Emergency Awards RADx-RAD: Screening for COVID-19 by Electronic-Nose Technology (SCENT) (U18 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA OD 20 017

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 20 017

The NIH funding opportunity titled "Emergency Awards RADx-RAD: Screening for COVID-19 by Electronic-Nose Technology (SCENT) (U18 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-OD-20-017) was released as part of the federal response to the COVID-19 public health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. It sits within the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics - Radical (RADx-rad) initiative, which was designed to move unusually fast compared with typical research funding timelines, using an emergency mechanism to accelerate promising diagnostic ideas that could help during active outbreaks and also strengthen readiness for future pandemics caused by novel or emerging viruses.

The core purpose of the FOA is to support development of novel, non-traditional screening approaches for identifying current SARS-CoV-2 infection or other measurable biological signals associated with COVID-19 disease. Rather than focusing on conventional molecular or antigen testing platforms, the program emphasizes sensing technologies that can detect and interpret biomarkers in a way that could be deployed more easily or more broadly in real-world settings. The specific concept highlighted in this announcement is electronic-nose style screening, where a device detects volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - essentially chemical patterns associated with "scents" or odors - and uses those VOC signatures to distinguish between COVID-19 positive and negative individuals.

Applications were expected to propose a portable sensing device capable of detecting VOCs emanating from multiple relevant sources, including skin, exhaled breath, saliva, and various oral tissues in the oral cavity. A key requirement is that the device not only measure VOCs, but also reliably associate patterns of VOCs with COVID-19 status in both symptomatic and asymptomatic people. In practical terms, NIH was signaling interest in technologies that could potentially enable rapid, noninvasive or minimally invasive screening workflows, where a pattern-recognition model or algorithm links a measured VOC profile to likely infection or disease state.

The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement (U18), which typically means NIH would expect substantial involvement from the government in shaping milestones, coordinating efforts, and overseeing progress, rather than operating like a standard investigator-initiated grant with minimal agency involvement. The FOA explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning applicants needed to design their projects so they did not meet NIH's definition of a clinical trial under this announcement. While technology development and certain types of human sample collection or observational validation work may be feasible depending on structure and definitions, applicants would need to avoid interventional study designs that would trigger clinical trial classification.

Eligibility was broad and included many organization types: state, county, and local governments; special district governments; tribal governments and tribal organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other entities as described in the full eligibility language. The sponsoring agency is the Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institutes of Health, and the opportunity spans multiple CFDA listings (including 93.121, 93.233, 93.273, 93.286, 93.307, 93.310, 93.350, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.846, 93.865, 93.866, 93.879), reflecting the cross-cutting nature of NIH support tied to emergency response and diagnostic innovation.

Operationally, the posting indicates an original creation date of August 6, 2020, with an original closing date of September 18, 2020, reinforcing the rapid-turnaround nature of the emergency call. NIH anticipated making around five awards. The "Award Ceiling" is listed as 0 in the source data, which typically indicates that a specific cap was not provided in that particular data field and applicants would need to consult the full FOA text for budget expectations, limits, and any milestone-based funding structure common in RADx-style programs.

Overall, this opportunity was aimed at quickly pushing forward portable electronic-nose screening technologies that could translate chemical odor signatures from breath, skin, saliva, or oral tissues into actionable COVID-19 screening results, including for people without symptoms, with the broader intent of building a new class of outbreak-ready diagnostic tools that can be adapted for future emerging pathogens.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Emergency Awards RADx-RAD: Screening for COVID-19 by Electronic-Nose Technology (SCENT) (U18 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.233, 93.273, 93.286, 93.307, 93.310, 93.350, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.846, 93.865, 93.866, 93.879.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 06, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 18, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for RFA OD 20 017

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