Revision Applications for Regenerative Medicine Innovation Projects (RMIP) (UC4) | RFA HL 17 027

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HL 17 027

Revision Applications for Regenerative Medicine Innovation Projects (RMIP) (UC4) is an NIH funding opportunity (RFA-HL-17-027) offered as a cooperative agreement to support competing revision requests to existing, active UC4 awards. The key point is that this is not a stand-alone new grant for anyone starting from scratch; it is specifically for investigators who already hold an NIH UC4 research project award under the RMIP program and who want additional support during a current budget period to expand the approved scope of work or to extend or modify an already approved research protocol. In practical terms, NIH is inviting funded teams to come back with a well-justified expansion that pushes the project further than what the original award could cover.

The scientific and programmatic purpose is to accelerate clinical research studies in regenerative medicine that use adult stem cells, with a strong emphasis on tackling real, widely recognized obstacles that slow down the development of safe and effective regenerative medicine therapies. The FOA is positioned around the idea that the field needs more than promising biology; it needs practical, testable solutions to development problems that arise when therapies move from the lab into manufacturing, clinical evaluation, and ultimately regulatory review. Because of that, projects are expected to be innovation-oriented and to focus on deliverables that make regenerative medicine products easier to manufacture consistently, test appropriately, and assess convincingly for safety and effectiveness.

A distinguishing feature of this opportunity is its explicit focus on product development issues that matter for regulatory submissions, reflecting the involvement of both NIH and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Applications that strengthen the evidence base and toolset needed for regulatory decision-making are especially responsive. The FOA highlights areas such as improved tools, methods, and standards, as well as applied science approaches that help the field better understand and evaluate key aspects of regenerative medicine products. Examples of the kinds of themes implied by the announcement include improvements to manufacturing processes, better ways to measure and control product quality, stronger approaches to safety evaluation, and methods that improve how effectiveness is assessed in a clinically relevant setting. Overall, the revisions are intended to address bottlenecks that can affect reproducibility, comparability across studies, and confidence in product performance.

Eligibility is broad in terms of organization types, covering many domestic entities such as state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out several categories of mission-driven or underserved-serving institutions and organizations as eligible applicants, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it is clear about foreign involvement restrictions: 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 NIH defines them in its Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed under this FOA.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed under the NIH as the agency, categorized as discretionary funding, and uses the cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically means there is substantial NIH programmatic involvement compared to a standard grant. It falls under a health-related activity category (and is tagged in the source data under Food and Nutrition, Health) and is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.173, 93.233, 93.242, 93.286, 93.350, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.846, 93.847, 93.853, 93.855, 93.856, 93.866, 93.867), reflecting the participation of multiple NIH Institutes and Centers. The original closing date shown is June 26, 2017, the creation date is April 28, 2017, and the opportunity anticipated around six awards. An award ceiling is not specified in the provided listing, which typically means applicants would need to rely on the FOA text and NIH budget guidance for allowable and reasonable costs tied to the proposed expansion.

Taken together, this FOA is best understood as a targeted, competitive add-on pathway for currently funded RMIP UC4 teams to broaden or deepen their clinical regenerative medicine work, especially when that added work directly helps solve development and regulatory-relevant challenges around manufacturing, quality, safety, and effectiveness for adult stem cell-based therapies.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Revision Applications for Regenerative Medicine Innovation Projects (RMIP) (UC4)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.173, 93.233, 93.242, 93.286, 93.350, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.846, 93.847, 93.853, 93.855, 93.856, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-04-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-06-26. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• 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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