Leveraging Population-based Cancer Registry Data to Study Health Disparities (R01) | PA 17 289

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 17 289

Leveraging Population-based Cancer Registry Data to Study Health Disparities (R01) (Funding Opportunity Number: PA-17-289) is an NIH research project grant opportunity designed to make more powerful use of existing population-based cancer registry systems by adding key information that registries typically do not collect or link. The central idea is that cancer registries already provide broad, real-world coverage of who gets cancer, what type, when it is diagnosed, basic tumor characteristics, and often survival outcomes across large geographic areas. What they often cannot fully explain, on their own, is why persistent gaps remain in cancer treatment patterns and outcomes across different populations. This FOA funds studies that build on the registry foundation by bringing in additional data elements needed to uncover the drivers of disparities and to estimate how much each driver contributes.

The research focus is explicitly on health disparities among people diagnosed with cancer. Projects are expected to be hypothesis-driven rather than purely descriptive, and the FOA encourages multidisciplinary teams. In practice, that means investigators should start from a clear conceptual model or set of testable hypotheses about why disparities exist and then use cancer registry data as the backbone for analysis. The work should aim to identify and weigh factors that may be responsible for unequal treatment and outcomes, such as differences in access to high-quality care, timeliness of diagnosis and treatment, comorbid conditions, socioeconomic context, geographic barriers, insurance coverage, health system characteristics, clinical decision-making factors, or other patient-, provider-, and system-level influences. A key feature is the expectation that the study will incorporate data "not routinely collected by or linked to the registries," which pushes applicants to enrich registry records with new sources of information that can illuminate mechanisms behind observed inequities.

From a design standpoint, the FOA emphasizes leveraging what registries already do well: large-scale, population-level coverage that reduces selection bias and allows comparisons across demographic groups and places. Applicants are encouraged to extend that infrastructure efficiently, for example by augmenting registry datasets with additional clinical details, treatment context, patient-reported measures, neighborhood-level exposures, social determinants of health, or information drawn from sources not typically integrated with registries. The ultimate analytic goal is not simply to document that disparities exist, but to explain persistence in disparities in cancer care and outcomes by isolating contributing factors and clarifying their relative importance. This framing supports studies that can move the field toward actionable targets for intervention, policy changes, or health system improvements.

Eligibility is broad and includes many U.S.-based organizational types, reflecting an intent to involve academic, governmental, nonprofit, and community stakeholders. Eligible applicants include 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 Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other entities. The FOA 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 (AANAPISISs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it restricts non-U.S. applicants: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" as defined under NIH policy are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant may include certain international elements of the project when permitted under NIH rules.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant mechanism under NIH, categorized within education and health-related activities, with CFDA numbers 93.393 and 93.399. The opportunity was created on 2017-05-16 and listed an original closing date of 2020-09-07. The excerpted listing does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards, which is not uncommon in summary records and typically requires checking the full FOA text for budgeting guidance, project period limits, and institute-specific expectations.

In practical terms, a competitive project under this FOA would typically look like a registry-anchored study that uses the strength of population coverage while filling in missing explanatory pieces. The project would define the disparity of interest (for example, differences by race and ethnicity, rurality, socioeconomic position, disability status, geography, or other underserved group characteristics), specify why additional data are needed to test the proposed hypotheses, and then lay out a clear plan for augmenting or linking information in a way that is feasible, privacy-protective, and analytically rigorous. The expected payoff is a clearer, evidence-based account of what is driving unequal cancer treatment and outcomes, and which levers matter most for reducing those gaps.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Leveraging Population-based Cancer Registry Data to Study Health Disparities (R01)" 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 2017-05-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-09-07. (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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