National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

NCCIH has prioritized funding investigator-initiated grants at the highest possible level, so the number of successful administrative supplement applications will be low. Investigators are strongly encouraged to contact their NCCIH Program Officer before submission to confirm eligibility and ensure alignment with NCCIH scientific priorities.

Requests are reviewed on a rolling basis. Investigators should apply well in advance of the desired start date. 

Contact the program officer listed on the Notice of Award for the most recent parent award.

Direct general questions to: [email protected] 

NCCIH Will Support Meetings or Conferences that:

• Advance innovative, rigorous, and high-quality research on complementary and integrative health (CIH).
• Focus on basic, mechanistic, translational, clinical, or implementation research relevant to NCCIH.
• Identify research gaps, methodological challenges, and future directions for CIH research.
• Foster interdisciplinary collaboration (e.g., biology, neuroscience, behavioral science, clinical research, research training, and capacity building) in CIH research.
• Align with NCCIH strategic priorities (e.g., pain, symptom management, or whole person health).

NCCIH Generally Will Not Support Meetings or Conferences Workshops that:

• Focus primarily on certification, professional training, or continuing education without a strong research component.
• Promote or advocate commercial interest in specific therapies or products.
• Center on non-research policy, lobbying, or business.
• CIH research is peripheral rather than central to the agenda.

• Up to $30K/year: support can vary depending on rationale, justification, and relevance of the conference to NCCIH’s mission and priorities.
• Priority use: travel awards for trainees/early-career investigators and CIH researchers, mentoring activities, virtual access, modest support for wellness programming. 
• Will not fund salaries, room rental, A/V equipment fees, publications, or speaker fees.

• NCCIH does not restrict conference support to specific receipt cycles.
• Applications should use NIH standard submission, review, and Council cycles.
• Funding decisions are based on programmatic relevance, priority, and availability of funds.

• NCCIH may consider support for single scientific meetings under the R13/U13 mechanism.
• Support for recurring meetings is considered only for major flagship conferences, with funding evaluated each year based on relevance to NCCIH priorities, scientific merit, and available funds.

Response: 

Division of Extramural Research and Training
[email protected]             

Inna Belfer, M.D. Ph.D.
[email protected] 

• NCCIH participates in individual career development awards for supervised research leading to independence and midcareer awards to support mentorship in patient-oriented research with high relevance to the NCCIH mission, including
  • Research Scientist Development Award (K01)
  • Clinical Investigator Award (K08)
  • Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
  • Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24)
    • Candidates with least one active, independent, peer-reviewed R01 or R01-like grant award are prioritized.
  • Career Transition Award (K99)
• NCCIH supports supervised research across the lifespan, spanning basic/mechanistic and translational studies to observational, clinical, and implementation research. 
• NCCIH does not support early career awards proposing clinical trials to test efficacy or effectiveness. 
• Priority research areas include (but are not limited to):
  • Complementary and integrative health approaches on whole person health, health restoration, and symptom management.
  • Fundamental, mechanistic, and translational studies of complementary and integrative health approaches.
  • Studies to optimize approaches for prevention or management of chronic conditions and to promote health.
  • Contextual factors influencing implementation and uptake of these approaches. 
• Priority training areas include (but are not limited to):
  • Complementary and integrative health-relevant basic/mechanistic, translational, clinical, and dissemination and implementation research.
  • The intersection of these approaches with whole person health, pain, interoception, emotional well-being, resilience, health promotion, and disease prevention.
  • Novel methods, delivery modalities, and innovative technologies (e.g., AI, machine learning, metabolomics, cheminformatics, systems pharmacology, microbiome multi-omics).
• NCCIH encourages individuals with clinical training (e.g., MD, DO, DC, ND, DAOM, DPT, clinical psychology) to apply.

• K01: up to $75,000/year + fringe
• K08, K23: up to $100,000/year + fringe
• K99: Commensurate with the institutional salary structure for persons of equivalent qualifications, experience, and rank.
• K24: up to the maximum legislative salary cap/year + fringe
• In all cases, salary must align with institutional base salary for equivalent qualifications and will be verified at award.

• NCCIH sets the following research support expectations per year: 
  • K01, K08, K23: up to $25,000
  • K99: up to $20,000
  • K24: up to $50,000
• Allowable costs may include research supplies, technical support, and training activities that directly support career development. Requests should be well justified and aligned with the proposed research and training plan.

• Applicants should ensure sufficient protected time to conduct proposed research and career development activities.
• K24 applicants should commit 20-50% effort. K24 renewal applications are expected to commit 20-30% effort.

