is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity announcement RFA-RM-20-019 from the NIH Common Fund program, Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG). It supports small, early-stage pilot research projects intended to advance understanding of certain "understudied" drug target families.

What NIH grant mechanism is used for this opportunity?

The funding mechanism is an NIH R03, which is typically used for smaller, focused, short-scope pilot projects rather than large multi-year programs.

Are clinical trials allowed under this announcement?

No. This opportunity is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the proposed work must not involve testing interventions in human participants. The supported work is expected to stay in preclinical, mechanistic, discovery/validation, and tool-building areas.

What scientific areas and target families does the FOA prioritize?

The FOA prioritizes pilot projects focused on understudied but potentially high-impact drug targets in these families:

• Non-olfactory G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)
• Ion channels
• Protein kinases

What does "understudied" mean in the context of this program?

Based on the FOA description, "understudied" refers to proteins within the specified druggable families that are lesser-characterized by the research community, even though they appear druggable and may be highly relevant to human biology and disease.

What is the main goal of the IDG pilot projects supported by this FOA?

The main goal is to generate new, credible evidence about what specific understudied proteins do and why they may matter in human disease. The FOA aims to move targets from "we know this gene exists and looks druggable" to "we understand enough about its biology, phenotype, and context to justify deeper study and potential therapeutic exploration."

What types of outcomes or deliverables are expected from funded projects?

Projects are expected to produce outcomes that help clarify protein function and make the targets more actionable for future research, such as:

• New datasets that illuminate function or context
• Experimental tools or enabling reagents
• Assays that identify biochemical or cellular activities
• Evidence linking targets to phenotypes in cell or animal models

How should an application use IDG resources?

A competitive project is expected to put IDG-generated resources to practical use. The FOA specifically mentions using and validating IDG resources such as datasets, reagents, experimental approaches, and knowledge-base tools in real research settings.

Why does the FOA emphasize tool- and resource-generation?

IDG emphasizes outcomes that enable the broader field. Beyond novel findings, the FOA highlights producing and distributing tools and reagents that make follow-on work easier and more reproducible, and contributing to a "minable" knowledge base so data and annotations can be searched, integrated, and reused by the community.

How many targets should a typical project focus on?

The FOA indicates that a typical competitive project would center on one or a small number of IDG-eligible understudied GPCRs, ion channels, or kinases, with a tightly scoped set of experiments.

Is this opportunity meant to replace the work of the core IDG Centers?

No. The intent is to push the biology of these lesser-characterized proteins beyond what the core IDG Centers can do on their own, while also demonstrating and extending the practical value of IDG-generated resources.

What is the broader mission of the IDG program that this FOA fits into?

This FOA sits within IDG's larger mission to catalyze research on druggable gene families that have historically received limited attention despite strong potential relevance to human health. The FOA is designed to fit into IDG's pipeline by producing results that are novel and readily leveraged by other researchers.

What are IDG's three emphasized outcomes mentioned in the FOA?

The FOA describes three major outcomes IDG emphasizes:

1. Discovering phenotypes for understudied proteins in biochemical assays, cell systems, or animal models
2. Enabling the field by producing and distributing tools and reagents for easier, more reproducible follow-on work
3. Building and sustaining a "minable" knowledge base that supports search, integration, and reuse by the broader community

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is broad and includes many U.S.-based organizations and government entities. The FOA lists eligible applicants including:

• 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
• Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments
• Public housing authorities / Indian housing authorities
• Nonprofits (501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), other than institutions of higher education)
• For-profit organizations (other than small businesses)
• Small businesses
• Other eligible organizations

Does the FOA explicitly encourage applications from specific institution types?

Yes. The FOA explicitly calls out additional eligible categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI). It also mentions faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Are non-U.S. (foreign) organizations eligible to apply?

No. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply as applicants.

Are any international elements allowed in a project?

Yes, within limits. The FOA states that "foreign components" (as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant organization may include certain well-justified international elements while remaining a U.S.-based eligible applicant.

What agency and program are administering this opportunity?

This is administered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the NIH Common Fund program Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG).

What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The FOA is identified as a discretionary grant opportunity under CFDA 93.310.

When was this FOA created and what was the original closing date?

The FOA was created on April 21, 2020, and the original closing date was July 15, 2020.

What kind of research activities fit best under this FOA?

Based on the FOA description, projects fit best when they are tightly scoped pilot studies that generate credible functional evidence for understudied GPCRs, ion channels, or kinases, and that also create shareable datasets, tools, assays, or reagents that other researchers can use.

What is the community-facing goal mentioned in the FOA?

A parallel goal is to show that IDG resources are high quality and useful in real-world research settings. By doing so, these projects should increase awareness and use of IDG outputs and extend characterization of IDG-eligible proteins in a way that compounds the value of the overall program.

What does the FOA mean by a "multiplier effect"?

The FOA frames the payoff as more than a single lab's findings. The intent is to produce better-characterized targets, stronger public resources, and clearer starting points for future larger-scale biology and translational research, so the broader community benefits from the pilot work.