The Early Detection Research Network Data Management and Coordinating Center (U24) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Early Detection Research Network Data Management and Coordinating Center (DMCC) (U24) opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-CA-14-017) is an NIH cooperative agreement designed to support the central operational and data backbone of the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN). EDRN is a long-running national program focused on discovering, developing, and validating biomarkers that can improve cancer risk assessment and enable earlier and more accurate detection, molecular diagnosis, and prognosis. In practical terms, the DMCC is intended to function as the hub that keeps the network aligned, ensures studies are designed and executed in a consistent and rigorous way, and makes sure the data generated across many sites can be curated, integrated, and used for collaborative validation research.

This FOA funds one award to run the DMCC, reflecting how centralized this role is within EDRN. The total estimated funding listed for the opportunity is $6,000,000, with an award ceiling of $4,500,000, and there is no cost sharing or matching requirement. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement (U24), which generally means the NIH will have substantial programmatic involvement compared with a standard research grant. The activity category is listed under health, and the CFDA number is 93.394 (Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research). The original posting date was November 5, 2014, with application deadlines shown as January 6, 2015 (original) and January 20, 2015 (current at the time), and an archive date of February 19, 2015.

The core purpose of the DMCC in this announcement is organized into four major responsibility areas. First is network coordination. This covers the practical work of keeping a large, multi-institution research network operating smoothly: organizing communications, supporting meetings and working groups, tracking network activities and milestones, and enabling collaboration among the different scientific units. Because EDRN work spans biomarker discovery through clinical validation, coordination is not just administrative; it is essential for aligning priorities, managing dependencies between laboratories and clinical sites, and ensuring that decisions and processes are consistent across the network.

Second is data management and study protocol development. This is a central feature of the DMCC role: building and maintaining the systems, standards, and workflows that allow EDRN to collect, clean, harmonize, store, and share data produced across many different studies and institutions. It also includes supporting the development of study protocols so that validation efforts are designed in a way that yields credible, reproducible results, and so that data elements and definitions are consistent enough to permit cross-study comparisons and pooled analyses when appropriate. In a biomarker network, data management typically spans clinical and epidemiologic data, specimen and assay metadata, quality control measures, and analytical results, so the DMCC is expected to provide the infrastructure that makes all of that usable at network scale.

Third is validation study infrastructure and services. EDRN is explicitly built around validation, meaning biomarkers and assays need to be tested in appropriately designed studies and populations, often across multiple sites. The DMCC is positioned as the enabling platform for that work, providing services and infrastructure that support planning and execution of validation studies. This can include coordinating multi-site study operations, supporting data capture and tracking, enabling secure and standardized data exchange, and providing tools and processes that help ensure studies meet network requirements for consistency and quality. The emphasis here is on making validation studies feasible, efficient, and methodologically strong across the entire EDRN enterprise.

Fourth is EDRN core fund management. In addition to technical and coordination duties, the DMCC is tasked with managing core funds within the network. This implies responsibility for tracking and administering centrally managed resources that support network-wide activities, which can include coordinating how funds are allocated to shared needs, monitoring their use, and ensuring they align with EDRN priorities and NIH expectations. While the FOA summary does not list detailed financial procedures, the inclusion of this task signals that the DMCC is expected to play a central role in stewardship of shared network resources.

This DMCC opportunity sits alongside three other scientific units that make up the continuing EDRN structure, and the DMCC is expected to interface closely with all of them. Biomarker Developmental Laboratories (BDLs) focus on developing and characterizing new biomarkers and assays, or refining existing ones. Biomarker Reference Laboratories (BRLs) act as network resources for clinical and laboratory validation, helping to ensure assays and measurements used in validation are reliable and standardized. Clinical Validation Centers (CVCs) conduct clinical research focused on biomarker validation and serve as clinical resource centers by participating in collaborative validation studies with BDLs and BRLs. The DMCC is essentially the connective tissue that helps these units work as a coherent system, especially when projects require coordinated protocols, shared data standards, and integrated reporting of results.

Eligibility for this FOA is broad across U.S.-based organizations, including public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (including 501(c)(3) and certain non-501(c)(3) entities), small businesses, for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses), and various levels of government (state, county, city/township, special district governments), as well as public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities and independent school districts. The eligibility text also highlights inclusion of organizations such as HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, along with faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies. Foreign institutions and non-U.S. entities are stated as not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible, though foreign components (as defined in NIH policy) are allowed. The sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health, and the opportunity is presented as a discrete solicitation to support one coordinating center that will underpin EDRN’s network-wide biomarker validation mission.

For applicants, the main takeaway is that this is not a typical single-lab research project grant. It is a network-scale coordinating and data-centered award meant for an organization with strong capabilities in multi-site coordination, biomedical data systems, standardized protocol support, and operational management for large collaborative research programs. The success of the DMCC is measured less by producing a single set of scientific findings and more by enabling many EDRN studies to be designed well, run consistently, and produce high-quality, interoperable data that supports credible biomarker validation and, ultimately, earlier cancer detection.

Browse more opportunities from the same agency: National Institutes of Health

Browse more opportunities from the same category: Education Health

Next opportunity: Media Projects

Previous opportunity: The Early Detection Research Network Biomarker Reference Laboratories (U24)

USGrants.org Applicant Portal:

Are you interested in learning about about how to apply for this government funding opportunity? You can create a free applicant account and receive instant access to our applicant portal that many business owners like you have benefited from.

Apply for RFA CA 14 017

 

[Watch] how do funding administrators access proposals?

Applicants also applied for:

Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (RFA CA 14 017) also looked into and applied for these:

 

Grant application guides and resources

It is always free to apply for government grants. However the process may be very complex depending on the funding opportunity you are applying for. Let us help you!

Apply for Grants

 

 

Premium leads for funding administrators, grant writers, and loan issuers

Thousands of people visit our website for their funding needs every day. When a user creates a grant proposal and files for submission, we pass the information on to funding administrators, grant writers, and government loan issuers.

If you manage government grant programs, provide grant writing services, or issue personal or government loans, we can help you reach your audience.

Subscribe to Leads

 

Request more information:

Would you like to learn more about this funding opportunity, similar opportunities to "RFA CA 14 017", eligibility, application service, and/or application tips? Submit an inquiry below:

Don't forget to subscribe to our grant alerts mailing list to receive weekly alerts on new and updated grant funding opportunities like this one in your email.