Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center (BTOD)(RM1-Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 23 110

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 110

The Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center (BTOD) opportunity (PAR-23-110) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) funding announcement that supports center-based efforts to take biomedical research technologies that are already relatively mature and push them through late-stage optimization, followed by broad and sustainable dissemination to the wider research community. The emphasis is not on early invention or proof-of-concept work, but on the hard, practical steps that make a technology robust, scalable, well-documented, and genuinely usable by many labs beyond the original developers. A successful BTOD Center is expected to be operating at the leading edge of its technical area while also showing deep, ongoing engagement with the communities that will actually adopt and benefit from the technology.

Programmatically, this FOA is meant to produce technologies that become reliable community resources, not one-off demonstrations. That typically implies careful engineering, usability improvements, validation and benchmarking, development of protocols and quality standards, and the kinds of packaging that allow other groups to implement the tool without needing the originating lab to hand-hold every detail. Dissemination is described as sustainable, meaning the plan should extend beyond publishing papers. Strong projects generally think through training, user support, documentation, distribution channels, and long-term maintenance so that the technology continues to be accessible and up to date. In other words, NIGMS is looking for technologies that can be taken off the workbench and turned into something the broader biomedical research ecosystem can pick up and run with.

Scientifically, BTOD projects must address biomedical research areas that fall within the NIGMS mission. NIGMS generally focuses on fundamental biological processes and broad-based technology and methodology development that advances many areas of biomedical research, rather than disease-specific clinical translation as the primary driver. The FOA also signals that applicants should consider whether their proposal aligns with one or more NIGMS high-priority research areas, and it strongly encourages prospective applicants to talk with NIGMS program staff before submitting. That pre-application contact is framed as an important step to confirm mission fit, relevance to NIGMS priorities, and overall responsiveness to what the FOA is asking for.

This announcement is positioned as an update to an earlier NIGMS center program for Biomedical Technology Development and Dissemination (BTDD; PAR-20-104). The updated framing highlights late-stage optimization and dissemination, reinforcing the expectation that the underlying technology is past the earliest development phase and is ready for refinement, hardening, and broad rollout to the research community.

The mechanism is an NIH grant using the RM1 activity code, and the title explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed." Practically, that means the proposed work cannot include clinical trials as defined by NIH. The activities should remain in the realm of technology optimization, validation, and dissemination for biomedical research use, consistent with NIGMS scope and the non-clinical-trial restriction.

Eligibility is broad across many U.S.-based organization types. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; certain tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status, other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized. At the same time, it clearly limits foreign participation: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, which typically means a U.S. applicant can include certain well-justified project elements carried out outside the U.S. under NIH rules, even though a foreign organization cannot be the applicant institution.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary, uses a grant funding instrument, and falls under the health funding activity category (CFDA 93.859). The NIH is the issuing agency. The original closing date provided is January 27, 2026. The excerpted source information does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, so applicants would need to review the full FOA text in NIH systems for budget guidance, project period expectations, and any institute-specific limits or recommendations.

Overall, the BTOD Center program is aimed at building highly capable, community-facing centers that can take a promising biomedical technology the last mile: improving performance and reliability, making it easier to adopt, and putting in place the training, documentation, and support structures needed for widespread use across the biomedical research community, all within the scientific scope of NIGMS and without proposing clinical trials.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center (BTOD)(RM1-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): 93.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-03-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-01-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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.

Apply for PAR 23 110

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