NCI Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award to Promote Diversity (K08 - No Independent Clinical Trials) | PAR 18 337

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 337

The NCI Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award to Promote Diversity (K08 - No Independent Clinical Trials), funding opportunity number PAR-18-337, is a National Institutes of Health grant mechanism run by the National Cancer Institute that focuses on building the next generation of clinical scientists in cancer research. At its core, it is a mentored career development award intended for individuals who already hold a clinical doctoral degree and who need structured time, training, and supervision to become independent investigators. The program’s central feature is providing “protected time,” meaning the award is designed to carve out a substantial portion of the recipient’s professional effort so they can concentrate on research training and productivity rather than being pulled fully into clinical or other institutional duties.

A defining purpose of this specific NCI K08 is to promote diversity in the cancer research workforce by supporting clinical scientists from backgrounds that have been shown to be nationally underrepresented in health-related science. It is aimed at applicants who are committed to long-term careers in basic biomedical, behavioral, or translational cancer research, and it explicitly includes work addressing cancer health disparities. In practice, this means the award is not just about learning research methods; it is about developing a sustainable research trajectory in cancer that can contribute meaningfully to national health needs, including understanding and reducing unequal cancer burdens across populations.

The research scope is broad across cancer-focused biomedical and behavioral science, and it highlights translational research as well. The award supports an intensive, supervised career development experience under one or more mentors, typically involving a combination of dedicated research time, skill-building activities (such as advanced coursework, workshops, and grant-writing training), and concrete research aims that generate publications and preliminary data. The expectation is that, by the end of the mentored period, recipients will have stronger scientific independence, clearer specialization, and a credible platform to compete for independent NIH research funding. The announcement specifically points to subsequent research project grants such as the R03, R21, or R01 as the kinds of next-step awards the K08 is meant to position investigators to win.

This particular K08 is labeled “No Independent Clinical Trials,” which signals a key boundary for what can be proposed. Applicants are not supposed to lead an independent clinical trial as the main driver of the award. The emphasis is instead on mentored research and career development, which may include clinical research experiences as appropriate, but not running an independent clinical trial as the award’s centerpiece. This framing helps keep the K08 aligned with its role as a training and transition mechanism rather than a large, stand-alone clinical trial funding vehicle.

Eligibility, as laid out in the source data, is expansive at the organizational level and includes many types of U.S.-based entities that can submit applications on behalf of candidates. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (outside of higher education institutions); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The opportunity also calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. Even with that wide net, the program draws a firm line on foreign involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant in the Education and Health activity category (CFDA 93.398). The original closing date listed in the provided record is 2021-05-07, and the record creation date is 2017-10-31. The excerpt you provided does not include an award ceiling or an expected number of awards, which usually means those details would need to be confirmed in the full funding announcement or related NIH/NCI budget guidance.

Taken together, this opportunity is best understood as a mentored launchpad for clinically trained researchers who want to become independent cancer investigators and who also advance the NIH and NCI priority of broadening participation in health-related research. The program’s success is typically measured by whether awardees leave the mentored period with strong publications, a defined cancer research niche (including possible emphasis on cancer disparities), and competitive applications for independent NIH funding.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NCI Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award to Promote Diversity (K08 - No Independent Clinical Trials)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.398.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-10-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-07. (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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