Institutional Development Award (IDeA) for Clinical Translational Research (CTR)

The Institutional Development Award (IDeA) for Clinical & Translational Research (CTR), offered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aims to strengthen biomedical research capacity in U.S. states and jurisdictions that have historically received low levels of NIH funding. Administered through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), this grant seeks to support clinical and translational research activities that address health disparities and unique regional health challenges in IDeA-eligible locations. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is organized into two distinct programmatic tracks. The CTR-D (Clinical and Translational Research Development) track focuses on workforce development and infrastructure enhancement at health research organizations in IDeA states with limited clinical research capacity. In contrast, the CTR-N (Clinical and Translational Research Network) track supports the formation or expansion of state-wide or multi-state research networks, emphasizing coordinated clinical research, network-wide infrastructure development, and capacity building to implement competitive clinical research programs. Eligible applicants include public and private higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), and independent biomedical research institutes or medical centers. However, eligibility is further restricted to organizations located within specific IDeA-eligible states, which include 23 states and Puerto Rico. Applicants must either confer doctoral degrees in health-related sciences or have ongoing federally funded biomedical research programs. While the program does not require cost sharing or matching, applicants must closely follow NIH policies for grant submissions via Grants.gov. Submissions will open on May 27, 2026, with a projected deadline of October 9, 2026. Awards are expected by July 16, 2027, which is also the anticipated project start date. Evaluation criteria will focus on research strategy, infrastructure building plans, workforce training programs, and organizational capacity for sustained clinical research growth. As a forecasted opportunity, this NOFO is not yet accepting applications but indicates NIH's intent to support research equity and capacity expansion in underfunded regions. Interested organizations should monitor Grants.gov and NIH communications for updates, including the release of the final application package. Questions about the opportunity should be directed to the official program contact via email at [email protected].