Key Dates

Related Announcements

• June 29, 2023 - Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed). See NOFO PA-23-189.
• October 19, 2020 - Notice of Special Interest to Encourage Eligible NIH HEAL Initiative Awardees to Apply for PA-20-222: Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed). See Notice NOT-NS-20-107.

Issued by

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

National Eye Institute (NEI)

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Purpose

The NIH has a strong interest in the diversity of the NIH-funded research enterprise (see NIH notice NOT-OD-20-031). Research shows that diverse teams working together and capitalizing on innovative ideas and distinct perspectives outperform homogenous teams. Scientists and trainees from diverse backgrounds and life experiences bring different perspectives, creativity, and individual enterprise to address complex scientific problems. There are many benefits that flow from a diverse NIH-supported scientific workforce, including: fostering scientific innovation, enhancing global competitiveness, contributing to robust learning environments, improving the quality of the research, advancing the likelihood that underserved or health disparity populations participate in, and benefit from health research, and enhancing public trust.  NIH encourages institutions to use legally available means to create a diverse and inclusive scientific workforce. Participating institutes continue to support these efforts through ongoing programs and supplement funding opportunities. This specific notice reiterates this interest and encourages eligible grant and cooperative agreement awardees in the HEAL Initiative community to apply for administrative supplements in response to PA-23-189 (or any subsequent reissuances), Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed).

This notice is part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term® (HEAL) Initiative to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis. The NIH HEAL Initiative® is a trans-NIH effort to (1) improve prevention and treatment strategies for opioid misuse and addiction and (2) enhance pain management. More information about the HEAL Initiative is available at: https://heal.nih.gov. There is an urgent need for more research to establish best practices in pain and addiction research. However, there is a limited research workforce pipeline to meet NIH’s long-term goals for providing effective pain and addiction treatment. Several challenges make it difficult for researchers to begin working in these fields. Strengthening system capacity by investing in training future researchers to do this work is essential to ensuring that Americans have access to safe and effective evidence-based treatments for pain and addiction. Learn more about HEAL's efforts in Training Future Researchers here: https://heal.nih.gov/research/training-next-generation-researchers.

Please note that consistent with NIH practice and applicable law, funded programs may not use the race, ethnicity, or sex of prospective program participants or faculty as an eligibility or selection criteria. The race, ethnicity, or sex of candidates will not be considered by NIH in the application review process or when making funding decisions. 

Application and Submission Information

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

• PA-23-189 - Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Note: PA-23-189 is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. However, applicants to this NOFO are permitted to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-23-189 must be followed, with the following additions:

• Application Due Date(s) (by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization):
  • November 15, 2024
  • February 15, 2025
  • April 15, 2025
  • November 15, 2025
  • February 15, 2026
  • April 15, 2026
  • November 15, 2026
  • February 15, 2027
  • April 15, 2027
  • November 15, 2027
  • February 15, 2028
  • April 15, 2028
• For funding consideration, applicants should include “NOT-NS-24-085” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B may not be considered for this initiative.
• For application guidance, consultation with the Program Official for the qualifying HEAL award and one of those named under Inquiries below is highly recommended. A program resource page, which includes the budgetary limits for this HEAL  program can be found here: https://heal.nih.gov/research/training-next-generation-researchers. 
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
• As part of the personal statement in the candidate's biosketch, the candidate should include a specific statement(s) expressing their interests in pursuing a career in pain and/or opioid use disorder (OUD)/substance use disorder (SUD) research.
• Only existing awards funded or supplemented by the HEAL Initiative are eligible for supplements under this NOSI. The proposed project period of the administrative supplement must fall within the project period of the parent award. To facilitate processing of the supplement application, as the first sentence of the Research Strategy, applicants are requested to state that either:
  1. the parent award was funded under the HEAL Initiative and to identify the specific NOFO of the parent award (e.g., RFA-NS-23-006, RFA-AR-24-007, RFA-DA-24-066, etc.); or
  2. the parent award has an administrative supplement funded under the HEAL Initiative and to identify the specific notice number of the administrative supplement (e.g., NOT-DA-23-011)

Individuals supported by HEAL are strongly encouraged to participate in annual HEAL Initiative Scientific Meeting and in other professional development activities with their mentors. Applicants may request funds in addition to the research costs specified in PA-23-189 to enable the supplement candidate to attend the annual HEAL Initiative Scientific Meeting. This request for additional funds should be reasonable and well justified in the application.

Individuals in the pain research field are also strongly encouraged to join the HEAL PURPOSE Network at https://painresearchers.com/ and participate in the PURPOSE Annual Meeting, both organized by the HEAL R24 Coordinating Center for National Pain Scientists.

When an application has been submitted in response to this NOSI initiative, applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the Program Official for the qualifying HEAL award as well as those named under Inquiries below to facilitate efficient processing of the application.

Supplement applications will be evaluated by program staff from NIH Institutes and Centers participating in the HEAL Initiative.

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

Inquiries

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Program Official for the qualifying HEAL award and one of the following:

For Pain research topics:

Eric M. Hudak, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1779
Email: [email protected]

For OUD/SUD research topics:

Angela Holmes, PhD
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Telephone: 301-827-2487
Email: [email protected]