Developmental Centers for Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology (P20 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA DK 17 033

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DK 17 033

The Developmental Centers for Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology (P20 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) funding opportunity, issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under RFA-DK-17-033 (CFDA 93.847), is designed to strengthen and accelerate research on benign urological diseases and disorders by helping institutions build interdisciplinary teams and shared research capabilities. The program sits within NIH efforts to expand the benign urology research pipeline, with an emphasis on collaboration, integration of complementary expertise, and practical resource-building that can benefit the broader research community. A major theme running through the announcement is that progress in benign urology will be driven not just by isolated projects, but by coordinated teams that create, validate, and disseminate tools, datasets, methods, or other assets that enable more ambitious and rigorous future studies.

At the core of each funded “Developmental Center” is a single main project that must take one of two forms. Applicants may propose a Resource Development Project, which focuses on creating innovative resources that can be validated and then shared with the wider field as soon as they are ready. Alternatively, applicants may propose a Scientific Research Project, which supports a novel research effort using integrative approaches to answer important questions relevant to benign urology; resources generated within these research projects are expected to be shared by the end of the award (or earlier if the project ends). Across both options, the FOA makes it clear that sharing is not an afterthought. It is a program expectation tied directly to the goal of “further advancing research,” meaning applicants should be prepared to describe what will be produced, how it will be validated, when it will be released, and how other investigators will be able to access and use it.

The interdisciplinary nature of the program is central. Research teams are expected to include investigators whose expertise is complementary rather than redundant, enabling integrative approaches that can span different disciplines, methods, or perspectives. While the announcement does not list specific scientific topics in the provided text, it repeatedly frames the target area broadly as benign urological diseases and disorders, implying a wide range of non-malignant urologic conditions could be relevant if the work is scientifically compelling and aligned with program goals. The FOA also explicitly encourages patient-centered research, signaling that projects grounded in patient needs, outcomes, experiences, and real-world relevance are viewed favorably, even though clinical trials are not allowed under this mechanism.

Structurally, every Developmental Center must include two required components in addition to the single main project: an Administrative Core and an Educational Enrichment Program. The Administrative Core is meant to provide the coordination and management backbone for the center, supporting planning, oversight, communication, and the practical logistics required to execute the project and share outputs effectively. The Educational Enrichment Program is intended to build the field by developing people and promoting cross-training, mentorship, and exposure to interdisciplinary thinking. In practice, this typically means creating seminars, workshops, visiting speaker series, mentoring structures, or other activities that broaden skills and foster collaboration, with the aim of strengthening benign urology research capacity beyond the immediate project team.

The FOA also positions these P20 Developmental Centers as part of a larger ecosystem of NIH-supported benign urology initiatives. Specifically, the program is intended to work in partnership with the George M. O’Brien Urology Cooperative Research Centers Program (U54) and the Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research (KURe) Career Development Program. This matters because it signals an expectation of alignment and synergy: P20 centers are not meant to operate in isolation, but to complement existing cooperative centers and career development pipelines. For applicants, that often translates into thinking about how the center’s resources, training activities, and collaborative plans can connect with or amplify broader community infrastructure and workforce development in benign urology.

From an eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is open to a broad range of U.S.-based organizations, including state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses, among others. The FOA explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants 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), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and certain tribal governments and regional organizations. At the same time, it draws clear boundaries around foreign involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, “foreign components,” as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may be able to include certain foreign elements if they meet NIH’s definition and requirements, even though a foreign institution cannot be the applicant organization.

Administratively, the opportunity is a discretionary grant mechanism with an award ceiling listed at $200,000. The original closing date in the provided record is February 28, 2018, and the record shows a creation date of October 6, 2017. The FOA title includes “Clinical Trials Not Allowed,” which is an important constraint: proposed work must be structured to avoid clinical trial activity as NIH defines it, even if it is patient-centered. In practical terms, this typically pushes applicants toward mechanistic, observational, methods, resource, or preclinical lines of work, or other designs that advance patient relevance without crossing into clinical trial territory.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as a capacity-building and field-advancing opportunity: it funds a single focused project within a structured center framework, requires administrative and educational components that promote coordination and workforce development, emphasizes interdisciplinary team science, and places strong weight on generating and sharing validated resources that can accelerate benign urology research well beyond the life of the award.

• The National Institutes of Health in the food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Developmental Centers for Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology (P20 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.847.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-10-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-02-28. (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 $200,000.00 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 RFA DK 17 033

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: