Single Source: The NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository (U42 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 24 055

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 24 055

This funding opportunity, titled "Single Source: The NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository (HGCR) (U42 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (PAR-24-055), is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant that will be issued as a cooperative agreement (U42). It sits within NIH's health funding category (CFDA 93.859) and is run by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The closing date listed for the opportunity is June 10, 2026, and it was originally created on December 15, 2023. As a U42 cooperative agreement, the award is designed for an activity where NIH expects to have substantial involvement with the awardee during performance, which often means closer coordination, shared planning, and ongoing programmatic input than a standard research project grant.

The main purpose of the announcement is to sustain and operate the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository, a centralized national resource that supports biomedical research by providing access to well-characterized human cell cultures and DNA. The recipient organization is expected to maintain the existing collection already held by the repository, which includes cell cultures and DNA samples, and to ensure those materials remain viable, properly stored, accurately documented, and usable by the research community. In addition to stewardship of the current holdings, the repository is expected to actively acquire new, high-quality cell samples, characterize them to confirm identity and quality, expand them as needed to create sufficient inventory, and then distribute both cell lines and extracted DNA to qualified biomedical researchers. In practice, this kind of repository work typically involves standardized workflows for sample accessioning, authentication, contamination screening, documentation, inventory management, and fulfillment of requests in a way that keeps materials consistent and reliable across many downstream research uses.

The announcement is explicitly "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the supported activities must not include prospective clinical trial research as defined by NIH. The focus is on resource infrastructure and biological materials management and distribution rather than enrolling human participants into interventional studies. While the repository relates to human genetic materials, the award is oriented around collection management, characterization, and dissemination as a research enabling platform.

Eligibility is limited. The listed eligible applicant type is "Public and State controlled institutions of higher education." The notice also clearly restricts foreign involvement: non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply; non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply; and foreign components, as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed. In other words, the applicant and the work supported under the award must be domestic in scope without foreign components. The announcement also notes that applicants should consult the full funding announcement for complete eligibility details and any additional conditions or expectations not captured in the brief summary.

Overall, this opportunity supports a single-source national repository function: keeping an established human genetic cell and DNA collection healthy and current, expanding it with additional high-value samples, ensuring rigorous characterization and quality, and reliably distributing those resources to qualified researchers to accelerate and standardize biomedical research.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Single Source: The NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository (U42 - 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): 93.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-06-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for PAR 24 055

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