Funder: Agency for Health Care Research and Quality
Due Dates: Standard NIH/AHRQ due dates through May 27, 2029 (see )
Funding Amounts: Up to $400,000 total costs per year (direct + indirect); max 5 years/project; no modular budgets.
Summary: Supports health services research projects to improve healthcare quality, safety, delivery, and whole-person care across all settings and populations.
Key Information: For-profit and foreign organizations cannot apply as lead; see eligibility for details.
Description
This opportunity supports demonstration and dissemination research projects that address Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) priorities. The program funds projects that develop, test, and evaluate health services activities, and foster the application of existing knowledge to improve healthcare quality, patient safety, delivery, and whole-person care. Projects may focus on any healthcare setting—including hospitals, long-term care, ambulatory care, home healthcare, pharmacy, and care transitions—and should involve relevant stakeholders such as patients, families, clinicians, non-clinical staff, policymakers, payers, healthcare organizations, accreditors, and government entities.
AHRQ’s current research priority areas are:
- Improving healthcare quality and patient safety
- Improving healthcare delivery and practice improvement
- Enhancing whole-person healthcare delivery
Applicants are encouraged to review AHRQ’s detailed research priorities and consider the inclusion of priority populations (e.g., inner city, rural, low income, minority, women, children, elderly, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+, and others as defined by AHRQ).
Due Dates
- Application Deadlines: Standard NIH/AHRQ due dates apply (e.g., February 5, June 5, October 5 for new R18 applications; see the NOFO and NIH Standard Due Dates).
- Expiration Date: May 27, 2029
- Earliest Start Date: Generally, four months after peer review
Funding Amount
- Maximum Award: $400,000 total costs (direct + indirect) per year
- Project Duration: Up to 5 years
- Budget Format: Detailed (R&R) budget required; modular budgets are not accepted
- Number of Awards: Contingent on AHRQ appropriations and the number of meritorious applications
Eligibility
Eligible Lead Applicants:
- Public/State-controlled and private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- State, county, city, township, and special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Native American tribal governments (federally recognized and other)
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Faith-based or community-based organizations
- Regional organizations
- U.S. territories and possessions
- Eligible agencies of the federal government
Not Eligible as Lead:
- For-profit organizations (may participate as consortium members or subcontractors)
- Foreign organizations (may participate as consortium members or subcontractors)
- Non-domestic components of U.S. organizations
Other Requirements:
- Applicant organizations must complete all required registrations (SAM, eRA Commons, Grants.gov, UEI).
- Multiple applications are allowed if scientifically distinct.
- Applications from organizations described in section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying are not eligible.
Principal Investigator (PI):
- Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources to carry out the proposed research.
- Multiple PD/PI applications are allowed (see AHRQ policy).
Application Process
- Submission: Applications must be submitted electronically via ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or an institutional system-to-system solution.
- Forms: Use the SF424 (R&R) application package; follow the AHRQ-specific instructions in the NOFO and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
- Budget: Prepare a detailed (R&R) budget; modular budgets are not accepted.
- Data Management Plan: Required for all applications (see AHRQ DMP Policy).
- Resource Sharing: Address data sharing and resource sharing as per AHRQ and NIH policies.
- Human Subjects: Complete the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form if applicable.
- Letters of Support: Only include letters from entities or individuals directly participating in the project.
Additional Information
- Priority Populations: Applications must address inclusion of AHRQ priority populations and allow for valid analyses of these groups.
- Clinical Trials: Both clinical trial and non-clinical trial applications are accepted.
- Review Criteria: Applications are evaluated for significance, investigator(s), innovation, approach, environment, protection of human subjects, inclusion of priority populations, and responsiveness to AHRQ priorities.
- Public Access: AHRQ-funded publications must be submitted to PubMed Central within 12 months of publication.
- Confidentiality: Applicants must describe procedures for ensuring confidentiality of identifying information as per AHRQ and HIPAA requirements.
External Links
Contact Information