The overall goal of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to promote mechanistic research aimed at better understanding the pathophysiology of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). It is anticipated that the mechanistic research supported through this NOSI will build the foundational knowledge which will ultimately lead to better strategies to predict, prevent and/or ameliorate toxicities that can arise as a consequence of current immunotherapeutic regimens, and improve treatment outcomes. The proposed research can be basic or translational but should be focused on revealing the mechanisms underlying irAEs. Single investigators and/or multidisciplinary teams with relevant expertise in the research area proposed and/or patient characterization and selection are encouraged to apply.

This NOSI calls for research proposals to investigate irAEs. Specifically, research is encouraged in understanding the mechanisms of immune and/or autoimmune pathways that could be applied to improving immunotherapeutic approaches while simultaneously eliminating or reducing the severity of inflammatory or autoimmune responses. A related area of interest is research designed to enhance the target specificity of immunotherapeutic reagents, to reduce or prevent adverse events. An additional area of interest is the identification of predictive immunophenotypes of cancer patients at risk for developing irAEs. Understanding the risk factors for developing irAEs would better inform patient stratification at the start of therapy and lead to improved treatment outcomes. Achieving the goals of this NOSI should establish a deeper understanding of the origins and activation pathways leading to inflammatory or autoimmune adverse events that currently limit the use of various immunotherapy regimens in patients.

NOT-CA-22-063 

Expiration Date: July 05, 2024