NIH StARR: Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (R38 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed), RFA-HL-26-012, supports institutional research-in-residency programs designed to recruit and retain postdoctoral-level health professionals as clinician-investigators. Participating institutes include NHLBI, NEI, NIA, and NIAID.
Deadline and Submission
The next application deadline is October 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. NIH’s correction notice is incorporated into the current NOFO. Applications may be submitted through NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or an institutional system-to-system solution, following the NIH Research (R) application instructions and all program-specific requirements.
Funding Structure
Awards may support institutional programs for up to five years. NIH institute-specific funding levels apply. NHLBI intends up to 7 new awards per fiscal year, NIAID up to 4, NIA up to 2, and NEI up to 3, subject to appropriations and meritorious applications. Resident-Investigators are supported at 80% of their institutional postgraduate-year base salary during the research period. Programs may request up to $20,000 per year per Resident-Investigator in supplementary research funds, up to $3,000 per year per Resident-Investigator for allowable travel, and up to $20,000 per year in administrative costs. F&A is limited to 8% of modified total direct costs. Cost sharing is not required.
Institutional and Participant Requirements
This is an institutional residency research program, not a general workforce or equipment grant. The applicant must provide written evidence from an appropriate recognized medical, dental, or veterinary board that the proposed combination of clinical and research activities preserves eligibility for specialty board certification. The institution must have a strong established research and career-development environment and qualified faculty. The program must provide a contiguous research period of at least one and no more than two years and should support at least two Resident-Investigators each year. An application supporting only one resident is nonresponsive.
Resident-Investigators must hold an appropriate health-professional doctoral degree, have a full-time appointment at the applicant institution, devote at least 80% effort to research during the supported period, and meet U.S. citizenship, non-citizen national, or permanent-resident requirements by appointment. The PD/PI should be an established investigator with the institutional authority, research record, mentoring experience, and clinical/research background needed to direct the program.
Application Controls
The Research Strategy is limited to 25 pages. Applicant organizations must maintain required SAM, UEI, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov registrations. The application must follow the current NIH SF424(R&R) and NOFO-specific instructions. The proposed application itself may not be a clinical trial, although appointed participants may gain research experience in a mentor- or co-mentor-led clinical trial where allowed.
Atlas Assessment
Atlas Opportunity Score: 86/100. This is best treated as a Partner-Led academic health and graduate medical education opportunity. Appropriate prospective applicants include qualifying academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, medical, dental, and veterinary schools, and other institutions that operate the required residency and research infrastructure. A direct Dr. Miltie prime application should not be treated as viable absent independently substantiated qualifying residency-program infrastructure, recognized-board documentation, an established research environment, a qualified PD/PI, the ability to support multiple Resident-Investigators annually, and all NIH registration and compliance requirements.
This program does not create a general technology procurement path. NIH states that Resident-Investigator supplementary research funds may not be used for equipment. Separate other program-related equipment may be included only when specifically required by the proposed institutional program, fully justified, and not duplicative of items generally available at the applicant institution.
Official source: NIH RFA-HL-26-012