https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/alt-funding

Funding Opportunities for Test Method Developers

NICEATM and ICCVAM seek to facilitate development of test methods that replace, reduce, and refine the use of animals in testing. In addition, both organizations are committed to the protection of human health, animal health, and the environment. This page lists announcements of funding opportunities intended to support the development of alternative test methods. If you are aware of a funding opportunity that could be included on this page, please contact NICEATM.

On April 17, 2020, the NIEHS SBIR/STTR program in coordination with NICEATM presented a webinar-based town hall meeting, "Development of New Approach Methodologies to Reduce Animal Use in Toxicity Testing." View presentations >>
SBIR and STTR Omnibus Grant Solicitations of the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration

NIEHS is offering funding for small businesses developing technologies of interest to the Tox21 program. These technologies include:

  • Informatics tools and platforms to organize, store, retrieve, extract, and integrate information on exposures and health effects data.
  • Application of machine learning methods and natural language processing for extracting and integrating diverse data types and for generating causal networks from experimental data and public knowledgebases.
  • Adapting or developing new methods and tools for automating environmental health-related literature and systematic reviews, including article selection and prioritization, data extraction, study quality evaluation, and summarization of for environmental health impacts.
  • Mid- to high-throughput and high-content assays using in vitro or tissue chip technologies to screen and rank toxicity of emerging engineered nanomaterials for cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and metabolic toxicity.
  • Human and rodent organotypic culture models and microphysiological systems.
  • Approaches to characterize and integrate key molecular and cellular changes related to effects of toxicant exposures in carcinogenicity, developmental neurotoxicity, or cardiotoxicity.
  • Screening systems that incorporate genetic diversity into toxicology testing.
  • Short-term tests, assays, or systems designed specifically to reduce or replace existing regulatory animal studies for acute toxicity (oral or inhalation), reproductive or developmental toxicity, carcinogenicity, or ocular toxicity

The funding is being offered as part of the 2023 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, and Food and Drug Administration. This funding is available for small business grant applications to support development and commercialization of innovative technologies. View more information on the NIEHS website.

SBIR/STTR Omnibus Solicitations and Accompanying Resources

Next due date: April 5, 2024

For more information about this opportunity, contact:
NIH Funding Resources

The NIEHS SBIR/STTR Program Staff encourages applicants to submit grants at least one week before the deadline and to take advantage of the following resources:

NIEHS Offers Assistance to Companies Applying for Small Business Grants: Webinars April 25 and May 14, Apply by May 21

Small Business Programs of the National Institutes of Health, including the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), provide an Applicant Assistance Program (AAP). This free, 10-week program is designed to assist small businesses in preparing a Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer grant application. AAP provides participants with services such as application needs assessment, mentoring, application preparation support, and application review. AAP aims to increase the number of applications from underrepresented small businesses, especially women-owned and socially and economically disadvantaged companies, and offers support and resources to help those applicants maximize their chances of success.

AAP will accept applications beginning April 25 from participants preparing grants for the September 5 deadline. Applications are due Tuesday, May 21.

Two webinars are being presented to provide information about the program and answer questions from potential participants:

  • Informational webinar: Thursday, April 25, 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT
  • Q&A webinar: Tuesday, May 14, 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT .
Funding Offered for Development of In Silico Models for Evaluation of Medical Devices

The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have established the Foundations for Digital Twins as Catalyzers of Biomedical Technological Innovation (FDT-BioTech) program to accelerate innovations in biomedical technologies through development of principled mathematical, statistical, and engineering foundations for digital twins and synthetic human models in healthcare applications. The program is offering six to ten awards totaling $4-5M to support interdisciplinary research projects, including projects to develop and use digital twins and synthetic data in biomedical and healthcare applications, with a particular focus on digital, in silico models used in the evaluation of medical devices.

A webinar providing an overview of FDT-BioTech will be presented on Monday, April 22, at 1:30 p.m. EDT. This is a multiyear program; the first deadline for funding proposals is Friday, June 21.

Grants for Students to Attend Meetings Available from EPAA

The European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) provides grants to help students and young scientists with outstanding work in the field of alternative approaches attend a high-profile scientific event. All grants cover the reimbursement of the event registration fees for the scientist, as well as travel and accommodation fees, on the basis of expense receipts. This year, a full grant of €1000 and a half grant of €500 will support travel to each of the following meetings:

  • 58th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX; September 8-11, Copenhagen, Denmark): apply by June 17.
  • European Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing (EUSAAT; September 18-20, Linz, Austria): apply by June 17.
Apply for International 3Rs Prize; Deadline May 1

Applications are being accepted for the United Kingdom National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) annual prize awarded for a paper that describes outstanding and original work that has or could have major impacts on the replacement, reduction, or refinement of the use of animals in research. This prestigious award consists of a £28k prize grant and a £2k personal award. GlaxoSmithKline has contributed £20k toward the prize grant. Apply by Wednesday, May 1.

IFER Accepting Proposals for Graduate Fellowships; Apply by April 30

The International Foundation for Ethical Research (IFER) is accepting applications for 2024-2025 graduate fellowships. Applications are due Tuesday, April 30. For more information, visit the IFER website or contact [email protected].

These one-year grants of up to $15,000 support projects by master’s and PhD students in the sciences. Eligible projects will address development, acceptance, and implementation of innovative scientific methodologies that advance science and reduce or replace the use of animals in research, testing, or education. Special consideration is given to proposals that are likely to replace the use of animals in research. Grants are renewable for up to three years, depending on student progress and availability of funds. NICEATM scientist Helena Hogberg is on the scientific advisory board of IFER.

Grants Offered to Support Development of Animal-free Antibody Applications

PETA Science Consortium International e.V., the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the Alternatives Research and Development Foundation are offering grants for free recombinant antibodies for use in research and testing. Awardees will receive commercially available recombinant antibodies to test in applications that currently use animal-derived antibodies. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and a proposal describing in detail the how the antibody will be used. Awardees will be expected to provide updates to grant sponsors on the progress of their work and publish their results. The offering has a rolling deadline, and grant amounts will vary based on details of the projects.

Grants Will Support Development of Tissue Models for Cancer Research

The National Cancer Institute is offering grants to support the development and characterization of state-of-the-art biomimetic tissue-engineered technologies for cancer research. Projects supported by this funding will become part of the Cancer Tissue Engineering Collaborative (TEC) Research Program. The goals of the Cancer TEC Program are to (1) catalyze the advancement of innovative, well-characterized in vitro and ex vivo systems available for cancer research, (2) expand the breadth of these systems to several cancer types, and (3) promote the exploration of cancer phenomena with biomimetic tissue-engineered systems.

Applications for funding were accepted beginning in May 2022, with applications due quarterly through February 2025. Grants of up to $400,000 will be awarded to fund projects that can continue up to five years. Eligibility for these grants is open to for-profit and nonprofit institutions within and outside the United States.