Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for ClinGen Genomic Curation Expert Panels

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), has issued a Notice of Intent to publish a future funding opportunity for the establishment and continuation of Genomic Curation Expert Panels. This initiative is a part of the NIH-funded Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen), which plays a central role in aggregating and curating data on the clinical relevance of genomic information. Several NIH Institutes and Centers are co-sponsors of this anticipated funding opportunity, including the National Eye Institute, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and the National Cancer Institute. The main objective of the forthcoming funding opportunity is to support Expert Panels tasked with manually curating genes and genetic variants, particularly those that are associated with conditions of high priority to the participating NIH institutes. These panels will address the challenge posed by genomic variants of unknown significance (VUS) by interpreting their clinical implications. Despite the growing use of genomic technologies in clinical settings, a large proportion of variants remain functionally uncharacterized, which hinders the implementation of genomic and precision medicine. Panels funded under this opportunity will be required to use existing standards and tools developed by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), including the ClinGen and ClinVar databases. The curated findings will be publicly shared to enrich ClinGen’s centralized genomic resource. This initiative is aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment capabilities for various diseases by refining the understanding of gene-disease relationships. The funding instrument will be a Cooperative Agreement, which suggests significant involvement from NIH program staff in the implementation and oversight of funded projects. A total of four awards are expected, with an estimated total program funding of $880,000. The exact award ceiling and floor are not specified at this time. There is no cost-sharing or matching requirement associated with this opportunity, simplifying access for potential applicants. Entities eligible to apply include small businesses, nonprofits (excluding and including higher education institutions), local and state governments, tribal governments and organizations, school districts, public and private institutions of higher education, and housing authorities. The opportunity is available nationwide without geographic restrictions. The estimated post date for the official funding opportunity announcement is March 25, 2026, with an application due date of May 25, 2026. Awards are expected to be made by April 1, 2027, with project start dates aligning with that same day. For more information, interested parties are encouraged to contact Julia Jiaqi O’Reilly, PhD, at the NICHD via email at Jiaqi.OReilly@nih.gov or phone at 240-328-8649. Since this is a forecasted opportunity, applicants are advised to monitor Grants.gov or the NIH website for the formal Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) when it is published.