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

Pilot Projects to Enhance the Human Virome Program (R03 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)

Open Closes November 10, 2026 (10 days left) Opportunity RFA-RM-27-024

• Award ceiling$100,000
• Award floor$50,000
• Expected awards13
• Total funding$2.0 million
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Add the deadline to your calendar

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)

Refer to Section III. Eligibility Information in the NOFO for additional information on eligibility. Foreign Organizations/International CollaborationsNon-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are not eligible to apply. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.NIH will no longer issue awards (i.e., new, renewal, or non-competing continuation) to domestic or foreign entities that involve foreign subawards/subcontracts. All NIH-funded research involving foreign subawards/subcontracts must be submitted in response to a NOFO that is specifically designated for funded international collaborations. See NIH Grants Policy Statement 16.8 Collaborative International Research Awards. Applications involving foreign subawards/subcontracts submitted in response to this NOFO will be deemed noncompliant and will not be considered for funding. This policy applies to all monetary international collaborations resulting in foreign subawards/subcontracts, however, it does not preclude unfunded international collaborations or foreign components, funding for foreign consultants, or procurement of unique equipment or supplies from foreign vendors. Regional Organizations;

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

The Common Fund Human Virome Program (HVP) aims to extensively and comprehensively characterize the "healthy" human virome (the collection of viruses that normally reside inside the human body without evidence of disease) and create tools, models, and methods that will enable an in-depth study of its variation and composition in relation to host factors and its influence on health and disease. The purpose of this NOFO is to support small pilot projects that extend the goals of the HVP, including further validating, improving, and complementing existing and newly developed tools from the HVP program by leveraging human specimens collected from the cohorts under the program; samples from animals to promote the refinement, utilization, and translation of these tools to better serve the goals of the HVP program; expanding existing cohorts and/or biospecimen sampling sites for virome characterization; developing tools, assays, and methods to study the human virome; and defining functional interactions between the human virome and host. These pilot projects will expand the HVP consortium, and collaboration across the HVP is expected. Applicants outside the current HVP are encouraged to apply and pilot projects should not overlap with existing HVP efforts (visit the Common Fund website for a list of funded research).

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 National Institutes of Health, HumanVirome@od.nih.gov, 301-402-2541.

Open the official notice