Funding Opportunities
The Corporate and Foundations Relations Office is able to work with faculty applying for corporate and foundation opportunities below. Please contact them by email or by phone at 919.962.2867. For all applications, please be sure to work with your Department of Pediatrics division grants administrator. Headlines are linked for more information.
The primary purpose of the AHRQ Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Mentored Clinical Investigator Career Development Award (K08) program is to provide support for qualified individuals for an intensive, mentored research career development experience in comparative effectiveness research (CER) methods as applied to patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR). Applications are due March 12, 2026.
The primary purpose of the AHRQ Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01) program is to provide support for qualified individuals for an intensive, mentored research career development experience in comparative effectiveness research (CER) methods as applied to patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR). Applications are due March 12, 2026.
American Thoracic Society: 2027 Unrestricted & Emerging Voices in Health Research Grants
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) is accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs) to support early-career investigators working in basic, translational, or clinical respiratory health research. For the Emerging Voices in Health Research grant, individuals indicate within the letter of intent that they qualify for this grant and that they wish to be considered for this funding opportunity. Unrestricted and Emerging Voices in Health Research grants support early-career investigators conducting research that advances the knowledge and understanding of respiratory health. A primary goal of the ATS Research Program is to enable early-career investigators to transition to independent research careers.
If you are interested in applying, please reach out to the Office of Foundation Relations and Industry Engagement: frie@unc.edu. Letters of intent are due March 11, 2026.
American Thoracic Society: ATS/PHS Early Career Award
The American Thoracic Society (ATS), with co-funding by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHS), is accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs) to support early-career investigators interested in pulmonary hypertension research who are likely to make a strong and sustained impact in PH research. Areas of interest include: investigating the pathophysiology of PH, elucidating mechanistic pathways, identifying novel therapeutic targets or biomarkers in adult or pediatric pulmonary hypertension. The project should have potential applicability to human pulmonary vascular diseases.
If you are interested in applying, please reach out to the Office of Foundation Relations and Industry Engagement: frie@unc.edu. Letters of intent are due March 11, 2026.
This cooperative agreement establishes a single, integrated funding mechanism aimed at enhancing the nation’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. It will support clinicians, healthcare professionals, healthcare systems, institutions, and organizations directly involved in patient care, public health, and infectious disease control across the United States. By strengthening the capacity of these key stakeholders, the program will enable more effective frontline engagement, facilitate the implementation of timely public health responses, and generate expert insights to inform and improve public health guidance and practice. The estimated post date for this is February 17, 2026 with an estimated application due date of April 18, 2026.
The goal of this NOFO is to gather unique information not collected by other federal programs to gain a better understanding of the resources and opportunities needed to reduce morbidity, mortality, and economic impacts and improve other long-term outcomes for people with autism or Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) across the lifespan. CDC proposes to implement three components in this NOFO.
- Component A: Survey to Promote Resources and Opportunities for Autistic Teens and young adults (SPROUT) will use cohorts from the Study to Explore Early Development (SEED), Phases 1-3 collected from 2007-2020, which were case-control studies of autism in children aged 2-5. At the time of award, participants will be aged 10-25. SPROUT will be comprised of caregiver and self-report surveys on service and support needs and the impact of co-occurring conditions on autistic people and their families, as well as the educational, transitional, social, and vocational needs and experiences of autistic adolescents and young adults.
- Component B: Focus on Advancing Support and Transition with the Fragile X Online Registry With Accessible Research Database (FAST FORWARD) awardees will employ clinic-based enrollment of eligible participants with a recruitment goal of at least 200 eligible persons with FXS per clinic. Similar to SPROUT, awardees will collect data on timing of and barriers to diagnosis, service and support needs and the impact of co-occurring, and the educational, transitional, social, and vocational needs and experiences of people with FXS and their families.
- Component C: This component supports development and dissemination of public health materials to improve the health and wellbeing of people with FXS and their families. The awardee will participate in project meetings as well as develop and disseminate materials to relevant audiences to strengthen national healthcare provider capacity to support FXS patients.
The estimated application due date is February 13, 2026 but more information will be available once the opportunity is active. For more information, see the Grant Opportunity Forecast.
