The National Institutes of Health, led by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), is accepting applications under PAR-27-096, Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists’ Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) (R03 Clinical Trial Optional). Participating NIH components also include NIDCR, NINR, and NIMHD.
The GEMSSTAR program supports early-career clinician-scientists trained in medical or surgical specialties as they launch aging- or geriatrics-focused research careers. Projects should generate pilot data and experience for subsequent aging research and may include pilot or feasibility studies, secondary analyses, research-method development, new research technology, and related basic, translational, clinical, genetic, or epidemiologic approaches. Clinical trials are optional when appropriate to the proposed R03 project.
Deadlines: The opportunity opens for submission October 10, 2026. New applications are due November 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization, with resubmissions due November 16, 2026. Later new-application dates are June 16, 2027 and June 16, 2028, with corresponding resubmission dates July 16, 2027 and July 16, 2028. No late applications are accepted. The NOFO expires July 17, 2028.
Funding: Application budgets are limited to $125,000 in direct costs per year for a two-year project period. NIA intends to commit $3,000,000 in each of FY 2027, FY 2028, and FY 2029 for approximately 15 awards focused on general aging topics, plus $800,000 per year for approximately four awards focused on Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. Cost sharing is not required. Applicants use the Modular Budget format in $25,000 increments up to the annual direct-cost limit.
Organizational eligibility: Broad domestic applicant classes include public and private institutions of higher education, qualifying nonprofits, small businesses and other for-profit organizations, state and local governments, Tribal governments and organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories, independent school districts, housing authorities, faith-based and community-based organizations, and regional organizations. Foreign organizations and non-U.S. components are not eligible to apply. Applications involving foreign subawards or subcontracts are noncompliant under the current NIH policy described in the NOFO.
Candidate eligibility: The PD/PI must be a qualifying early-career clinician-scientist with a clinical doctoral degree such as an MD, DO, DDS, DMD, OD, DC, PharmD, ND, PsyD, DNP, DPT, DVM, or comparable clinical doctorate. Research-only doctoral degrees such as the PhD are generally not eligible. Candidates generally should be within 10 years of completing training, must have or will have a faculty appointment by the start of the award, and must be early in their aging-related research careers. The program is not intended for investigators who have already served as PI on an NIH aging-related career-development award, subject to stated exceptions, or on an NIH aging-related research award. A single PD/PI is expected, and the research team should include at least one senior collaborator with complementary aging or geriatric research expertise.
Professional Development Plan: GEMSSTAR requires a Professional Development Plan describing the supportive research environment and the candidate’s development toward aging-focused research leadership. The PDP must be supported independently from the R03 research award. Applicants should document appropriate institutional commitment, protected research support, collaborators, and resources.
Submission: Applications follow NIH Research (R) instructions and are submitted electronically through ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or an institutional system-to-system solution, with tracking in eRA Commons. Required registrations include SAM/UEI, Grants.gov, eRA Commons, and ORCID for the PD/PI. A Data Management and Sharing Plan is required when the proposed work will generate scientific data.
Atlas fit: This is a strong aging, geriatrics, clinical-specialty, academic-health, and clinician-scientist development opportunity. Although for-profit organizations are structurally eligible, organizational eligibility does not override the highly specific PD/PI and research-environment requirements. A direct Dr. Miltie prime pursuit is not submission-ready absent a qualifying early-career clinician-scientist, faculty appointment, aging-focused research project, senior aging-research collaborator, independently supported Professional Development Plan, institutional research environment, and required NIH registrations. Preferred posture: Partner-Led / Qualified Early-Career Clinician-Scientist. Route organization-specific applicant evaluation and outreach to applicable state academic-health, teaching-hospital, medical, dental, nursing, rehabilitation, veterinary, and other qualified clinician-scientist pathways.