NHLBI Small Grant Program for K Award Recipients

NHLBI Small Grant Program for K Recipients

Supports former K awardees moving to independent NHLBI research through small grants.

RFA-HL-27-004 is a limited-competition R03 small research grant program issued by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute specifically for investigators who have previously received NHLBI K01, K08, K23, or K25 career development awards. The FOA was released May 12, 2026 and expires November 8, 2028. The program is available for clinical trial optional research in any NHLBI-relevant heart, lung, blood, or sleep disorder area. Because it carries a "limited competition" designation, only investigators who can document a qualifying prior NHLBI K award are eligible to apply — open submission to the general investigator pool is not permitted.

The R03 mechanism funds small, self-contained research projects. NHLBI uses this vehicle to bridge K-award alumni into independent investigator status by providing transitional project support as they seek their first independent R01. Award amounts for RFA-HL-27-004 were not published in the source text and are not confirmed in catalog; standard NIH R03 awards typically cap at $50,000 direct costs per year for up to two years, but applicants should review the full FOA text for NHLBI-specific budget guidance. No total program pool was stated.

Eligibility is restricted to domestic (US) organizations including universities, nonprofits, and research institutions whose investigators hold a qualifying prior NHLBI K award. For-profit entities are not eligible. Individual applications are also technically permissible given the K-award alumni framing. The program was identified in the May 2026 NHLBI funding opportunity listing alongside the INCLUDE Project FOAs and various multi-site clinical trial support mechanisms. Prospective applicants should retrieve the full FOA at grants.nih.gov before the November 8, 2028 expiration.