Funding Opportunity Number: PAR-24-065
Issuing agency: National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Application deadline: September 25, 2026 at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
Funding: Standard new and renewal applications may request up to $1,515,000 in direct costs per year, excluding first-tier consortium F&A. Applications with at least four projects and an Early Stage Investigator-led project may request up to $1,765,000 in direct costs per year, with at least $250,000 per year in direct costs devoted to the ESI-led project. Maximum project period is five years. Cost sharing is not required.
Purpose: NHLBI Program Project (P01) applications support integrated, collaborative research programs addressing heart, vascular, lung, blood, transfusion medicine, sleep disorders, implementation science, health disparities, and related translational research. A responsive P01 must contain at least three interrelated research projects organized around a central scientific theme. Administrative and scientific cores may be included when justified. Phase III and Phase IV clinical trials are nonresponsive.
Eligibility: Eligible domestic applicants include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, small businesses and other for-profit organizations, state and local governments, Tribal governments and organizations, independent school districts, public and Indian housing authorities, eligible federal agencies, faith-based and community-based organizations, and regional organizations. Foreign organizations are not eligible, although foreign components of U.S. organizations may be allowed under NIH policy.
Critical pre-submission requirement: Applications requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs in any year require advance NHLBI program consultation and written agreement to accept the application. NHLBI advises P01 applicants to begin consultation well in advance of the deadline. For the current September 25, 2026 cycle, a new pursuit should proceed only where the applicant can document the required NHLBI consultation and acceptance and has an established P01-caliber research team and project structure already in place.
Submission: This is a multi-project NIH application submitted through ASSIST or an institutional system-to-system solution to Grants.gov/eRA Commons, with all required NIH registrations, forms, component narratives, budgets, biosketches, data management and sharing requirements, and other current application instructions.
Atlas assessment: High-value biomedical research opportunity but highly selective and structurally complex. Recommended posture: Partner-Led / Established NHLBI Program Project Research Consortium. Structural for-profit eligibility does not establish Dr. Miltie as direct-prime ready. Current-cycle routing should be limited to institutions that already have the required NHLBI acceptance, at least three interrelated projects, qualified project leaders, and a mature research infrastructure.
Atlas score: 91/100.