PAR-24-211: NHLBI Career Transition Award (K22 Clinical Trial Required)

PAR-24-211: NHLBI Career Transition Award (K22 Clinical Trial Required)

The official NIH notice is still active and lists October 12, 2026 as the next new-application due date. The earlier June 12, 2026 date has passed, but it is not the end of the funding opportunity: the same table also lists February 12, 2027 and June 12, 2027. Applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. The notice lists July 13, 2027 as its expiration date. This page therefore describes a live upcoming cycle, not a closed-cycle archive.

What this award supports

PAR-24-211 is the NHLBI Career Transition Award for Intramural Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Trainees, activity code K22. It is designed for highly qualified researchers training in the NHLBI Division of Intramural Research who need a structured route from mentored intramural work to an independent research position outside the intramural program. The award has two connected phases:

• The mentored phase provides up to two years in an NHLBI intramural laboratory.
• The extramural phase provides up to three years for an independent research project at an extramural institution.

The combined period can total five years. The transition is not automatic. NHLBI reviews the awardee’s research progress during the mentored phase and evaluates the proposed extramural research plan before approving phase two. The purpose is not simply to extend postdoctoral salary; it is to help a candidate build the record, skills, appointment, and institutional support needed for an independent research career.

This particular notice is for applicants who will lead an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or a separate ancillary clinical trial. A candidate who will only gain experience on a trial led by someone else, or who does not propose an independent clinical trial, should review the companion PAR-24-209 instead. That distinction is central: the clinical-trial requirement is part of the mechanism, not an optional feature that can be added after submission.

Funding and budget boundaries

The intramural phase is supported by the candidate’s NHLBI laboratory or branch. Salary support is based on the candidate’s years of postdoctoral experience and is commensurate with the NHLBI intramural salary structure. Intramural research expenses such as personnel, consultants, equipment, supplies, and travel are negotiated with the NHLBI intramural laboratory chief and depend on the proposed work. The notice does not present the intramural phase as a general fixed-dollar award, so candidates should obtain the relevant internal budget guidance rather than copy the extramural ceiling into the first phase.

The extramural phase may last no more than three years. Its total cost may not exceed $249,000 per year or $747,000 for the three-year period. That total includes salary, fringe benefits, the research support allowance, and applicable facilities and administrative costs. The salary remains subject to the legislatively mandated NIH salary cap. Facilities and administrative costs are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs.

The budget cap should shape the study design from the beginning. A proposal that requires a large multi-site operation, extensive staffing, or costly clinical infrastructure needs a credible explanation of how the work will fit within the allowable amount and the resources already available at the proposed institution. The mentor’s independent support may cover costs beyond the award’s allowable costs, but the application should make the division of responsibilities clear. Intramural research expenses are handled through the NHLBI laboratory, while the extramural institution receives phase-two support.

Eligibility: the candidate and the institutions

The first-phase application is unusual. Only the NHLBI intramural program may submit an application for the mentored phase on behalf of an intramural candidate. An outside university cannot independently submit the phase-one application. If NHLBI approves transition to the independent phase, the extramural institution submits the phase-two application.

Eligible candidates are NHLBI postdoctoral fellows and other doctoral-level NHLBI researchers currently in training. Someone accepted to an NHLBI intramural postdoctoral position may work with a prospective mentor on an application after the intramural appointment begins. The notice allows titles such as postdoctoral fellow, visiting fellow, research fellow, or clinical fellow, but postdoctoral fellows hired as contractors are not eligible. Early-stage staff clinicians may be considered when they are working full time in research, have no more than five years of full-time research in the NHLBI Division of Intramural Research, and occupy a role equivalent to a research fellow. Independent positions such as staff scientist, Assistant Clinical Investigator, Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, or Stadtman Investigator are excluded.

A new applicant may have no more than five years conducting full-time research in the NHLBI Division of Intramural Research as of the applicable new-application due date. The notice permits one resubmission within 12 months of the initial application due date. Candidates need a clinical or research doctorate, such as a PhD, MD, DO, DDS, DVM, ScD, DNS, PharmD, or equivalent degree, and must have postdoctoral research experience demonstrating potential for productive basic or clinical research. The required research experience must be completed in an intramural NIH laboratory.

By the time of award, the candidate must be a U.S. citizen, a non-citizen national of the United States, or lawfully admitted for permanent residence. The extramural phase also requires a full-time formal tenure-track or equivalent appointment offer at the academic institution that will be the applicant institution. A VA appointment cannot be counted toward the full-time appointment requirement at that institution; candidates with VA offers should contact NHLBI staff before preparing the application.

The candidate must commit at least 75% of full-time professional effort, or 9 person-months, to the career development program. Other duties may occupy the remaining 25% only if they do not interfere with the proposed development plan. Once accepted, the awardee is expected to remain in the NHLBI Intramural Program for at least 12 months and no more than 24 months.

Foreign organizations, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations, and foreign components are not eligible or allowed under this notice. The candidate also cannot have a pending application for another PHS career development award, an NIH institute-specific K22, or a K99/R00. A person who has been or is currently a principal investigator on an NIH research grant or an equivalent NIH or non-NIH award is also ineligible under the notice’s restrictions.

