Grants / Department of Health and Human Services / National Institutes of Health

Precision Approaches in Radiation Synthetic Combinations (PAIRS, RP1 Clinical Trial Optional)

Forecast Expected deadline November 11, 2026 Opportunity PAR-26-152

• Award ceilingnot stated
• Award floornot stated
• Expected awardsnot stated
• Total fundingnot stated
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

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Who can apply

This opportunity is open to nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses and businesses.

• 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 (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Other Eligible ApplicantsIndian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized);Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government;U.S. Territory or Possession;Faith-based or Community-based Organizations;Regional Organizations;Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions).

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses, businesses.

Is this a realistic fit?

• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) solicits research projects that investigate actionable synthetic vulnerabilities that can be conditionally paired with tumor responses to radiation therapy. The goal of the Precision Approaches in Radiation Synthetic Combinations (PAIRS) program is to develop radiation-synthetic combination strategies and facilitate their adoption into the precision medicine toolkit toward building new and effective anticancer treatments. Early synthetic lethality–based therapeutic strategies in oncology primarily focused on targeting fixed mutations or genomic abnormalities. More recently, however, it has become clear that clinical benefit is often determined by context-dependent vulnerabilities arising from the intrinsic mutational landscape and adaptive tumor responses. This NOFO is unique in its scope, supporting innovative cancer therapy strategies that explicitly exploit context-dependent effects of radiation therapy (RT) using drug-radiation combinations. The central premise of the PAIRS is that these conditional RT-induced responses can be leveraged to create or enhance actionable vulnerabilities that synergize with molecularly targeted agents for better outcomes. A defining feature of PAIRS is its emphasis on precision, scientific rigor, and reproducibility, aligned with NIH’s scientific priorities. Radiation effects are clinically titratable through advances in delivery accuracy and flexibility, including dose, schedule, and spatial targeting. These capabilities enable the rational design of conditional RT-synthetic combination strategies that preferentially exploit tumor-specific essentialities while sparing normal tissues, thereby enhancing the therapeutic index by optimizing biological response. This NOFO consolidates the prior exploratory/developmental and research project funding opportunities to streamline the application process and maintain momentum in developing approaches that target actionable vulnerabilities within the defined radiation research scope. The applicants may submit either for exploratory/developmental research projects with a project period of up to 2 years or for research projects with a project period of 4 to 5 years.

Category: Health.

How to apply

1. Read the full notice and attachments on Grants.gov. The notice is the official source for deadlines and requirements.
2. Make sure your organization has an active SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID; registration can take several weeks.
3. Register on Grants.gov and submit through Workspace before the deadline and time given in the notice. Our application guide walks through each step.

Questions go to NCI PAIRS Program, Telephone: 240-276-5703.

Open the official notice