National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences – Clinical and Translational Science Awards

NCATS - CTSA
CFDA 93.TR1 Active Grant Cooperative Agreement Other Financial Assistance

Program Funding

Annual program obligations reported to SAM.gov.

Latest annual funding (estimated)
$562.6M FY2026
$562.6M
FY26*
* estimated

Program Objective

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences' (NCATS') mission is to turn research observations into health solutions through translational science. We work to develop or enhance the development, testing, and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics for a wide range of diseases and conditions. Key approaches include understanding what’s similar across diseases to spur multiple treatments at a time, developing models that better predict a person’s reaction to treatment, enhancing clinical trials so results more accurately reflect the patient population, and leveraging real-world data and data science approaches to address public health needs. Facilitating these approaches are our robust partnerships with other government agencies, including other NIH institutes, centers, and offices; industry; academia; nonprofit organizations; and patients, patient advocates, and other communities. NCATS' vision is to bring more treatments for all people more quickly.

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

  • Nonprofit Organization
  • Small Business Person
  • For-Profit Organization
  • U.S. State Government
  • County Government
  • Federally Recognized Tribal Government
  • Tribal Government (other)
  • U.S. Federal Government
  • U.S. Territory Government
  • School District
  • Public Housing Authority

The CTSA application may include domestic institutions of higher education, universities, medical research institutions / academic health centers, or non-profit research organizations other than institutions of higher education that conduct clinical and translational research; however, a graduate school accredited to award higher degrees related to clinical or translational science (e.g., M.S. or Ph.D. in topics such as Clinical Research, Public Health, Pharmacology, Nursing, Informatics, Health Economics, or Epidemiology) must be included (applicant or partnering institution). Partnerships are encouraged among various disciplines including medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, osteopathy, public health, engineering and others.

How to Apply

Award Procedure

The initial review of applications from eligible institutions is conducted by committees comprised of authorities in various fields of biomedical research and science education, as appropriate. Each application is given a peer evaluation for merit. Recommendations for award are forwarded to the NCATS Advisory Council for the second level of review and recommendation for award.

Decision Timeline

  • Approval: > 180 Days
  • Renewal interval: > 180 Days
  • Appeal: From 15 to 30 days
Program details & compliance

Description

Under NCATS’ leadership, the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program supports a national network of medical institutions that speeds the translation of research discoveries into improved care.

Currently, more than 60 leading medical institutions across the nation receive CTSA Program funding. The institutions offer expertise, resources and partnerships at the national and local levels to improve the health of individuals and communities. The CTSA Program also nurtures the field of translational science through education, training and career support at all levels.

The CTSA Program Goals are to:

– Advance clinical and translational science: develop, demonstrate and disseminate scientific and operational innovations that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical translation from identification to first-in-human studies to medical practice implementation to community health dissemination.
– Promote partnerships and collaborations to facilitate and accelerate translational research projects locally, regionally and nationally.
– Create, provide, and disseminate innovative research programs and partnerships across institutions and communities to address health needs of their populations and deliver the benefits of translational science to all.
– Create and implement scientific and operational innovations that increase the quality, safety, efficiency, effectiveness and informativeness of clinical research.
– Provide a national resource for the rapid response to urgent public health needs.
– Create, provide and disseminate clinical and translational science training programs for clinical research professionals of all disciplines on the research team.
– Create, provide and disseminate clinical and translational science training and career support programs for translational scientists.
– Foster the development of the emerging field of translational science.

Mission Categories

Primary: Research and Development

Other categories:
General Health and MedicalHealth EducationMedical EducationCapacity Building/Cybersecurity

Use of Funds

Allowed Uses

NCATS is all about getting more treatments to all patients more quickly. A novel drug, device or intervention can take 14 years and $2 billion to develop, with a failure rate exceeding 95%. NCATS is directly addressing this problem by discovering new technologies and other approaches that could greatly accelerate the process of developing and deploying solutions that can be used by all translational researchers. The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program supports a national, collaborative consortium focused on bringing more treatments to all people more quickly through advancing clinical and translational science. The Trial Innovation Network, inclusive of Trial Innovation Centers and a Recruitment Innovation Center, are intended to serve as a national model for innovation in clinical trial management and operations, participant recruitment, and will facilitate the implementation of multi-site clinical studies by the CTSA network. The CTSA Collaborative and Innovation Acceleration Awards supports synergistic activities that accelerate the translational research process through collaboration and innovation.

Required Documentation

The required credentials of the applicant are described in the relevant Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Reporting & Compliance

Audit Required
Yes — Annual
Records Retention
3 years

Applicable 2 CFR 200 Subparts

  • Subpart B — General Provisions
  • Subpart C — Pre-Federal Award Requirements
  • Subpart D — Post-Federal Award Requirements
  • Subpart E — Cost Principles
  • Subpart F — Audit Requirements

Contacts

NCATSExtramuralInfo
301-594-8966
9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850
Data from SAM.gov Federal Assistance Listings. Source published: 2026-02-02. Spec v2.0. Last synced: 2026-05-29 05:38:13.