The NIH Helping to End Addiction Long TermSM (HEAL) Initiative aims to improve our understanding, management and treatment of pain by funding high quality scientific research in this relatively understudied area of medicine. For the HEAL Initiative and NIH to meet their long-term goals of providing effective non-opioid options for the treatment of pain conditions and innovative approaches for treating opioid use disorders, it will be necessary to train a new generation of clinical pain researchers. Leveraging HEAL Initiative clinical research programs to train novice researchers and investigators new to pain research in the mechanics, techniques, and best practices of clinical pain research will maximize the impact of HEAL funding for both current and future research endeavors. Increasing the number of individuals trained in high quality clinical pain research is a critical step toward ensuring the highest impact of HEAL, with studies that encompass a broad range of pain conditions and have the potential to include, address the needs of, and positively impact diverse and traditionally underserved patient populations.

This supplement to existing HEAL clinical research awards is intended to allow exceptional graduate, post-doctoral (e.g., MD, DO, DDS, PhD), or early career individuals (hereafter “candidates”) to expand their clinical pain research experience and gain access to the tools and skills needed to prepare them for a career in clinical pain research.

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity or its subsequent reissued equivalent.

• PA-18-591 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-18-591 must be followed, with the following additions:

• Application Due Date(s) May 15, 2020 and July 1, 2020 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-NS-20-044” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.
• Requests may be for one or two years of support only.
• Only existing awardees of active HEAL Initiative Clinical Research in Pain Management awards (including the EPPIC-Net, BACPAC, ERN, PRISM, and HOPE programs) and the HEAL associated Common Fund A2CPS program are eligible to apply. Applications to supplement parent grants at sites performing clinical studies will be prioritized.
• The project and budget periods for this supplement must be within the currently approved project period for the parent award (the parent award must be active and not in a no cost extension for the entire extent of a supplement).
• A?dministrative supplement applications to PA-18-591 must use the application form package with the Competition ID that contains “FORMS-E-ADMINSUPP”. In addition, the process for Streamlined Submissions using the eRA Commons cannot be used for this initiative.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 5 pages and two additional sections/attachments, a PD/PI statement and a candidate statement are required (see descriptions below).

Research Strategy (Research Experience Plan; 5 pages)

Describe the plan for the candidate’s research under the supplement that is within the scope of the funded parent HEAL Initiative research project. Identify which research-related experiences will be new to the candidate and how these experiences will contribute to the candidate’s development as a clinical pain researcher and enhance their ability to contribute in a meaningful way to both the current and future clinical pain research projects. Describe the goals that will be achieved during the supplement award period. Examples of goals include gaining experience in new methodologies, the assessment of pain management or pain management techniques in the research setting, recruiting study participants, acquiring and/or analyzing data, preparing manuscripts for publication, and applying for independent research funding.

As the first sentence of the Research Strategy, applicants are requested to state that the parent grant was awarded as a HEAL Initiative award and to identify the specific FOA of the parent grant (e.g., RFA-NS-19-016) to facilitate processing of the supplement application.

Two additional sections/attachments are required and should be attached as PDF documents in the “Other Attachments” field.

• PD/PI Statement (1 page)

Describe the qualifications and track record of the PD/PI of the parent grant (and supporting co-investigators, if applicable) in mentoring graduate or post-doctoral trainees in clinical pain research. In addition, describe specific plans for mentorship of this candidate during their proposed research experience.

• Candidate Statement (3 pages)

The candidate should describe their prior research experience, clinical experience in the assessment, management, or treatment of pain, and their accomplishments. The candidate should also describe their short- and long-term research-related goals and the ways in which the additional research experiences outlined in this supplemental application will help them to achieve these goals.

Award Budget

The HEAL Initiative will provide support for up to $50,000K per year for a maximum of 2 years for up to eight awards in FY2020 and FY2021. Awards may be used to provide salary support for the candidate and/or funding for relevant travel or coursework.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at the Institute supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this FOA in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request.

Applications non-responsive to terms of this NOSI will be not be considered for the NOSI initiative