Mechanistic links between diet, lipid metabolism, and tumor growth and progression (UH2 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 23 052

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 052

This NIH funding opportunity (PAR-23-052) supports research that digs into the nuts and bolts of how diet influences cancer through lipid metabolism. The central theme is mechanistic biology: applicants are expected to move beyond broad associations between dietary patterns and cancer outcomes and instead pinpoint the specific molecular and biochemical pathways that connect what an organism consumes to how tumors grow, survive, and progress. The announcement is framed around the idea that lipids are not just passive nutrients or building blocks, but active drivers and signals that can shape tumor behavior, and that understanding these lipid-centered mechanisms could clarify why certain dietary exposures matter in cancer and how those effects might be intercepted.

The work encouraged under this program is fundamentally aimed at defining how lipid metabolism mediates tumor growth and progression. That includes identifying which lipid species, metabolic enzymes, transport processes, and lipid-dependent signaling pathways are involved, and clarifying cause-and-effect relationships rather than correlations. A major goal is to bridge fields that have often been separated in practice, namely nutrition research and molecular metabolism/cancer biology. In doing so, the program also emphasizes the need for new tools and approaches, since lipid biochemistry is especially complex: lipids exist as diverse families of molecules with many isomers, they vary by tissue and cellular compartment, and they participate in intertwined roles such as membrane structure, energy storage, post-translational modification, and signaling. Projects that can bring clearer mechanistic resolution to this complexity, including work that helps develop methods or resources that make lipid-focused cancer studies more tractable, fit the intent of the announcement.

The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement (UH2), and clinical trials are not allowed under this specific opportunity. In practical terms, this points applicants toward preclinical, translational, and basic mechanistic studies rather than interventional trials in patients. Another notable feature is the strong effort to lower the barrier for new or transitioning investigators: unpublished preliminary data are restricted to one figure that can take up no more than half a page. That design choice signals that the NIH is trying to encourage well-justified, high-quality ideas even when applicants do not yet have an extensive unpublished dataset in this exact niche, which can be hard to generate given the technical hurdles of lipidomics and lipid pathway biology.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations such as state, local, and tribal governments; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories that NIH wants to see represented, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components as defined by NIH policy are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant can include certain well-justified international elements (for example, specialized analyses, resources, or collaborations) when they are essential to the project.

Key administrative details from the listing include that the sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding, and it falls under health-related CFDA listings (93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399). The posted award ceiling is $275,000, and the original closing date shown is 2025-10-23. Overall, the opportunity is best viewed as a targeted push to build rigorous, mechanism-first science explaining how dietary inputs are translated into tumor-relevant lipid states, and how those lipid states then influence cancer progression, with an emphasis on strengthening an emerging research area where technical and conceptual complexity has historically slowed progress.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mechanistic links between diet, lipid metabolism, and tumor growth and progression (UH2 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-11-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $275,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PAR 23 052

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