Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (CPACHE) (U54 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 23 308

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 308

The Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (CPACHE) (U54 Clinical Trial Optional) opportunity, PAR-23-308, is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement designed to strengthen the nations cancer effort by building durable, high-impact partnerships that directly address cancer health inequities. The core idea is to connect institutions that serve underserved health disparity populations and educate underrepresented students (often referred to as ISUPSs) with NCI-designated Cancer Centers (CCs) in a way that is long-term, mutually beneficial, and comprehensive rather than one-off or narrowly focused. By combining the community reach and student talent pipelines of ISUPSs with the research infrastructure and specialized expertise of NCI Cancer Centers, CPACHE aims to expand who participates in cancer research, what questions are prioritized, and how effectively discoveries and evidence-based practices reach communities that have historically been left behind.

Programmatically, CPACHE expects each funded partnership to function as a true collaboration with shared planning, shared execution, and shared outcomes across research, training, and community-facing work. The partnership is expected to increase the cancer research and cancer research education capacity at the ISUPS institution(s), meaning more robust research infrastructure, improved access to mentorship and resources, and stronger institutional ability to compete and perform in cancer-related research. At the same time, the program is explicitly workforce-focused: it seeks to promote diversity in the cancer research workforce by expanding pathways for students and investigators from underrepresented backgrounds to gain training, research experience, and career development opportunities tied to cancer and cancer disparities research. In parallel, it also pushes NCI-designated Cancer Centers to deepen and sustain their own cancer health disparities research programs, with an emphasis on increasing the number of investigators and students actively conducting disparities-focused cancer research and building programs that last beyond a single award cycle.

A major pillar of CPACHE is community benefit through outreach and education. Funded partnerships are expected to develop and implement cancer-related outreach and education initiatives that provide tangible value to surrounding underserved communities. In practice, this typically means activities that improve cancer awareness, prevention knowledge, screening and early detection engagement, navigation to care resources, and community-informed education efforts. Importantly, outreach is not framed as a side project; it is part of how the partnership ensures that research and training are aligned with real-world community needs, local barriers to care, and culturally appropriate strategies that can improve cancer-related outcomes over time.

This opportunity uses the U54 mechanism, which signals a large, multi-component cooperative agreement where NIH has substantial involvement compared to a standard research project grant. The "Clinical Trial Optional" designation means applicants may propose clinical trials if appropriate, but a clinical trial is not required. The funding opportunity falls under the Education and Health activity categories and is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.393 through 93.399), reflecting its alignment with several NCI/NIH program areas supporting cancer research, training, and related infrastructure.

Eligibility is broad across domestic organizations, reflecting the programs emphasis on partnerships that can be tailored to local and regional contexts. Eligible applicants include various levels of government (state, county, city or township, special district), independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, small businesses, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, and tribal entities including federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations. The announcement also highlights additional categories commonly aligned with the programs equity goals, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

There are clear restrictions related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply. In addition, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed. In other words, applications must be fully domestic in both applicant structure and project components.

From an award perspective, the listed award ceiling is $1,700,000, indicating the maximum amount anticipated per award under the opportunity as presented in the source data. The original closing date is October 10, 2025, and the opportunity was created on October 5, 2023. While the source data does not specify an expected number of awards, the intent is to support multiple partnerships nationally to expand capacity, training pipelines, and community impact in cancer health disparities work.

Overall, CPACHE is aimed at changing the structure of cancer research and education ecosystems by formalizing and resourcing partnerships that link community-serving academic institutions and NCI-designated Cancer Centers. The expected outcome is not only more research and more training, but better-aligned research priorities, stronger institutional capacity where it has historically been underfunded, a more diverse cancer research workforce, and outreach efforts that are built with and for underserved communities to reduce inequities in cancer burden.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (CPACHE) (U54 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.397, 93.398, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-10-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,700,000.00 in funding.
• 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 23 308

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