Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) solicits applications from institutions/organizations to participate as the Research Bases for the HIV/Cervical Cancer Prevention 'CASCADE' Clinical Trials Network. The ‘CASCADE’ network will conduct pragmatic clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of clinically proven interventions to overcome barriers and reduce failures in the cervical cancer screening, management, and precancer treatment cascade for women living with HIV. ‘CASCADE’ clinical trials will be conducted in intended-use environments in resource-constrained settings in low- and middle-income countries and in regions with health disparities in the United States, and will have four major scientific focus areas: increasing screening uptake, improving the management of screen positives, facilitating precancer treatment access, and optimizing precancer treatments for cervical cancer prevention in women living with HIV. Evidence from these trials is expected to inform clinical practice guidelines and improve the implementation of cervical cancer prevention and control programs globally.
‘CASCADE’ will consist of three organizational components each with its own FOA: U24 Coordinating Center (RFA-CA-21-045), UG1 Research Bases (this FOA), and UG1 Clinical Sites (RFA-CA-21-047).
As an integral part of this Cooperative Agreement-funded network, the UG1 Research Bases (this FOA) will (i) provide scientific and statistical leadership for developing network clinical trials concepts and protocols, overseeing their conduct, and analyzing and publishing their results, (ii) ensure compliance with human research participant protection and other regulatory and administrative reporting requirements, and (iii) work towards creating opportunities for training emerging investigators.