NIH Extramural Nexus (News)

NIH is indefinitely extending the period of delayed enforcement for registration and results reporting for basic experimental studies involving humans (BESH) responsive to designated BESH NOFOs, including those with application due dates on or after September 25, 2025.

To address concerns for participant safety risks for ongoing projects, NIH has established a short-term supplement model to support clinical research and clinical trials conducted under an active foreign subaward.

In July 2025, NIH announced it will no longer develop new funding opportunities focused exclusively on animal models of human disease. Rather, going forward, new funding opportunities will be designed more broadly with language that also encourages various approaches be considered.

Updated funding opportunities for NIH fellowships are below and also available on the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts and Grants.gov. NIH fellowships are open to early career scientists, including at the predoctoral and postdoctoral level, and are designed to provide mentored research training to enable skills’ development and experiences needed to transition into careers in the biomedical research workforce. 

On April 29, NIH announced it is prioritizing human-focused research and reducing animal use in research. To further this initiative, all new Notices of Funding Opportunity that relate to animal model systems (NOFOs) must now also support human-focused approaches such as clinical trials, real world data, or new approach methods (NAMs).

We are transitioning our Extramural Nexus email distribution to the NIH Listserv system, where we will continue to provide updates on grants policies, processes, and resources for the research community. Please take a moment to manage your subscription preferences. 

The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. Extramural LRP applications will be accepted from September 1 until November 20, 2025.

As a reminder, NIH is implementing its new 2024 Public Access Policy on July 1, 2025. In preparation for that update, we have launched a series of new and revised Public Access Policy pages on the NIH Grants & Funding site.

NIH published the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan for Data Science, outlining five key goals that will shape the research data landscape. This strategic plan will encourage greater integration of data science to improve access to and use of biomedical and behavioral data.

NIH has simplified peer review for most research project grants for application due dates of January 25, 2025 or later to address the complexity of the peer review process and the potential for reputational bias to affect peer review outcomes. The initial applications are under review during summer study section meetings within the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR).