A Data Resource for Analyzing Blood and Marrow Transplants (Limited Competition U24) | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the purpose of this funding opportunity?

This opportunity supports continued federal funding for the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) to sustain and operate a major international outcomes database for blood and marrow transplantation. The central goal is to keep a high-quality, standardized, and usable resource of transplant outcomes data available for research and stakeholder needs.

What is the official title of the opportunity?

The opportunity is titled: A Data Resource for Analyzing Blood and Marrow Transplants (Limited Competition U24).

Which federal agency is offering this grant?

The opportunity is offered through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

What is the funding mechanism used for this opportunity?

The announcement uses a U24 cooperative agreement mechanism. This generally indicates NIH expects substantial involvement with the awardee in guiding the scope, performance, and priorities of the supported resource.

What does it mean that this is a "cooperative agreement" (U24)?

Based on the description provided, the cooperative agreement structure means NIH anticipates active partnership with the awardee. The award is not framed as support for a single research project, but rather for an ongoing data infrastructure resource where NIH helps guide priorities and performance.

What is being funded: a research study or a data resource?

This FOA emphasizes support for a data infrastructure resource, not a single stand-alone research project. The award supports maintaining, improving, and operating a centralized outcomes database that can be used by multiple audiences.

What is the CIBMTR database intended to capture?

The database is intended to capture consecutive patient and transplant data from participating blood and marrow transplant centers worldwide, in a standardized way that supports reliable outcomes analyses.

Who contributes data to the database?

Participating blood and marrow transplant centers around the world contribute data, consistent with the international scope described for the outcomes database.

What kinds of research does this data resource support?

The database is intended to support observational research on patients who have received blood and marrow transplants. This includes evaluating real-world outcomes, studying practice variation, and identifying factors associated with better or worse results.

Why are large-scale transplant outcomes data important?

The FOA highlights that transplant medicine involves complex patient populations and evolving approaches. Large-scale, systematically collected outcomes data help enable analysis of long-term and clinically meaningful endpoints that smaller studies may not capture as well.

What types of outcomes or endpoints are mentioned as examples?

The opportunity description references endpoints such as long-term survival, complications, relapse, graft-versus-host disease, infectious risks, and other clinically meaningful outcomes.

Who is expected to use or benefit from the database?

The database is intended to be usable for multiple audiences, including transplant investigators, patients, clinicians, and healthcare policymakers.

How does this resource support patients and families?

The FOA notes the resource can provide information to help patients and families better understand transplant outcomes, reflecting a broader stakeholder purpose beyond research alone.

How does this resource support clinicians and clinical decision-making?

By enabling observational analyses of real-world transplant outcomes, the data resource can generate evidence that informs clinical decision-making and helps interpret variations in practice and outcomes.

How might policymakers use the resource?

The description indicates policymakers may rely on credible datasets like this to shape healthcare policy, coverage decisions, and quality initiatives related to transplant care.

What activities does the award support?

Based on the information provided, supported activities include ongoing collection of data from transplant centers, maintenance and improvement of the database, and processes that enable responsible data access and use.

Is this opportunity open to all applicants?

No. It is explicitly labeled a limited competition. Eligibility is restricted to the institution that was already the CIBMTR awardee at the time of the announcement.

Are foreign components allowed under this FOA?

Yes. The NIH allows foreign components (as defined in NIH policy), which aligns with the international nature of transplant data collection and collaboration described in the FOA.

Is cost sharing or matching required?

No. The FOA states that no cost sharing or matching is required, meaning the federal award is intended to cover the supported activities without requiring non-federal matching funds.

What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FOA number)?

The Funding Opportunity Number is RFA-CA-12-503.

When was this opportunity posted?

The FOA was posted on March 30, 2012.

What was the application due date?

The original and current closing date listed is June 11, 2012.

When was the FOA archived?

The archive date is July 12, 2012.

How many awards did NIH anticipate making under this announcement?

NIH anticipated making one award under this announcement.

Which CFDA programs are associated with this opportunity?

The FOA spans multiple CFDA listings: 93.395 (cancer treatment research), 93.839 (blood diseases and resources research), and 93.855 (allergy and infectious diseases research).

What is the overall focus of the FOA in one sentence?

It focuses on sustaining a globally sourced blood and marrow transplant outcomes database that underpins observational research and supports evidence-based improvements in transplantation practice and policy.