NCI has reissued a Funding Opportunity Announcement soliciting applications for a Data, Evaluation, and Coordinating Center (DECC) for the Connecting Underrepresented Populations to Clinical Trials program (CUSP2CT). Letters of Intent are due February 26, 2022, and applications are due March 28, 2022.

Through the U24 mechanism, the awardee will support the infrastructure for the CUSP2CT network by being responsible for data management/evaluation and administrative coordination of network activities. The DECC will:

• lead the collaborative efforts to identify and conduct shared metrics and measures required for program evaluation,
• identify effective interventions based on the evaluations, and develop recommendations based on the data,
• receive, on a quarterly basis from the U01 sites, all common data elements and all program evaluation-related data including qualitative data such as interviews and focus groups, and
• additional duties. 

This opportunity is important to NCI because CUSP2CT is a program designed to increase referrals to NCI-supported clinical trials among underrepresented racial/ethnic minority populations, who experience disproportionately higher rates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality for numerous cancer types in comparison to Non-Hispanic Whites. However, despite higher rates of cancer incidence and mortality, the representation of these minority populations in cancer screening and cancer clinical trials remains low in some disease areas. Without adequate representation, cancer disparities are likely to increase.

See the announcement for more details on the requirements, award details, and application process.