UF-FSU CTSA Hub
Call for RC2 Ideas
Submit your letter of Interest today!
Purpose
The University of Florida – Florida State University CTSA Hub (UF-FSU CTSA) is soliciting Letters of Interest(LOIs) for a competitive internal selection process to be developed and submitted as a NIH RC2 Companion Grant. This National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) RC2 opportunity (PAR-25-156) is intended to support innovative resources, activities, and expertise that enhance clinical and translational science (CTS). Project budgets are limited to $500,000 per year in direct costs for up to 5 years. The UF-FSU Hub will select the most meritorious LOI and provide intensive support to develop a full RC2 application for submission to the NIH for the September 28, 2026 deadline.
About the RC2 Companion Grant
Review the RC2 announcement (PAR-25-156) for additional details and a list of the types of studies that are not responsive.
The High Impact Specialized Innovations Programs (SIPs), supported through this RC2 mechanism should:
- Address specific outcomes that promote and advance the NCATS Strategic Plan and address one or more of the CTSA Program Goals.
- Accelerate the development of innovative resources, approaches, tools, solutions, therapies, diagnostics, devices and/or applications and help overcome roadblocks in CTS.
- Help catalyze CTS locally at UM1 hubs where no other existing project/resource is likely or able to do so.
- Generate results and resources that are expected to become integrated into the broader CTS community locally, regionally, and/or nationally.
- Have a plan for evaluation and sustainability of applicable research efforts and resources beyond the RC2 funding.
Areas of CTS that could be supported include but are not limited to:
Novel strategies and/or approaches for dissemination and implementation, rural health, clinical informatics, biostatistics, community outreach and engagement, regulatory science, telehealth, and other areas of need for specialized programs. Possible award topics also include digital health, decentralized clinical trials, pragmatic trials, artificial intelligence/machine learning algorithms, point-of-care clinical decision support systems, data science and statistical methods, real-world data and real-world evidence, innovative clinical trial designs, genetics and genomics.
Applicant Eligibility
Investigators must be able to serve as a Principle Investigator (PI) on an NIH RC2 award (see PAR-25-156 for specific eligibility requirements). Teams of multiple PIs are encouraged, with the understanding that (1) A UF investigator must serve as the primary Contact PI; (2) investigators from FSU who wish to co-lead must do so in partnership with a UF Contact PI; (3) all PIs share equal responsibility for the conduct and direction of the project, and (4) all MPIs must individually fulfill the PI eligibility requirement.
Letter of Interest Structure and Submission
Please use single line spacing, Arial 11 font, and 0.5” inch margins. Combine your documents into a single PDF file for submission.
- Specific Aims. Outline the proposed work in the form of a standard NIH-style Specific Aims page (1 page)
- A brief overview of the proposed work, including how it will fulfill expectations of the RC2 (2 pages)
- Brief description of how this proposal integrates with/enhances the UF-FSU CTSA UM1 award (half page maximum)
- Description of the research team (half page maximum)
- PI NIH Biosketch. Please include a biosketch for each PI if there are multiple PIs
Key Dates
- Call for Ideas Release Date: February 27, 2026
- Letter of Interest (LOI) Due Date: April 6, 2026
- Review of LOIs and Selection: April 2026
- RC2 Proposal Development: May – August 2026
- RC2 Final Materials Due: September 7, 2026
- Anticipated RC2 Submission Deadline: September 28, 2026
- Anticipated RC2 Start: July 2027
Review
After evaluation by UF-FSU CTSA leadership, applicants will be notified via email within 4 weeks whether their LOI has been selected to move forward to be developed into a companion RC2 proposal.
Questions? Contact Joanna Lowenstein at jlowenstein@ufl.edu or (352) 273-8816.
Examples of currently funded RC2 Grants:
CTSA RC2 Program at University of Utah: A Translational Platform for Rapid Genomic Medicine: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/9vZXhWFAR0-77FV9y6JOfw/project-details/11091508
Optimizing integration of veterinary clinical research findings with human health systems to improve strategies for early detection and intervention (Tufts University Boston): https://reporter.nih.gov/search/9vZXhWFAR0-77FV9y6JOfw/project-details/11120944
Virginia Accountable Health Engagement and Action Dashboard: Community Framing of Health Data to Support Clinical Translational Science: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/9vZXhWFAR0-77FV9y6JOfw/project-details/11194254
Center for Virtual Care Value and Excellence (ViVE) (UNC Chapel Hill): https://reporter.nih.gov/search/9vZXhWFAR0-77FV9y6JOfw/project-details/11076829
mHealth Outcomes in Behavioral Interventions & Longitudinal Evaluation (MOBILE) Platform (University of Michigan): https://reporter.nih.gov/search/9vZXhWFAR0-77FV9y6JOfw/project-details/11009119