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Kidney Technology Development Research Education Program (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

FOA#: RFA-DK-19-006 

Key Dates 
  • Letter of Intent Due Date: July 6, 2019
  • Application Due Date: August 6, 2019
  • Earliest Start Date: April 2020
Funding Opportunity Purpose

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH.  The over-arching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences.

To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on: 

  • Research Experiences

This FOA encourages applications from institutions that propose to establish research experiences in kidney technology development. Successful programs should include a collaborative capstone research or design project(s), innovative and/or ground-breaking technology development, multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary teamwork, education in entrepreneurship, product development and navigating regulatory pathways, and clinical immersion. The intent of this FOA is to recruit undergraduate students as participants and to engage students from engineering and technical domains, but applicants may also propose the inclusion of medical students, graduate students and/or dual-degree students (e.g., M.D./Ph.D.; Pharm.D./Ph.D.) prior to their qualifying exams and selection of Ph.D. mentor.

Areas of Research Education Supported

The research experiences proposed must be directly related to the mission of the NIDDK. Specifically, the research experiences must be in an area of kidney research of relevance to NIDDK’s Division of Kidney, Urologic, & Hematologic Diseases. It is expected that program faculty will enable multiple compelling, multi-disciplinary research experiences over the course of the grant period. Example areas for kidney technology development include, but are not limited to:

  • Novel filters or sorbents that will enable new forms of renal replacement therapies
  • Bioengineered tissue or directors to restore or replace kidney function
  • Hemodialysis vascular access devices that can be rapidly cannulated and prevent infection
  • Microphysiological systems for drug discovery or development
  • Radiological imaging techniques for evaluating kidney function
  • Machine learning algorithms for interpreting kidney imaging or microscopic datasets
  • Microscopy techniques for interrogating kidney tissue
  • Biosensors or nanotechnologies that specifically interrogate kidney physiology
  • Use of human factors engineering to develop tools for supporting end stage renal disease patients and their caregivers

Research education programs may complement ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, but the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those training and education programs currently receiving Federal support. R25 programs may augment institutional research training programs (e.g., T32, T90) but cannot be used to replace or circumvent Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) programs.

Assistance with Proposal Preparation

The Training Grant Support Office assists faculty in the preparation of institutional training grant applications, including: Data table production involving institution-wide and Training Grant Support Office-tracked data; Proposal development aids; Advice, sharing of best practices and tips; Coordination of funding/commitment requests made to The Graduate School in support of the training grant; and Special training-grant related projects. Please contact Becca Lamarre, Training Grant Support Office Manager.

Categories: Opportunities for Trainees