Career Transition Award for NINDS Intramural Clinician-Scientists (K22) - Clinical Trial Required | PAR 18 710

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 710

The Career Transition Award for NINDS Intramural Clinician-Scientists (K22) - Clinical Trial Required (PAR-18-710) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant opportunity run through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Its core purpose is to help exceptional clinician-scientists who are currently working within the NINDS intramural research program make a structured, well-supported move into independent academic faculty roles at institutions outside NIH. In practical terms, it is meant to bridge a common career gap: the period when a talented neurologist- or neurosurgeon-scientist has strong research potential but needs dedicated, career-development support to secure an independent position, launch a sustained research program, and compete successfully for long-term research funding, while still maintaining appropriate clinical responsibilities.

This K22 uses a two-phase career development model. The first phase takes place at NIH under an intramural appointment, where the candidate continues to build scientific and professional independence, sharpen a research niche, and produce the kind of publications, preliminary data, and trial-ready groundwork that will make them competitive for a faculty recruitment package. The second phase begins once the awardee transitions to an extramural institution (for example, a university medical center or another eligible academic environment). That extramural phase is designed to support the early years of independence: establishing a lab or research group (as appropriate), developing a coherent and fundable research direction, and building a record of productivity that positions the investigator to obtain independent grant support. The framing is not simply training for training's sake; it is career transition funding aimed at reaching independence with momentum.

A defining feature of this specific NINDS K22 is that it is "Clinical Trial Required." That label signals that the proposed career development and research plan is expected to include a clinical trial component that meets NIH definitions for a clinical trial, rather than being purely observational or strictly laboratory-based. Applicants generally need to be prepared to articulate how they will plan, implement, and manage clinical trial activities as part of their path to independence, including considerations around trial design, recruitment, endpoints, data management, safety monitoring, regulatory and ethical compliance, and the broader clinical research infrastructure needed to run a trial responsibly.

The opportunity is tailored to NINDS intramural neurologist- and neurosurgeon-scientists, emphasizing the goal of transitioning these clinician-investigators into academic faculty positions that explicitly support a dual role: independently funded research alongside clinical activities. In other words, the award is meant to cultivate people who will continue practicing clinically (to some degree) while also building a research program substantial enough to attract competitive grant funding and produce sustained scientific contributions in neurology and neurosurgery.

Eligibility is constrained by important geographic and organizational limitations. Non-U.S. (foreign) institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. In addition, foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. The eligible applicant organization type listed in the source data includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, which reflects the kind of extramural academic setting NINDS expects awardees to transition into. As with many NIH notices, the full eligibility specifics and application rules are contained in the complete funding opportunity announcement, and applicants are expected to rely on that document for the official requirements.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant program in the health funding category, listed under CFDA number 93.853. The opportunity was created on 2018-03-15, and the original closing date shown in the source data is 2021-07-12. The source excerpt does not provide an award ceiling or the number of expected awards, which means those details would need to be confirmed in the full announcement or related NIH guidance.

Overall, PAR-18-710 is best understood as a career-launch mechanism for a very specific audience: NINDS intramural clinician-scientists in neurology and neurosurgery who are ready to move into independent academic roles and whose research trajectory includes leading or conducting a clinical trial. It combines protected development time, structured transition support, and an expectation of increasing independence, with the end goal of producing faculty-level investigators capable of sustaining both impactful clinical research and clinical practice.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Career Transition Award for NINDS Intramural Clinician-Scientists (K22) - Clinical Trial Required" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.853.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-03-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for PAR 18 710

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