What the application must demonstrate

The application should connect the candidate’s prior research, the mentored phase, and the independent phase into one credible progression. The candidate section should explain prior training and research, commitment to a field relevant to NHLBI, potential to become an independent investigator, and experience or preparation for organizing and implementing the proposed clinical trial, feasibility study, or ancillary trial. The career goals section must justify why additional development is needed and describe training in areas such as data management, epidemiology, study design and statistics, hypothesis development, drug development, and the legal and ethical issues connected with human subjects and clinical trials.

The career development plan is prepared jointly by the candidate and mentor. It should be tailored to the candidate rather than copied from a generic K-award template. Include courses, seminars, interactions with other research groups, grant-writing or presentation training where useful, and measurable milestones. The plan must explain why both phases are needed, how progress will be evaluated, and how the candidate will obtain a tenure-track or equivalent independent position. NHLBI requires annual evaluations of progress by the intramural mentor, so the proposed milestones should be observable and useful for a later transition decision.

The research plan must cover both phases. Describe the significance, innovation, approach, rationale, expected outcomes, and alternative outcomes for each phase, while giving the extramural project enough detail for reviewers to evaluate its merit. Explain the relationship between the mentor’s research and the candidate’s plan, and show how the mentored work will produce the skills, preliminary results, or other preparation needed for the independent project.

Because this is the clinical-trial-required notice, the research plan must also make the trial component operational. Explain the proposed clinical question, study design, recruitment or enrollment approach, data management, statistical methods, safety and quality procedures, and the candidate’s ability to organize and manage the work. A small feasibility study can be appropriate when it is justified and will produce information needed for a later, larger trial. Reviewers will consider whether the scope of the trial is realistic for a career development award and the resources available.

The mentor must be an accomplished NHLBI investigator in the proposed research area with a record of training researchers. The mentor statement should cover qualifications, supervision, formal coursework, promotion of scientific and professional independence, and the transition from mentored work to independent investigator status. A mentoring team may be used when the project needs complementary expertise, including extramural advisors who understand the transition to an external institution. Collaborators, consultants, and advisory committee members must provide signed statements confirming their participation and specific roles.

The NHLBI Scientific Director must provide a commitment statement covering the candidate’s development, research space, equipment, facilities, available support, clinical-trial resources, and the candidate’s ability to devote full-time professional effort to research development. The institution’s commitment must not be contingent on receiving the award. The extramural institution will later need to demonstrate the appointment, protected research time, space, startup support, and other resources required to carry out the independent phase.

How to apply for the October 12, 2026 cycle

Start with the NHLBI mentor and intramural administrative office. The notice specifically encourages candidates to work with their mentors and to contact NHLBI scientific or research staff for guidance. Confirm that the candidate, mentor, research time, trial role, and transition plan fit this clinical-trial-required K22 before building the full package.

Next, complete the required organizational registrations early. The applicant organization needs active System for Award Management, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov registrations. Each PD/PI needs an eRA Commons account and a valid ORCID linked to the personal eRA Commons profile. The notice warns that registration can take substantial time, and an incomplete registration is not a valid reason for a late submission.

Prepare the Career Development (K) application using the NIH How to Apply instructions and the program-specific instructions in PAR-24-211. The application package includes the SF424(R&R) forms, project summary and abstract, budget, PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form, candidate information, career development plan, research plan, mentor and collaborator materials, environment and institutional commitment materials, and any required human-subjects or clinical-trial records. Applications involving human subjects must include the required PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information study record. Applications that generate scientific data must address the Data Management and Sharing Plan.

Submit electronically through NIH ASSIST, an institutional system-to-system solution, or Grants.gov Workspace, then track the submission in eRA Commons. Paper applications are not accepted. Reference letters are submitted separately through the eRA Commons Submit Referee Information link rather than as part of the Grants.gov application. Follow all page limits and form instructions exactly. View the assembled application in eRA Commons before the deadline, correct any errors, and submit a changed/corrected application by the same deadline if necessary.

The official table sets the October 12, 2026 new-application date at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. The later new-application dates listed by the notice are February 12, 2027 and June 12, 2027. NIH advises submitting early enough to correct errors discovered during electronic validation. These dates are planning anchors, not permission to wait until the final afternoon: the institution, intramural program, mentor, external appointment, human-subjects materials, reference letters, and registrations all need to line up before submission.

Bottom line

PAR-24-211 is a narrowly targeted NHLBI K22 for an intramural-to-extramural career transition with an independent clinical trial, feasibility study, or ancillary clinical trial. The next listed new-application deadline is October 12, 2026, at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. The strongest fit is an eligible NHLBI intramural researcher with a doctoral degree, no more than five years of qualifying intramural research, a committed NHLBI mentor, a credible trial plan, and a realistic route to a full-time tenure-track or equivalent extramural appointment. The program can provide up to two years of mentored intramural support followed by up to three years of extramural support, but the second phase depends on NHLBI’s progress review and the strength of the external institution’s commitment.

Read the official PAR-24-211 notice before preparing forms or relying on the dates and budget details in this summary. The companion PAR-24-209 is the relevant notice for candidates who are not proposing to lead an independent clinical trial.