Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA OD 25 011

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 25 011

The Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity (RFA-OD-25-011) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant program intended to support specialized resource centers that serve the broader biomedical research community. These centers are expected to operate as shared infrastructure, providing high-value research resources that individual laboratories or single projects typically cannot maintain on their own. The overall purpose is to strengthen the quality of biomedical research by improving scientific rigor, transparency, and reproducibility through well-characterized, well-managed, and broadly accessible animal and biological material resources.

A key feature of this NOFO is the emphasis on resource utility at scale. Proposed centers must have broad relevance across multiple NIH Institutes and Centers, aligning with the NIH-wide mission of the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP). In practice, that means applicants should propose resources that support many research areas or disease domains rather than narrowly serving one institute-specific niche. The program is designed to fund both the continuation and enhancement of existing, proven resources as well as the establishment of new centers when there is a clear community need and a compelling plan for sustainable operations and impact.

The resource scope is intentionally broad. Centers may provide support for special colonies of laboratory animals and associated services (for example, breeding, husbandry, health monitoring, phenotyping, distribution, and specialized technical support). They may also provide non-animal resources that are essential for biomedical studies, including informatics tools and data platforms, reagents, cultures such as cells, tissues, and organs, and genetic stocks. The expectation is that these resources will be made available to the biomedical research community on a local, regional, and national basis, meaning the center should have a credible access model for users beyond its host institution (such as a distribution process, service workflows, pricing if applicable, user support, and clear policies).

A central priority woven into this announcement is close coordination with the development and adoption of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) that complement traditional animal-based research. NAMs referenced in the NOFO include cell culture systems, organoids, computational models, and microphysiological systems. Rather than treating these as separate or competing approaches, the program highlights integration: the funded center should coordinate with NAM efforts and help generate evidence that clarifies when and how NAMs can be used effectively alongside animal models. This is not framed as a purely administrative collaboration; it is expected to be substantive, with practical work that supports better model selection and more predictive science.

Related to that, the NOFO calls for an Applied Research Component that generates comparative data to improve the applicability of NAMs and promote the integration of the most predictive human disease models. This implies the center should not only distribute materials or provide services, but also conduct targeted, resource-enabling studies that help the community interpret model performance and relevance. Comparative work could involve systematically benchmarking NAM outputs against animal model readouts, aligning measurements across platforms, and developing data sets, protocols, or standards that make it easier for researchers to choose the right model for a question and to reproduce results across sites. The practical end goal is improved translation and reliability, especially where human disease relevance is a concern.

From an applicant preparation standpoint, the announcement strongly encourages prospective applicants to consult with NIH scientific or research staff before submitting an application. The reason is straightforward: these are infrastructure-heavy awards with NIH-wide expectations, and early programmatic feedback can help determine whether a proposed resource fits ORIP priorities, whether the scale and access plan is competitive, and whether the proposed center truly meets the requirement for broad utility across NIH institutes and centers. This kind of pre-application contact is positioned as an important step to avoid misalignment and to strengthen the final proposal.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organization types, including state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) entities), for-profit organizations (including small businesses and other for-profits), and other eligible entities as listed in the NOFO. At the same time, the program is explicit about what it will not accept: non-U.S. entities are not eligible to apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed. In other words, the work and structure of the proposed center must be fully domestic in NIH terms.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant mechanism under the NIH, categorized under Health (CFDA 93.351). The opportunity lists an expected number of awards of 2, indicating a competitive environment where only a small number of centers may be funded relative to interest. The closing date is listed as January 9, 2029, and the NOFO title specifies "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which means applicants should not propose clinical trials as part of the project. The focus is infrastructure and applied resource-enabling research rather than clinical intervention studies.

Overall, this program is aimed at building and sustaining national-caliber research resources that help the scientific community produce more reliable, comparable, and reproducible biomedical findings. Competitive applications will typically need to demonstrate clear community demand, strong operational and quality management plans, broad cross-institute relevance, a realistic access and distribution model, and a thoughtful strategy for coordinating with and generating comparative evidence for NAMs so that the field can better integrate the most predictive models of human biology and disease.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40 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): 93.351.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-12-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2029-01-09.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, 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 OD 25 011

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