The "Systematic Testing of Radionuclides in Preclinical Experiments (STRIPE)" funding opportunity (PA-25-173) is issued by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to support exploratory and developmental research on radionuclide-based therapeutics, with a focus on understanding their biological effects on normal tissues, tumor cells, and tumor microenvironments. The initiative emphasizes preclinical cancer biology studies and aims to generate evidence that advances the development of radiopharmaceutical therapies (RPTs). The R21 mechanism supports smaller, innovative projects that can inform the future design of clinical trials but does not fund clinical trials themselves.

This opportunity seeks projects investigating new RPT targets or strategies, synthetic lethality approaches, biomarker discovery, theranostic advancements, and combination therapies involving RPT. Researchers may study pharmacodynamics, optimize regimens for metastatic or resistant cancers, or assess the biological impact of RPT on normal tissues to improve therapeutic indices. Collaboration among experts in radiopharmaceutical therapy and cancer biology is highly encouraged.

Funding provides up to $275,000 in direct costs over two years, with a cap of $200,000 per year. Eligible applicants include higher education institutions, nonprofits, small businesses, government entities, and foreign organizations. Applicants may submit new or resubmission proposals, provided each is scientifically distinct. Nonresponsive applications, such as those without an RPT component or focusing solely on computational models without experimental validation, will not be reviewed.

Applicants must register with NIH systems such as SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov and follow all submission guidelines. A Data Management and Sharing Plan is required, and NIH policies on human subjects and animal research apply. Key submission deadlines begin on February 16, 2025, with additional standard NIH dates.

Evaluation criteria include the significance and innovation of the research, the rigor and feasibility of the approach, and the expertise of the investigators and their environment. Projects must address gaps in knowledge and advance the application of RPTs in cancer treatment. Administrative and programmatic contacts are available for pre-application inquiries. Further details on policies and submission procedures are provided in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.