Children’s Research Institute: IQVIA Pediatric Clinical Research Scholar Award
The Children’s Research Institute is pleased to announce the IQVIA Pediatric Clinical Research Scholar Award, a funding opportunity designed to support early‑stage investigators in the UNC Department of Pediatrics who are advancing data‑driven research in children’s health. Projects must be supportive of enhancing clinical trial readiness within a given disease area: award funds may be used to support activities including, but not limited to, the generation of preliminary data for future grant applications, pilot or feasibility studies, ancillary studies associated with ongoing clinical research or trials, and related career development activities.
This one‑year, $50,000 award, with the potential for renewal for up to three years, supports projects that strengthen clinical trial readiness, including pilot studies, preliminary data generation, ancillary studies, and career development activities. Eligible applicants include Assistant and Associate Professors, with salary/fringe and professional development costs permitted.
Applicants must notify CRI of their intent to submit by March 13 at 5PM EST, and full proposals are due March 26 at 5PM EST. Required materials include an abstract, specific aims, project description, career/training impact statement, timetable, biosketches, letters of support, budget, and justification (submitted as a single PDF). Awardees will participate in annual written and virtual progress reporting, and final selection will be made jointly by IQVIA and CRI leadership.
Questions may be directed to childrensresearch@med.unc.edu, and investigators interested in exploring IQVIA resources may contact Jinhee Lee for consultation.
Children’s Research Institute Research Grant Initiative
As part of the mission of the Children’s Research Institute (CRI) to coordinate and support pediatric research, we are thrilled to support 3 research funding opportunities: 1) Carolina for the Kids (CFTK) Research Grant Awards; 2) UNC Children’s Development Early Career Investigator Grants; and 3) IQVIA Pediatric Clinical Scholars Award.
The Commonwealth Fund’s Advancing Health Equity program, established in 2021, aims to advance equity in U.S. health care. Its goal is to eliminate unequal treatment, experience, and outcomes in health and health care for people of color by reducing systemic racism in health care policy and practice through three focus areas: promoting antiracism in health care delivery systems, promoting antiracism in health care policy, and changing the mindset of health care leaders and professionals. This is an open RFA with no deadline.
Harrington Discovery Institute: Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Scholar Award
The Harrington Discovery Institute is accepting applications to support researchers in the US, UK or Canada to accelerate preclinical projects towards treatments for patients. This award seeks novel approaches to treat rare diseases. Proposals of interest include discoveries demonstrating rigorous science, innovation, and potential for clinical impact. Projects with novel, validated targets are of particular interest. The current focus areas of the OHC are neurological disorders, developmental disorders, and rare cancers, but OHC welcomes applications directed to other rare, genetic indications with a high unmet need.
If you are interested in applying, please reach out to the Office of Foundation Relations and Industry Engagement: frie@unc.edu. Applications are due March 9, 2026.
The Huo Family Foundation (HFF) is accepting applications to support postdoctoral researchers by providing early-career fellowships. These fellowships are to allow early-career researchers to design, plan and deliver their own innovative research project, and to make the transition to independent researcher. Proposals should be tackling key questions within the broad topic of the effects of usage of and exposure to digital technologies on brain development and function (including physiological responses), social behavior and interactions, and the well-being and mental health of children and young people.
If you are interested in applying to this foundation opportunity, please reach out to Krystal Hull | Director, Foundation Relations. Applications are due May 1, 2026.
The Huo Family Foundation (HFF) is accepting applications to support early-career researchers to develop further their own research vision and help establish a research group. These grants are to support new lecturers/assistant professors at the start of their careers to foster their independence and gain experience of managing and leading research projects and teams. Proposals should be tackling key questions within the broad topic of the effects of usage of and exposure to digital technologies on brain development and function (including physiological responses), social behaviour and interactions, and the well-being and mental health of children and young people.
If you are interested in applying to this foundation opportunity, please reach out to Krystal Hull | Director, Foundation Relations. Applications are due May 1, 2026.
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) invites researchers to submit applications for support of clinical projects that address critical needs for clinical trial readiness in rare diseases. The initiative seeks applications that are intended to facilitate rare diseases research by enabling efficient and effective movement of candidate therapeutics or diagnostics toward clinical trials and to increase their likelihood of success. This could be through the development and testing of rigorous biomarkers and clinical outcome assessment measures or by defining the presentation and course of a rare disease to enable the design of upcoming clinical trials. Applications are due February 18, 2026.
