Intramural Grant Programs

Centers and offices administer intramural research funding programs focused on a variety of topics and use different mechanisms, such as small competitive grant program.

In response to the growing number of cross-cutting science and technological issues arising from regulatory oversight of products in FDA’s regulatory portfolio (i.e., see FARS for most current list of such regulatory science focus areas that have been identified by FDA), FDA developed a competitive grants program called the OCS Intramural Challenge Grants to foster opportunities for cross-center and office cooperation and collaboration and to serve as an incubator for innovative ideas.

FDA’s Chief Scientist establishes highly innovative and high-risk projects that reflect FDA’s overarching regulatory science focus areas including:

• Collaborative Opportunities for Research Excellence in Science champions FDA cross-center regulatory research nanotechnology efforts
• Office of Minority Health and Health Equity supports research on advancing minority health and health equity, understanding of health disparities, and projects that provide future directions for research that contributes to regulatory decision making.
• Office of Women’s Health Intramural Grants Program aims to address gaps in current regulatory knowledge, set new directions in regulatory policies, or establish a new standard of excellence for research in women’s health and sex and gender differences.
• Medical Countermeasures Initiative leads projects that address regulatory science gaps for countermeasures against chemical, biological, and radiological/nuclear threats and emerging infectious diseases.
• Perinatal Health Center of Excellence Intramural Funding Program applies research to understudied populations of the perinatal period (maternal, premature, neonatal and pediatric periods, as well as development throughout childhood).