Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: September 5, 2025 (Letter of Intent) | October 5, 2025 (New) | November 5, 2025 (Renewal/Resubmission/Revision) | January 7, 2026 (AIDS) | Future cycles: annually through January 7, 2027
Funding Amounts: Up to $1,000,000 direct costs per year for up to 5 years (R01); number of awards depends on appropriations and merit.
Summary: Supports research to develop and test community-level interventions aimed at improving minority health and reducing health disparities in the U.S.
Key Information: Clinical trials are optional; strong community partnership and focus on NIH-designated health disparity populations are required; non-U.S. organizations are not eligible.
Description
This opportunity supports research projects that develop and test community-level interventions to improve minority health and reduce health disparities in the United States. The initiative emphasizes interventions that address determinants of health at the community level—such as physical, built, or sociocultural environments, policies, or collective behaviors—rather than solely individual-level interventions. Projects must be conducted in full partnership with community organizations and focus on NIH-designated health disparity populations.
The program encourages multi-sectoral collaborations and interventions that are sustainable and scalable. Both clinical trial and non-clinical trial applications are accepted. The initiative is led by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) and aligns with the NIMHD Research Framework, which promotes research on health determinants beyond the individual level.
Due Dates
- Letter of Intent: 30 days prior to the application due date (e.g., September 5, 2025, for October 5, 2025, deadline)
- New Applications: October 5, 2025; October 5, 2026
- Renewal/Resubmission/Revision: November 5, 2025; November 5, 2026
- AIDS-related Applications: January 7, 2026; January 7, 2027
- Future Cycles: Annual deadlines through January 7, 2027
All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
Funding Amount
- Maximum Direct Costs: $1,000,000 per year (excluding consortium F&A costs)
- Project Period: Up to 5 years
- Number of Awards: Contingent on NIH appropriations and the number of meritorious applications
Eligibility
Eligible U.S.-based organizations include:
- Public and private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions)
- For-profit organizations (including small businesses)
- State, county, city, township, and special district governments
- Federally recognized and other Native American tribal governments and organizations
- Independent school districts
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Faith-based and community-based organizations
- Regional organizations
Ineligible: Non-U.S. (foreign) organizations, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations, and foreign components as defined by NIH policy.
Principal Investigators: Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research.
Application Process
- Letter of Intent: Strongly encouraged but not required. Should include project title, PI and key personnel, institutions, and funding opportunity number. Email to the scientific contact listed below.
- Application Submission: Use NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or an institutional system-to-system solution. Follow the NIH How to Apply - Application Guide.
- Required Registrations: Applicant organizations must be registered with SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov. PIs must have an eRA Commons account.
- Application Components: Follow SF424 (R&R) instructions. Key elements include:
- Research Strategy: Justify the community-level focus, describe the conceptual model, specify community partners, and outline sustainability/scalability.
- Letters of Support: From community collaborators/leaders.
- Data Management and Sharing Plan.
- Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (if applicable).
- Budget: Use R&R Budget Form (not modular) if requesting over $250,000/year.
- Review: Applications are peer-reviewed for scientific and technical merit, with additional review for responsiveness to the NOFO.
Additional Information
- Community Engagement: Projects must be led by or conducted in full partnership with community organizations. Community partners should be included as compensated key personnel.
- Scope: Interventions must target community-level determinants (e.g., environment, policies, collective behaviors), not just individual-level outcomes.
- Populations: Must focus on one or more NIH-designated health disparity populations in the U.S. (see NIH-designated populations).
- Non-Responsive Applications: Projects not testing a prospective community-level intervention, lacking community partners, or focusing only on individual-level data will not be reviewed.
- Clinical Trials: Optional; both clinical trial and non-clinical trial applications are accepted.
- Data Standards: Use standardized measures (e.g., PhenX Toolkit) for health disparities research is encouraged.
- Policy Updates: The NOFO was updated March 31, 2025; applicants should review the full announcement for recent changes.
External Links
Contact Information