NCCIH Division of Extramural Research (DER)
Email: [email protected]

• NCCIH participates in the NSRA Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships and the Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Award. For NCCIH applications that include, but are not limited to the following are encouraged: 
  • Individuals and clinician-scientists (e.g., physicians, complementary health practitioners, and other professionals) pursuing careers in complementary and integrative health research.
  • Training that strengthens rigor, reproducibility, and innovation in complementary and integrative health research.
  • Training in translational science, pragmatic clinical trials, and dissemination and implementation research to support the integration of complementary and integrative health approaches into health care and community settings.
  • Basic/mechanistic, translational and clinical research investigating complementary and integrative health approaches relevant to NCCIH’s mission.
• NCCIH does not participate in the NRSA for Senior Fellows supporting an expansion or change in career (F33).

Current NRSA stipends, tuition/fees, and budgetary levels apply.

Division of Extramural Research and Training
[email protected]

NCCIH does not participate in any Institutional Career development programs.

• NCCIH participates in institutional training programs that support long- (T32) and short-term (T35) mentored research experiences in complementary and integrative health for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees. 
• NCCIH encourages institutions with research-intensive environments, institutions focused on complementary health practice, and other eligible organizations that have the research expertise, curriculum, infrastructure, and faculty to apply.
• Programs that include complementary health practitioners (e.g., chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths) and clinicians as trainees or key contributors are encouraged.  
• NCCIH supports supervised research across the lifespan, spanning from basic/mechanistic and translational studies to observational, clinical, and implementation research. 
• Priority research areas include (but are not limited to):
  • Complementary and integrative health approaches on whole person health, health restoration, and symptom management.
  • Fundamental, mechanistic, and translational studies of complementary and integrative health approaches.
  • Studies to optimize approaches for prevention or management of chronic conditions and to promote health.
  • Contextual factors influencing implementation and uptake of these approaches. 
• Priority training areas include (but are not limited to):
  • Training in complementary and integrative health-relevant basic/mechanistic, translational, clinical, and dissemination and implementation research.
  • Training in the intersection of these approaches with whole person health, pain, interoception, emotional well-being, resilience, health promotion, and disease prevention.
  • Training in novel methods, delivery modalities, and innovative technologies (e.g., AI, machine learning, metabolomics, cheminformatics, systems pharmacology, microbiome multi-omics).
• NCCIH prioritizes programs that do not substantially overlap with existing NCCIH-funded institutional training programs.

• NCCIH prioritizes funding for the following trainees: predoctoral, postdoctoral, short-term trainees, and individuals with clinical training (e.g., MD, DO, DC, ND, DAOM, DPT, clinical psychology) interested in complementary and integrative health-relevant research careers.

• Although new, renewal, and resubmission applications are accepted for all opportunity due dates, funding decisions for new applications are only made after October council. We recommend submitting new applications to due dates that align with October Council for the shortest time from application to award. 

• Awards will be made for a maximum of 4 trainee slots per year, with an exception for up to 5 slots if the additional slot is reserved for supporting a complementary and integrative health practitioner. 
• NCCIH supports travel costs for travel to relevant scientific meetings and other training activities:
  • T32 trainees up to $2,000 per trainee per year and
  • T35 trainees up to $1,000 per trainee per year. 

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Division of Extramural Research (DER)
Email: [email protected]

The NCCIH will support applications on the development of technologies and therapies relevant to complementary and integrative approaches. Complementary health approaches include a broad range of practices and interventions that can be classified by their primary therapeutic input, including nutritional and natural products (e.g., special diets, dietary supplements, botanicals, probiotics, and microbial-based therapies), psychological (e.g., meditation, hypnosis, music-based interventions, relaxation therapies), physical (e.g., acupuncture, massage, chiropractic manipulation, other force-based manipulations, or devices related to these approaches), or a combination of psychological and physical (e.g., yoga, tai chi, or some forms of art therapies, such as music-based interventions) input. Additionally, NCCIH will support applications that explore the impact of complementary and integrative health approaches on health promotion, resilience, and whole person health. Overall, NCCIH will support applications that include complementary and integrative health approaches, including multicomponent interventions that combine two or more complementary and integrative health approaches, or one or more complementary approaches integrated with one or more conventional care interventions. 

1. Novel technologies/methods to study the mechanistic effects of complementary and integrative health (CIH) interventions
2. Research to enhance the safety, scalability, reproducibility, and translatability of CIH interventions
3. Innovative methods and technologies to evaluate evidence-based CIH approaches
4. Studies to optimize the impact of natural product(s) on target engagement(s)
5. Development of diagnostic and prognostic technologies to support CIH interventions
6. Technologies to integrate CIH approaches into healthcare delivery

Name: NCCIH DER Funding Questions

Email: [email protected]