Kidney Precision Medicine Project Tissue Interrogation Sites (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Can you apply?
This grant is for researchers and research institutions investigating kidney disease through precision medicine approaches, specifically supporting tissue interrogation and biospecimen analysis activities. Eligible applicants typically include academic medical centers, research universities, hospitals, and nonprofit research institutions with established research infrastructure and IRB capabilities. The award supports U01 (research project cooperative agreement) mechanisms focused on kidney precision medicine, with a specific exclusion of clinical trial research. Geographic scope is nationwide for U.S.-based research institutions. Primary activities supported include tissue collection, characterization, analysis, biospecimen banking, and research infrastructure to advance precision medicine understanding of kidney diseases, though clinical trial conduct is explicitly not permitted under this mechanism.
Key dates
- Jun 3, 2026 Applications open
- Jul 10, 2026 Application deadline in 27 days
- Jun 1, 2027 Award announced
- Jul 1, 2027 Project start
Program description
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) requests applications for the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP) – Tissue Interrogation Sites (TIS) to analyze human kidney tissue. The TIS will collaborate with the Recruitment Sites (RS), Kidney Tissue Atlas Coordinating Center (KTACC) and Central Hub (CH) to obtain and evaluate kidney biopsies from participants with acute kidney injury (AKI) or chronic kidney disease (CKD), create a Kidney Tissue Atlas, define disease subgroups, and identify critical cells, interstitial components, pathways, and targets for novel therapies.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- NIH SF-424 (R&R) application form
- Project narrative/research plan (typically 12-15 pages)
- Specific aims (1 page)
- Significance and innovation sections
- Research design and methods
- Budget and budget narrative (with justification for tissue banking, personnel, equipment)
- Biosketches of key personnel (current format)
- Letters of support from collaborating institutions and tissue repositories
- Data management and sharing plan
- IRB approval letter or evidence of IRB review for tissue handling protocols
- Facilities and administrative resources documentation
- Letters of institutional commitment and resource availability
Program contact
- 👤 Debbie S. Gipson, MS, MD
- 📧 Debbie.Gipson@nih.gov
- 📞 301-480-2268
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 93.847 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
-
$152,979,352
-
$112,529,392
-
$66,521,567
-
$45,186,589
-
$37,867,943
-
$37,490,770
-
$34,242,949
-
$31,624,784
-
$31,124,496
-
$31,065,476
Top States by Funding
- FL 2 awards $184.1M
- MA 6 awards $165.7M
- PA 6 awards $165.0M
- NY 4 awards $143.8M
- MD 2 awards $143.4M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 93.847). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $1,971,472,000 | |
| 2025 | $2,043,166,000 | |
| 2026 est. | $111,289,000 |
FAQ
Who is eligible to apply for this grant?
Typically domestic nonprofits, research institutions, hospitals, universities, and medical centers with active research programs and institutional review board (IRB) approval processes can apply. Individual researchers typically must have an institutional affiliation.
What types of research activities are supported?
This grant supports tissue interrogation, biospecimen collection, analysis, characterization, and precision medicine research infrastructure related to kidney disease. Clinical trial conduct and clinical trial-related activities are explicitly not permitted.
What is the timeline for this grant?
Applications are expected to open September 10, 2025. Specific submission deadlines are typically announced on Grants.gov and the NIH website. Check the official NIH NOFO (Notice of Funding Opportunity) for exact deadline dates.
How competitive is this funding?
NIH U01 awards are moderately to highly competitive. Success typically requires preliminary data, clear innovation in precision medicine approaches, strong institutional support, and a well-developed research plan with realistic timelines and budgets.
What is the typical funding range?
NIH U01 awards vary widely but commonly range from $400,000 to $2 million per year depending on project scope, institutional resources required, and number of tissue interrogation sites involved. Check the specific NOFO for this funding mechanism's budget guidance.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Focus your proposal on tissue interrogation and biospecimen characterization; NIH reviewers will scrutinize proposals that blur the line into clinical trial activities, which are explicitly excluded from this mechanism. Consider a U01 Clinical Trial-Allowed mechanism if your work involves patient enrollment for treatment evaluation.
- Highlight your institutional precision medicine infrastructure: tissue banking capabilities, genomic or proteomic analysis platforms, bioinformatic support, and regulatory/compliance expertise. Reviewers want to see that your institution can reliably execute tissue-based research at scale.
- Build a strong multi-disciplinary team that includes pathologists, bioinformaticians, biostatisticians, and kidney disease experts. NIH U01 awards favor collaborative, team-based approaches with clear roles and complementary expertise.
- Include preliminary data demonstrating the utility of your tissue interrogation approach for kidney disease understanding. Show how your methods will advance precision medicine and have potential downstream clinical relevance, even though this is not a clinical trial.
- Budget realistically for long-term biospecimen management, quality control, and data stewardship. Tissue banking and interrogation are resource-intensive; justify all costs with clear timelines and deliverables.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Many applicants propose research activities that inadvertently cross into clinical trial territory—such as randomizing participants to different treatment arms or collecting tissue samples as part of a therapeutic intervention protocol. Since this mechanism explicitly excludes clinical trials, proposals that blur this boundary are rejected. Additionally, applicants often underestimate the infrastructure and personnel costs required for high-quality tissue interrogation and biospecimen management, leading to unrealistic budgets or scope creep during the project period. Finally, weak preliminary data or vague descriptions of how the tissue analysis will generate new precision medicine insights into kidney disease frequently result in low priority scores.
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