NASA Research Announcement: 3D Tissues and Microphysiological Systems in collaboration with NIH, BARDA and FDA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate’s (SMD)  Biological and Physical Sciences Division (BPS)  is releasing a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) NNH21ZDA015N to solicit Principal Investigator (PI)-led science investigations for “Extended Longevity of 3D Tissues and Microphysiological Systems for Modeling of Acute and Chronic Exposures to Stressors (3DTANDMPS).” This NRA is a multi-agency solicitation sponsored by NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD)’s Human Research Program (HRP), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to solicit for research in support of common cross-organizational goals. This NRA is focused on adapting existing 3D tissues and microphysiological systems (MPS), also known as “tissue chips” or “organs-on-chips”, to extend the current longevity of the 3D tissues and MPS to at least 6 months.

Key Dates

All non-governmental organizations are eligible to apply. Federal, State, and local government entities, including federal laboratories and NASA Centers are not eligible to participate as the prime, i.e., they may not submit proposals to this solicitation. However, their personnel may participate as team members. Changes or modifications to any of these guidelines will be specified in the descriptions of the relevant research opportunities in the solicited research response area of this document.

Awards will be issued as research contracts. Awards will be issued in the form of a contract with a maximum of $500,000 total costs (direct plus indirect costs) per year for up to four years for an overall total of up to $2M per award. The funds available for awards in this NRA range from $12-$20M with the anticipation of 6-10 contracts being awarded.

The issuance of this NRA does not obligate NASA to issue awards. Any costs incurred by prospective investigators in preparing submissions in response to this solicitation are incurred completely at the submitter’s own risk

This full text of this NRA and associated documentation can be found at: http://go.nasa.gov/3DTMPSNRA

The Question and Answer period for this NRA ends two weeks before the proposal due date, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on August 31, 2021.  Questions will be accepted by email only and must be addressed to 3DTMPSNRA@nasaprs.com with the subject line to read “3DTANDMPS.”  Anonymity of persons and institutions who submit questions or comments will be preserved. Responses will be posted on the NSPIRES webpage for this solicitation.