Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 893
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Physical Activity and Weight Control Interventions Among Cancer Survivors: Effects on Biomarkers of Prognosis and Survival (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-18-893) supports research aimed at clarifying how lifestyle interventions can influence cancer outcomes after treatment. The central focus is on uncovering the specific biological and biobehavioral pathways through which physical activity and/or weight control (either intentional weight loss or preventing weight gain) may affect cancer prognosis and survival. Rather than only asking whether exercise or weight management helps, this FOA prioritizes studies that explain why and through which measurable mechanisms those effects occur, with a strong emphasis on translational work that connects behavioral interventions to tumor biology and clinical outcomes.
A key requirement is that proposed projects test the impact of physical activity alone or combined with weight control on established biomarkers of cancer prognosis in cancer survivors. NIH is especially interested in biomarkers that are supported by prior animal studies or observational human research and that go beyond the commonly studied insulin and glucose metabolism pathways. In practical terms, this encourages applicants to target other well-supported mechanistic candidates such as inflammation-related markers, immune function indicators, angiogenesis-related pathways, sex steroid pathways, stress and neuroendocrine signaling, oxidative stress, epigenetic markers, and other tumor microenvironment or host-response measures, as long as they are grounded in credible prior evidence. The FOA highlights a particular interest in biomarkers obtained directly from tumor tissue, especially when repeat biopsies are available, because tumor-based measures can provide more direct insight into how a lifestyle intervention might influence tumor behavior or residual disease biology.
The announcement also recognizes that many cancer survivors will not experience cancer recurrence, yet may still face substantial risks from comorbid conditions or accelerated aging-related changes. Because of that, NIH explicitly welcomes the inclusion of biomarkers linked to comorbid diseases, such as cardiovascular disease risk markers, as well as biomarkers related to aging processes. This reflects a broader view of survivorship in which interventions are expected to potentially improve not only cancer-specific outcomes, but also overall health, functional status, and long-term survival by addressing competing risks that commonly affect survivors.
Methodologically, the FOA encourages rigorous experimental designs. Randomized controlled trials are clearly within scope, and the title notes that clinical trials are optional, meaning applicants may propose clinical trials when appropriate but are not strictly required to do so. The FOA also points to designs like fractional factorial experiments, which can efficiently test multiple intervention components (for example, different types or doses of physical activity, dietary strategies for weight loss, and behavioral support elements) and help determine which components drive biomarker changes. Across designs, the expectation is that studies will be capable of making strong causal inferences about whether the intervention changes the targeted biomarkers and, by extension, whether those biomarker changes plausibly map to improvements in prognosis or survival.
The program is built around transdisciplinary collaboration. Competitive applications are expected to integrate expertise in behavioral intervention development and implementation with cancer biology and other relevant basic and clinical science disciplines tied to the pathways under study. In effect, NIH is looking for teams that can design real-world, scalable physical activity and/or weight control interventions while also collecting and interpreting sophisticated biological data, including tissue-based measures when feasible. This typically implies careful attention to intervention fidelity, dose and adherence measurement, standardized biospecimen collection, and analytic strategies that link behavioral changes to biologic endpoints in a coherent mechanistic framework.
In terms of administrative details, this is a discretionary NIH grant using the R01 mechanism, which generally supports substantial, multi-year research projects. The funding activity category is listed under education and health, and the CFDA numbers associated with the opportunity are 93.393 and 93.399. The original closing date provided in the source data is 2021-09-07. The listing does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided fields, so those details would typically need to be verified in the full FOA or NIH funding notices.
Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic organizations: state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out a wide range of other eligible applicants, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This inclusive eligibility reflects an interest in reaching diverse survivor populations and supporting research capacity across many institutional settings, including community-engaged contexts where survivorship interventions may be delivered and evaluated.
Overall, PAR-18-893 is designed for investigators who want to move beyond general claims that exercise or weight control is beneficial for cancer survivors and instead pinpoint the measurable mechanistic pathways that connect these interventions to prognosis, survival, comorbidity risk, and aging-related outcomes. The strongest-fit projects are likely those that combine well-designed interventions with biomarker strategies that are both biologically compelling and realistically measurable in survivor populations, potentially including repeat tumor tissue sampling when available, and that use experimental designs capable of clarifying which intervention elements drive the observed biological effects.Apply for PAR 18 893
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Physical Activity and Weight Control Interventions Among Cancer Survivors: Effects on Biomarkers of Prognosis and Survival (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.393, 93.399.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2018-08-07.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-09-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- 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.
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