Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN) to Support Translational Studies For Acute Cerebroprotection- Interventions (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA NS 22 032

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 22 032

The Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN) to Support Translational Studies for Acute Cerebroprotection - Interventions (RFA-NS-22-032) is an NIH/NINDS funding opportunity built to move promising stroke-protection treatments through a more disciplined, head-to-head preclinical testing pipeline. The central idea is to take cerebroprotective drugs or other interventions that already have strong supporting evidence and evaluate them in a standardized, networked way that better predicts whether they are worth advancing toward major clinical trials. This award uses the U01 cooperative agreement mechanism, which means the funded teams do their science in close coordination with NINDS and the broader SPAN infrastructure rather than operating as fully independent, stand-alone projects. Clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement; the work is strictly preclinical and translational.

The research focus is acute ischemic stroke, specifically interventions intended to protect the brain when given before reperfusion or right at the time reperfusion occurs. In real-world stroke care, reperfusion refers to restoring blood flow, often through clot-busting drugs or mechanical thrombectomy. SPAN is targeting the gap where many neuroprotective approaches have looked encouraging in small or variable animal studies but have not held up when scaled, standardized, or pushed toward clinical translation. The FOA emphasizes experimental ischemic stroke models such as transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo), reflecting a goal of testing treatments under conditions that mimic key features of human ischemic stroke and reperfusion injury.

A defining feature of SPAN is that it is a coordinated network designed to test multiple candidate interventions in parallel. The program plans to support testing for up to eight cerebroprotective drugs or interventions. Rather than each applicant running an isolated set of experiments, successful applicants become "intervention contributors" within SPAN and work alongside a SPAN Coordinating Center and designated testing laboratories funded through companion FOAs. This structure is meant to improve rigor, reproducibility, and comparability across interventions by using shared protocols, common outcome measures, and coordinated study execution. It also helps reduce the time and cost typically required to generate the kind of robust preclinical package needed to justify pivotal clinical development.

Applicants are expected to bring a clearly defined, promising cerebroprotective intervention that is ready for network-level validation. A key requirement is rigorous and extensive preliminary data, meaning the intervention should not be a speculative early-stage concept. The expectation is that the candidate has already demonstrated convincing effects in relevant preclinical contexts and is now prepared for more definitive, standardized testing that can confirm the signal and clarify how reliable and translatable it may be. In practical terms, SPAN is positioned as a gatekeeping and acceleration step: candidates that perform well in this tougher, harmonized setting are better positioned for future clinical trial planning, while those that fail can be deprioritized earlier, saving resources.

The collaboration requirements are central to the opportunity. Awardees are not only funded to provide their intervention and participate scientifically, but also to coordinate with the SPAN Coordinating Center (referenced as RFA-NS-22-004), the SPAN testing laboratories (RFA-NS-22-003), and other funded intervention contributors (including related FOAs such as RFA-NS-22-033). This networked approach is specifically intended to "span the gap" between small businesses, academic or other preclinical testing labs, and a credible pipeline toward clinical testing. It is also meant to address longstanding concerns in the stroke field about inconsistent preclinical methods and the difficulty of selecting the best candidates for expensive late-stage clinical trials.

In terms of eligibility, the FOA is broadly open to many U.S.-based organizational types, including state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations; nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; for-profit organizations (including but not limited to small businesses); and other applicant categories listed by NIH. The announcement also explicitly highlights various mission-driven and capacity-building institution types as eligible, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, among others. At the same time, the FOA draws a firm boundary around foreign involvement: non-U.S. (foreign) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined by NIH policy are not allowed.

Administrative details from the source listing include that the sponsor is the National Institutes of Health, the activity falls under the health category, and the CFDA number associated with NINDS is 93.853. The opportunity uses a discretionary funding category and the cooperative agreement instrument (U01). The original closing date shown in the source is March 14, 2022, and the opportunity was created January 6, 2022. While the source text does not provide an award ceiling or an expected number of awards in the fields shown, the program description indicates the intention to support testing of up to eight interventions through the SPAN network.

Overall, this FOA is aimed at applicants who already have a strong cerebroprotective candidate and want it evaluated through a highly structured, multi-site, coordinated preclinical testing framework. The program is designed to deliver a clearer, faster answer to a hard question in stroke research: which acute cerebroprotective interventions truly deserve to move forward into the high-stakes world of pivotal clinical trials.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN) to Support Translational Studies For Acute Cerebroprotection- Interventions (U01 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): 93.853.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-01-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-03-14. (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 RFA NS 22 032

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