NCATS Preclinical Proof of Concept Studies for Rare Diseases (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) provides funding to conduct efficacy studies in an established rare disease preclinical model to demonstrate that a proposed therapeutic agent warrants further development. In addition to preclinical efficacy, accompanying pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies would be supported. Therapeutic agents include small molecules, biologics or biotechnology-derived products. The goal of this NOFO is to spur therapeutic development for a variety of rare diseases by advancing projects to the point where they would attract subsequent investment supporting full Investigational New Drug (IND) application development or progression to clinical trials in the case of repurposing or repositioning. Applications are due June 2, 2026.
The new application deadlines for NCBiotech’s Grant Programs have been published. Updated guidelines and materials will be available online before each program’s first deadline.
- Biotechnology Event Sponsorships and Meeting Grants: NCBiotech’s event and meeting grants support North Carolina-based events and meetings that bring information and networking opportunities on diverse topics to the life sciences community statewide. The next proposal deadline is 2/25/2026.
- Flash Grants: The Flash Grant program aims to identify and energize creative ideas that exhibit early indications of commercial potential. Like a flash of inspiration, Flash Grants infuse a quick jolt of funding at a critical early point when a small, targeted influx of funds can be crucial to shaping innovative research ideas into high potential life sciences technologies. The next deadline is 3/25/2026.
The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this National Institute on Aging (NIA) R25 program is to support educational activities that compliment and/or enhance training opportunities to ensure a workforce that is well prepared to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs, help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences and foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its implications. The earliest submission date is April 27, 2026 with applications due May 27, 2026. For more information, see the linked RFA.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to solicit applications to establish a Knowledge and Research Coordination Center as part of the NICHD’s Maternal and Pediatric Precision in Therapeutics (MPRINT) Hub. The MPRINT KRCC will accelerate safe, effective drug development and regulatory science through expanding the available knowledge, tools, and expertise in maternal and pediatric therapeutics by: (1) Developing an easily queryable curated and interoperable pharmacology knowledgebase; (2) Leveraging real-world clinical data and insights, particularly through mother-baby linkages; (3) Supporting and leveraging efficient and innovative clinical trials in pediatrics, obstetrics, and lactation; (4) Uniting multidisciplinary expertise and training the future workforce. The Center will collaborate with MPRINT’s Maternal Medication and Human Milk Research Center (M2HMRC) to conduct cutting-edge clinical, translational, and data science research. The estimated post date is November 21, 2025 and estimated application due date is March 2, 2026.
The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is intended to support research education activities for clinicians, clinicians in training, and clinical researchers that enhance the knowledge of substance use and substance use disorder (SUD) research and provide opportunities for active participation in related research. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this NOFO will support educational activities with a primary focus on:
- Courses for Skills Development
- Research Experiences
Applications for the next cycle are due March 11, 2026.
NIDCD invites applications for early-stage dissemination and implementation (D&I) research projects (e.g., during development and evaluation of the evidence-based innovation, EBI) in the NIDCD mission areas of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language. The next application due date is June 18, 2026.
This opportunity will support efforts to disseminate resources for integration into neuroscience research practice. The resource(s) should be relevant to the goals of the BRAIN Initiative as outlined in the “BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision” and “The BRAIN Initiative 2.0: From Cells to Circuits, Toward Cures”, shared broadly to the neuroscience community, and address compelling needs of neuroscience researchers that are otherwise unavailable or impractical in their current form. The next application due date is June 10, 2026.
NIH Early Immune System Development and Ontogency (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to further elucidate the mechanisms of early immune development in utero, during the early post-natal period and during early childhood in neonates, infants, and children and adolescents with or without in-utero exposure to HIV or Anti-Retroviral Therapeutics (ART). This initiative aims to understand intricate mechanisms of immune cells at the maternal-fetal interface, T and B cell development and maturation in offspring, and local immune responses and the role of systemic immunity. For more information, please see the grant opportunity linked below. Applications are due May 7, 2026.
NIH Role of Defective Proviruses in HIV Persistence (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is to support research to define the impact of defective HIV proviruses on mechanisms of HIV persistence and pathogenesis during antiretroviral treatment and their potential deleterious effects on HIV cure strategies and interference with HIV-specific molecular assays. For more information on eligibility and award details, please visit the grant opportunity. Applications are due May 7, 2026.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications for centers to support transdisciplinary teams of clinical and mental health services researchers, behavioral scientists, social scientists, health information and communications technologists, health systems engineers, decision scientists, and mental health stakeholders to engage in high-impact studies that will significantly advance clinical practice and generate knowledge that will fuel transformation of mental health care in the United States. Advanced Laboratories for Accelerating the Reach and Impact of Treatments for Youth and Adults with Mental Illness (ALACRITY) Research Centers will support the rapid development, testing, and refinement of novel and integrative approaches for (1) optimizing the effectiveness of therapeutic or preventive interventions for mental disorders within well-defined target populations; (2) organizing and delivering optimized mental health services within real world treatment settings; and (3) continuously improving the quality, impact, and durability of optimized interventions and service delivery within diverse care systems. Applications are due May 18, 2026.
