Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CA 19 003
The Pediatric Immunotherapy Discovery and Development Network (PI-DDN) funding opportunity (RFA-CA-19-003) is a National Institutes of Health cooperative agreement designed to build a coordinated, multi-investigator network of research centers focused on pediatric cancer immunotherapy. It sits under the Department of Health and Human Services and is tied to the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which was created to speed up progress against cancer by pushing promising science toward real-world impact more quickly. The core aim here is translational science for children and adolescents with cancer: not simply studying immune-oncology in the abstract, but deliberately identifying, prioritizing, and advancing immunotherapy ideas that can be moved toward clinical application. Even though the mechanism is oriented toward translation, the FOA explicitly indicates "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the supported work is meant to enable and de-risk future pediatric immunotherapy trials rather than directly run them under this award.
This FOA responds directly to a scientific priority identified by the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel, specifically Recommendation B calling for a pediatric immunotherapy translational science network. In practical terms, NIH is seeking to fund PI-DDN Centers that operate as hubs of collaborating investigators, bringing together complementary expertise to solve key bottlenecks in pediatric immunotherapy. The network concept emphasizes team-based, coordinated progress rather than isolated projects. The centers are expected to work on discovering new immune targets relevant to pediatric tumors, developing new therapeutic approaches tailored for pediatric cancers, and clarifying why many childhood tumors evade immune attack in the first place. The opportunity highlights examples of development directions such as cancer vaccines, cellular therapies, and rational combinations of immunotherapy agents, reflecting an intent to support multiple modalities as long as they are focused on pediatric needs and are moving along a pipeline toward eventual clinical readiness.
A major theme is understanding and overcoming pediatric tumor immune evasion. Pediatric cancers often differ from adult cancers in their mutation burden, tumor microenvironment features, and immune interactions, which can affect how well adult-developed immunotherapies translate to children. By emphasizing mechanisms of immune escape, the FOA signals that strong applications will likely connect target discovery and therapy design to underlying biology, such as tumor antigenicity, immune suppression in the microenvironment, antigen presentation issues, or other barriers that limit immune recognition and killing. The expected output is not just publications, but actionable translational deliverables: validated targets, preclinical evidence packages, optimized platforms or constructs, and a clearer rationale for which immunotherapy strategies are most likely to succeed in pediatric settings.
The funding instrument is a U54 cooperative agreement, which typically means NIH expects substantial programmatic involvement and active coordination with awardees. In a cooperative agreement, the agency often plays a hands-on role in shaping network activities, harmonizing goals across centers, and encouraging data sharing and collaboration so that the entire network moves faster than any one group could on its own. The activity category is health (CFDA 93.353), and the opportunity was categorized as discretionary funding.
Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations: state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; tribal governments and tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses; and other entities as described in the additional eligibility text for the announcement. This wide eligibility suggests NIH was open to a range of institutional models, including academic medical centers, research institutes, and potentially industry or mixed partnerships, as long as the applicant could credibly function as a networked center with the necessary expertise and infrastructure to advance pediatric immunotherapy translation.
Key administrative details in the source data include a creation date of August 13, 2018 and an original closing date of December 17, 2018. The award ceiling listed is $1,600,000, and the expected number of awards is 1 based on the provided fields, indicating a competitive opportunity with limited slots and an emphasis on building a flagship or highly coordinated center-based effort. Overall, the PI-DDN FOA is best understood as an NIH-backed, Cancer Moonshot-driven attempt to create a structured translational pipeline for pediatric immunotherapy: find promising targets, engineer and refine therapeutic approaches suited to children, and generate the biological and preclinical foundation needed to move the most compelling strategies into later-stage clinical testing under separate trial-allowing mechanisms.Apply for RFA CA 19 003
- The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pediatric Immunotherapy Discovery and Development Network (PI-DDN)(U54 - 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): 93.353.
- This funding opportunity was created on Aug 13, 2018.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 17, 2018. (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 $1,600,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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