Pre-Application: Research Innovation for Scientific Knowledge (RISK) for Skin and Rheumatic Diseases (X02) | PAR 16 381

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 16 381

The Pre-Application: Research Innovation for Scientific Knowledge (RISK) for Skin and Rheumatic Diseases (X02) opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-16-381) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). It is designed as a pre-application step for the NIAMS RISK program and is aimed at surfacing highly innovative, non-traditional ideas within NIAMS mission areas, particularly skin and rheumatic diseases. The central theme is enabling research that challenges prevailing assumptions or standard approaches, especially when the underlying idea is promising but may look too uncertain, unconventional, or early-stage for more typical NIH funding routes.

This opportunity emphasizes high-risk, high-reward science. NIAMS is explicitly encouraging applicants to follow up on unusual observations, test imaginative hypotheses, explore creative concepts, and propose new paradigms that significantly depart from current theories or standard practice. In practical terms, the program is built to make room for ideas that reviewers might otherwise label as "too risky," "premature," "controversial," or "unconventional" under standard mechanisms. The intent is to accelerate novel lines of investigation that could open new directions for understanding disease mechanisms or developing new translational strategies relevant to NIAMS-supported conditions.

From a scope perspective, the RISK initiative is focused on disease-relevant translational research, but it draws a firm boundary at first-in-human work. It supports translational studies up to, but not including, first-in-human studies. It also makes clear that the associated RISK R61/R33 funding announcements are not intended to support clinical trials. So, the work is expected to be mission-relevant and translational in nature, but still preclinical or otherwise short of human clinical testing, and not structured as a clinical trial.

The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is Health (CFDA number 93.846). The listing identifies this as a discretionary opportunity. While the source data does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards, it does provide key timing information: the opportunity was created on 2016-08-01, with an original closing date of 2016-10-04. Because this is an X02 pre-application opportunity, the main practical takeaway is that it functions as an entry point intended to help NIAMS identify and encourage the most compelling high-risk concepts for potential progression within the broader RISK pipeline.

Eligibility is broad across many U.S.-based organization types. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other eligible entities. The opportunity also calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the opportunity is explicit about foreign restrictions. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply. Non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. In addition, foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed. The net effect is that the applicant and the work proposed under this opportunity must remain within allowable U.S.-based institutional and project structures, without foreign components.

Overall, this X02 pre-application opportunity fits researchers and organizations that have a strong, disease-relevant idea in skin or rheumatic diseases that is genuinely outside the mainstream and may not yet have the level of preliminary evidence that traditional mechanisms often demand. The program is intentionally built to capture and nurture bold translational concepts before they are ready for human testing, while avoiding clinical trial support and excluding foreign components.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pre-Application: Research Innovation for Scientific Knowledge (RISK) for Skin and Rheumatic Diseases (X02)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.846.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-08-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-10-04. (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 PAR 16 381

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