Opportunity Overview
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has opened the FY 2027 Cycle 2 Clinical Investigator Award to strengthen the pipeline of clinician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research in Texas. The mechanism is designed to protect research time, deepen clinical-research skills, expand translational collaborations, and develop the next generation of clinical investigators.
Funding and Application Window
Applicants may request up to $1.5 million in total costs over as many as five years. CPRIT’s Cycle 2 application receipt period opens September 16, 2026 and closes November 18, 2026. The program is listed as open for FY 2027 Cycle 2.
Eligible Institutions and Investigators
Eligible applicants include Texas-based accredited academic institutions, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, and healthcare organizations that provide cancer care and training and conduct clinical cancer research. For-profit companies are not eligible. The nominated principal investigator must be a qualified MD or DO clinician-scientist who meets the RFA’s appointment, Texas residency, research-support and effort requirements.
What the Award Supports
The award is intended to give promising clinical investigators protected time from clinical responsibilities to build patient-oriented cancer research programs. Allowable activities can include PI salary support, translational and correlative research, statistical and analytical support, selected research expenses, and structured mentoring of earlier-stage investigators. The mechanism is not intended for laboratory construction or renovation.
Institutional Strategy
This is a limited-submission opportunity: institutions may submit only two applications under this RFA in the cycle. Academic medical centers, cancer centers and health systems should therefore run an internal nomination process early, confirm protected-time commitments, and select investigators whose active research program and mentoring plan best align with CPRIT’s patient-oriented clinical research goals.
Atlas Analysis
This is a strong healthcare-workforce and clinical-research opportunity with an Atlas Opportunity Score of 93/100. It is not a general technology-acquisition grant. A clinical technology expense would need to be directly tied to the approved research aims and justified within the RFA budget. Atlas should therefore treat N9+ as a possible research-enabling tool only when a specific patient-oriented study genuinely requires remote physical-exam capability, not as a default budget item.
Next Action
Texas institutions should identify eligible clinician-scientists now, confirm the two-application institutional limit, secure leadership nomination and protected-time commitments, verify active independent patient-oriented research support, establish the junior-investigator mentoring plan, and ensure CPRIT Grants Management Portal accounts are ready before the September 16 opening.
Verified source: Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, FY 2027 Cycle 2 funding opportunities and RFA R-27.2-CIA.