Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program

Established: 1999

The Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program supports research projects to develop and carry out pilot applications of novel technologies that will enable the molecular analysis of cancers and their host environment in support of basic, clinical, and epidemiological research.

The IMAT Program was designed with three objectives:

• To focus innovative technology development efforts on the field of cancer
• To solicit highly innovative technology development projects from the scientific and medical communities
• To accelerate the maturation of meritorious technologies from feasibility through to development and/or commercialization

The intended purpose of the IMAT Program is to solicit and fund highly innovative, high-risk, cancer-relevant technology development projects in order to achieve the aforementioned objectives. The Program has capitalized on the success of the original IMAT Program in bringing together a multidisciplinary group of scientists and engineers to work on cancer and the expansion of technology development interests across the NCI and NIH.

Technologies supported through the IMAT Program include those that:

• Detect alterations and instabilities of genomic DNA
• Measure the expression of genes and gene products
• Analyze and detect gene and/or cellular products including post-translational modification and function of proteins
• Identify and characterize exogenous infectious agents in cancer
• Assay the function of major signal transduction networks involved in cancer

For more information about the Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program, please visit http://imat.cancer.gov.

For more information about IMAT funding opportunities, click here.