Research Topics of Interest

The major NCI SBIR & STTR portfolio areas are listed below as a guide to general technology areas funded through the program. Applications proposing innovative cancer-related technologies, with strong commercial potential, that fall outside these topic areas are also welcomed through the Omnibus Solicitation.

Major NCI SBIR & STTR Portfolio Areas

• Therapeutics (e.g., Small Molecules, Biologics, Radiomodulators, and Cell-based Therapies)
• In Vitro and In Vivo Diagnostics (e.g., Companion Diagnostics and Prognostic Technologies)
• Imaging Technologies (e.g., Agents, Devices, and Image-Guided Interventions)
• Devices for Cancer Therapy (e.g., Interventional Devices, Surgical, Radiation and Ablative Therapies)
• Tools for Cancer Biology Research
• Technologies and Agents for Cancer Prevention
• Technologies for Cancer Control (e.g., Behavioral Health Interventions, Tools for Genetic, Epidemiologic, Behavioral, Social, and/or Surveillance Cancer Research)
• Digital Health (e.g., Mobile Health, Health Information Technology, and Bioinformatics)

NCI particularly encourages applications in the following current research topics of interest:

• Development of Low-Cost Technologies for Global Health
• Development of Companion Diagnostics
• Vaccine Development for Cancer Prevention
• Novel Technologies to Address “Undruggable” Drug Targets
• New Technologies to Assess Tissue-Based Markers of Tumor Death and Mitochondrial Stress in Response to Therapy
• Advances in Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Vector Engineering to Improve CARs Functionality and Safety
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) Applications to Electronic Health Records to Advance Cancer Prevention and Control
• Automated Methods for Extraction and Consolidation of Cancer Registry Data
• Development of Novel Cancer Therapeutics Targeting Epigenetic Alterations
• Integrated Image-Guided Biopsy Platforms for Assessing Tumor Tissue Heterogeneity 
• Cloud Computing-Based Sharing, Integration, and Analysis of Imaging Data for Cancer Diagnostics, Prognosis, and Monitoring
• New Technologies for Ultrasensitive Molecular Histopathology

NCI accepts and encourages SBIR & STTR applications to support clinical trials.