Assistance program
Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health
$3.3 Billion committed in FY2018–FY2026
- Agency
- National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services, Department of
- Assistance
- Project Grants
- CFDA number
- 93.286
- What it does
- To support hypothesis-, design-, technology-, or device-driven research related to the discovery, design, development, validation, and application of technologies for biomedical imaging and bioengineering. The program includes biomaterials (biomimetics, bioprocessing, organogenesis, rehabilitation, tissue engineering, implant science, material science, interface science, physics and stress engineering, technology assessment of materials/devices), biosensors/biotransducers (technology development, technology assessment, development of algorithms, telemetry), nanotechnology (nanoscience, biomimetics, drug delivery systems, drug bioavailability, microarray/combinatorial technology, genetic engineering, computer science, technology assessment), bioinformatics (computer science, information science, mathematics, biomechanics, computational modeling and simulation, remote diagnosis and therapy), imaging device development, biomedical imaging technology development, image exploitation, contrast agents, informatics and computer sciences related to imaging, molecular and cellular imaging, bioelectrics/biomagnetics, organ and whole body imaging, screening for diseases and disorders, and imaging technology assessment and surgery (technique development and technology development).
- Who benefits
- Any nonprofit or for-profit organization, company, or institution engaged in biomedical research.
- Who applies
- Any corporation, public or private institution or agency, or other legal entity, either nonprofit or for-profit, may apply for a research grant. An applicant for an individual NRSA must be a citizen of the United States or lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Those on temporary or student visas are not eligible. An eligible institution for an institutional NRSA must be capable of providing predoctoral and/or postdoctoral research training opportunities for engineers, bioengineers or other. SBIR grants can be awarded only to domestic small businesses (entities that are independently owned and operated for profit; are not dominant in the field in which research is being proposed; and have no more than 500 employees). Primary employment (more than one-half time) of the principal investigator must be with the small business at the time of award and during the conduct of the proposed project. In both Phase I and Phase II, the research must be performed in the United States or its possessions. To be eligible for funding, a grant application must be reviewed for scientific merit and program relevance by a scientific review group and a national advisory council. STTR grants can be awarded only to domestic small business concerns (entities that are independently owned and operated for profit, are not dominant in the field in which research is proposed and have no more than 500 employees) which "partner" with a research institution in cooperative research and development. At least 40 percent of the project is to be performed by the small business concern and at least 30 percent by the research institution. In both Phase I and Phase II, the research must be performed in the U.S. or its possessions. To be eligible for funding, a grant application must be approved for scientific merit and program relevance by a scientific review group and a national advisory council.
Committed by fiscal year
* FY2026 is year-to-date — the fiscal year is still in progress, so its total is still filling in. The striped band and dashed line mark that provisional stretch.
How the money flows
Committed dollars by how this program's money is paid out.
Direct payments
$1.1M
<1%
Grants
$3.3B
100%
Top recipients
By dollars committed.
How to read these numbers
- Committed through this program
Money committed under this assistance listing (its CFDA program), counted in the year each action happened.
- How it's paid
Most programs pay out one way — a grant, or a direct payment to individuals; the flow bar only appears when a program genuinely mixes types.
- Some recipients aren't itemized
For entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, the government reports one aggregate instead of naming tens of millions of people, so the recipient roster isn't part of the public record.
- Awards, counted once
An award count is the number of distinct awards with at least one action that year — each counted once, however many times it was amended.
- The colored bars
Every bar on this page splits by how the money moves:
Direct payments