Shock Society Faculty Research Award
The Shock Society is accepting applications to support a faculty member at his/her early career stage to do research in the areas related to trauma, shock, and sepsis, leading to becoming an outstanding independent investigator. Research topics may vary from basic cellular responses to clinical outcomes. Proposing translational research and clinical application is encouraged. Proposed research must have intrinsic importance but may also contain a component for permitting the applicant to learn the methodology, theory, and conceptualizations necessary for project development. Eligible applicants must be a member of the US Shock Society or Member Society of the International Federation of Shock Societies.
Applications are due February 28, 2026. Please reach out to the Office of Foundation Relations and Industry Engagement if interested in applying.
Thrasher Research Fund – Early Career Awards
The Thrasher Research Fund is accepting concept papers to support young investigators in pediatric research. The program’s aim is to encourage the development of medical research in child health by awarding small grants to new researchers. The grant cycle is an ongoing process throughout the year.
The Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS) leadership recognizes that changing research priorities at National Institutes of Health, EPA, and other federal research agencies have disrupted many successful research projects and careers and are challenging faculty to pivot to new research areas. This RFA is intended to support planning, analyses, and pilot data accrual in support of rapid resubmission (within <1 year) of a grant application designed to replace a project that has lost federal funding, or allow an investigator to pivot to an area relevant to environmental health research. Please note that consistent with recent Executive Orders, NIEHS is unable to fund research related to Environmental Justice or Climate Change. However, NIEHS continues to support research that leverages community engaged designs, and that examines the impact of extreme weather. Our Center must follow these guidelines when issuing pilot awards. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed monthly. Funding decisions are expected within 30 days of receipt. The CEHS will expand the Rapid Response mechanism (traditionally $5K – $15K) to support projects up to $25K for this specific call to address the following needs:
- Data analysis, investigator effort, or other needs, to pivot to new areas relevant to environmental health.
- New, focused data collection to provide preliminary support for a new research area of emphasis relevant to environmental health.
For more information, see the attached RFA.
UNC NC TraCS Institute: RAC Health Access Research Presentation Travel Fund
The Health Access Research Advisory Committee (HARAC), a joint committee composed of research leaders from Novant Health and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, are sponsoring up to five research travel awards to reimburse up to $1,650 each for investigators interested in presenting research around health access concerns relevant to Southeastern North Carolina to an academic or community outlet.
To be eligible, applicants must be employed by either by Novant Health and located in the coastal region, defined as the New Hanover Region and includes Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, and Pender counties OR employed as a faculty member by the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Applicants must also have a research project regarding health access in Southeastern North Carolina accepted for presentation at an academic or health conference, or community event. Eligible events may occur in any location, but the research presentation to be funded must center on Southeastern North Carolina.
The applicant, as defined above, must attend the presentation. Remaining funds may be used to cover the travel of additional research team members, including students and trainees. All costs must be listed under eligible expenses below. View the RFA for more details.
UNC NC TraCS Institute: RAC Health Access Research Training Awards
The Health Access Research Advisory Committee (HARAC), a joint committee composed of research leaders from Novant Health and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine are sponsoring up to ten awards to reimburse up to $500-$1,650 to fund training for investigators, or their students/research staff, who interested in conducting or already conducting research around health access concerns in Southeastern North Carolina.
To be eligible, applicants must either be: (1) employed by Novant Health and located in the coastal region (defined as the New Hanover Region and includes Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, and Pender counties) OR (2) employed as faculty by the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, OR (3) a trainee or research staff (e.g., post-doc, coordinator, resident) who is DIRECTLY supervised by an individual who meets one of the above criteria. Trainees must submit a letter of support from the supervisor in question with their application.
Applicants must also demonstrate how the proposed training will support the stated health access research goal. View the RFA for more information.
UNC NC TraCS Institute: RC2 Companion Grant
NC TraCS is accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs) for a competitive internal selection process to identify a high-impact project to be developed and submitted as its next NIH RC2 Companion Grant.
This NCATS RC2 opportunity (PAR-25-156) is intended to support innovative resources, activities, and expertise that enhance clinical and translational science (CTS). Project budgets are limited to $500,000 per year in direct costs for up to 5 years ($2.5M over the 5 years of the grant). TraCS will select the most meritorious LOI and provide intensive support to develop a full RC2 application.
Briefly, the High Impact Specialized Innovations Programs (SIPs), supported through this RC2 mechanism should:
- Address specific outcomes that promote and advance the NCATS Strategic Plan and address one or more of the CTSA Program Goals
- Accelerate the development of innovative resources, approaches, tools, solutions, therapies, diagnostics,devices and/or applications and help overcome roadblocks in CTS
- Help catalyze CTS locally at UM1 hubs where no other existing project/resource is likely or able to do so
- Generate results and resources that are expected to become integrated into the broader CTS community locally, regionally, and/or nationally
- Have a plan for evaluation and sustainability of applicable research efforts and resources beyond the RC2 funding
Letters of Intent are due April 14, 2026.
UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center: Pilot and Feasibility Program
The UNC-CH NORC is excited to announce a special call for applications for the Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Program. This opportunity provides up to $50,000 (direct costs) in funding to support an innovative research project to advance our understanding of nutrition and obesity.
The UNC-CH has particular interest in projects related to Nutrition Across the Lifespan and Precision Nutrition, however we welcome proposals that span all topic areas relevant to nutrition and obesity. Projects may be biomedical, epidemiological, or clinical. They may include laboratory or non-laboratory research projects that focus either on human nutrition, animal work that could be translated to human nutrition, or basic research related to nutrition or obesity. Human nutrition or human obesity projects may focus on inpatient or outpatient studies or on epidemiological or community-based research that is social or behavioral in nature.
The guidelines for proposals can be found here. Complete applications must be submitted as a single PDF file by 11:59 PM ET on March 2, 2026 the online form. For more information about the application process, please contact the NORC Managing Director, Ashley Irwin.
UNC Office of Research Development: Idea Seed Grant Program
The program provides pilot funding between $5,000 – $20,000 and/or pre-proposal support for UNC scholars and researchers to approach novel ideas addressing important problems or roadblocks in a current line of inquiry. This unique program provides “right place, right kind” resources by coupling seed funding and person time to support competitive teams of UNC researchers. In addition to funding for preliminary data collection, travel, and team-building activities, awardees will receive expert guidance in planning and preparing grant applications for extramural funding opportunities. This competition is now accepting applications anytime and will receive initial review upon receipt. It is planned that awards will be made promptly after internal review by OVCR leadership and offered on a deliverables oriented schedule. Up-to date instructions will always be kept on the ORD website.
UNC Office of Research: Parachute Fund
The School of Medicine is committed to supporting SOM labs that have been impacted by recent delays in the NIH grant pipeline. To assist with this temporary need, the SOM will administer the Parachute Fund (PF). The fund is targeted for R01/R35, U, and P competitive renewals which received highly fundable scores in study section (within institute paylines) but have not yet received a Notice of Award (NOA) due to the current delay in council meetings. In keeping with the principle of putting people first, the PF program will help support lab personnel as research labs await an NOA. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis to OoR_submissions@med.unc.edu. For questions, please contact Janelle Cross. For more information, please see the announcement attached.
UNC Office of Research: Sunset Fund
The SOM is committed to supporting SOM labs that have been impacted by recent terminations of existing grants in the recent months following the executive orders and subsequent changes at the NIH and other federal agencies. To assist with this critical need and support the people in our research labs, the SOM will administer the Sunset Fund (SF). The SF is targeted to terminated grants (not Stop Work orders). We will provide up to $50,000 for previously funded R01/R35/R00, U, and P grants (or similar) that were terminated unexpectedly in mid-cycle. We will provide up to $30,000 for R21 grants and independent K01/K08/K22/K23 (or similar) grants. For more information, please see the Sunset Fund RFA.
UNC School of Medicine FY27 Education Pillar Grants
The School of Medicine Accelerate Forward Together Education Pillar invites applications from SOM faculty for grants in two areas:
- Curricular Innovation & Pilot Funding, $10,000-$100,000 per awarded project
- Educator Professional Development, $5,000-$10,000 per awardee
Applications are due March 15, 2026 at 11:59PM. Please send questions to Elizabeth Steadman, PhD.