External Funding Announcements

Release Date: July 5, 2022

Full Announcement

Submit applications for this initiative using one of the following funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) or any reissues of these announcement through the expiration date of this notice.

PA-20-183- NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required)

PA-20-184- NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

PA-20-185: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-194, NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Required)

PA-20-195- NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PA-20-196- NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

Early Pregnancy loss (EPL), defined as a pregnancy loss occurring up to 20 weeks gestation, is a very common pregnancy complication, occurring in 12-15% of clinically recognized pregnancies, with increased prevalence associated with increasing maternal age. The use of highly sensitive hCG assays allows the detection of pregnancy earlier in gestation than the time of clinical recognition, and gives an even higher estimated loss of 50-70% of conceptions prior to the second trimester. To achieve a successful pregnancy, a series of strict embryonic and maternal conditions must be met, that include high quality embryos, favorable conditions for embryo implantation, receptive maternal endometrium and optimal uterine environment to sustain the conceptus to term. In addition, maternal immune tolerance and hormonal factors play a critical role. While approximately half of all cases of EPL appear to be due to embryonic aneuploidy, very little is known about the physiologic and pathophysiologic processes that underlie non-aneuploid EPL. As a result, there is also a lack of understanding for the underlying causes of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). This NOSI seeks to address these critical knowledge gaps by encouraging basic, translational and clinical studies on biological processes that may uncover potential etiologies of EPL and RPL. This includes research to understand implantation mechanistically and identify a range of key factors, involved in implantation and placentation that are important for early pregnancy establishment, including abnormalities that contribute to sporadic EPL and recurrent pregnancy loss.

The major gaps that this NOSI targets include, but are not limited to the following

Discovering novel contributing factors that disturb embryo implantation, placenta development, endometrial receptivity and decidualization that lead to EPL, as well as the mechanisms that govern these processes
Investigation into maternal- and paternal-derived factors in gametes that may be responsible for EPL
Errors in epigenetic reprogramming in gametes and preimplantation embryo and early pregnancy loss
Studies of immunological disorders (e.g., inflammatory cytokines, NK cell dysfunction) that contribute to EPL
Uncovering male factor contribution and underlying mechanisms that lead to EPL
Development of new model systems that allow mechanistic investigation
Studies of nutrition factor contribution to EPL (e.g., over- or under- nutrition and vitamin/protein factors)
Studies of dynamic communication between endometrium and embryo
Of Special Interest:

Studies that explore immune system interactions between endometrium and placenta or embryo

Model systems that allow mechanistic investigation of multi-component interactions – e.g., organoids and organs on a chip

Studies focused on the following topics will be given low priority unless there is a clear demonstration that they provide special advantages (diagnostics, risk prediction) over current approaches.

Genomic abnormalities, such as aneuploidy, and genetic determinants
Maternal Infections
Uterine structure anomalies, such as adenomyosis, intrauterine adhesions and fibroid

Anticipated Publication Date: August 11, 2022
Anticipated Submission Start Date: September 1, 2022
Anticipted Submission Due Date: September 22, 2022

Full Announcement

As part of the NIH’s Implementing a Maternal Health Vision for Everyone initiative (IMPROVE initiative), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) intends to publish an announcement to invite entries for a prize competition: Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge.

The Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge aims to encourage and reward non-profit community-based or advocacy organizations to develop research capabilities and infrastructure to pursue research projects in the area of maternal health. By incentiviing the development of research capabilities, infrastructure, and experience, this challenge will empower registered 501(c)3 (non-profit) organizations in the United States (such as advocacy, local community, faith-based, and other similar groups) to acquire skills and abilities in their organizations and more effectively become partners in and contribute to future NIH-funded maternal health research activities in areas that specifically impact their communities.

This Notice is being provided to inform potential organziations of the upcoming opportunity to compete in the Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge. Publication of the Challenge announcement and launch of the submission portal are planned for August 11, 2022. The estimated submission deadline is September 22, 2022.

NICHD intends to award a total prize purse of $3,038,000 which will be awarded across the three phases of this competition. Additional information about the planned prize competition is included below.

Posting Date: July 14, 2022
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): September 27, 2022
Letter of Intent Due: 30 days prior to application due date
Due Date: October 27, 2022 and June 27, 2023

Full Announcement

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers.

The over-arching goal of this ORWH R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a diverse workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:

Courses for Skills Development: For example, advanced undergraduate courses in a specific discipline or research area, courses on clinical procedures or specialized research techniques, or community-based courses on topics of relevance to sex and/or gender and health. Specifically, this FOA aims to support courses that develop skills in multidimensional and intersectional health-related research and healthcare delivery. The format of the courses may involve a traditional in-person approach, online activities, a hybrid of both approaches, or other methods.

Curriculum or Methods Development: For example, undergraduate STEMM curricula focused on sex and gender in medicine, advanced curricula to improve biomedical, social and behavioral or clinical science education, or development of novel methods or instructional approaches such as graphic medicine. Proposed curricula or methods should have high potential to improve biomedical, social and behavioral, or clinical research education. Specifically, this FOA aims to support innovative curricula or methods at the undergraduate level or higher that integrate knowledge of sex and gender influences into health-related training or enhance understanding of sex and gender influences on health.

Anticipated Publication Date: September 1, 2022
Anticipated Submission Start Date: September 1, 2022
Anticipated Submission Due Date: November 1, 2022

Full Announcement

As part of the Implementing a Maternal health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), intends to publish an announcement to invite entries for a prize competition: The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology (RADx® Tech) for Maternal Health Challenge.

The RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge aims to accelerate the development of home-based and point-of-care maternal health diagnostic devices, wearables, or other remote sensing technologies to enable extension of care and ultimately reduce severe maternal morbidity and maternal mortality (SMM/MM) for individuals residing in maternity care deserts.

This Notice is being provided to inform potential Innovators of the upcoming opportunity to compete in the RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge. Publication of the Challenge announcement and launch of the submission portal are planned for September 1, 2022. The estimated submission deadline is November 1, 2022.

NICHD intends to award a total of up to $8,000,000 in cash prizes throughout three stages of the prize competition.

Innovators participating in this challenge will likely be expected to submit a proposal describing in detail their prototype technology, anticipated clinical impact, and plans for continued development. To be competitive for the RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge, Innovators will have likely already developed a working prototype of a home-based or POC diagnostic device, wearable, or remote sensing technology with data demonstrating the proof of concept.

Posting Date: August 11, 2022
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): November 2, 2022
Letter of Intent Due Date: November 2, 2022
Due Date: December 5, 2022

Full Announcement

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications to participate as a Research Center as part of the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to generate innovative approaches to address preventable maternal mortality (MM), decrease severe maternal morbidity (SMM), and promote maternal health equity in partnership with communities that are most affected (i.e., Blacks/African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Hispanics/Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, sexual and gender minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, and underserved rural populations). Persons with disabilities are also a priority population. This initiative will use an integrated multi-level approach encompassing structural, social, and biobehavioral research strategies to address the multiple contributing factors that lead to adverse maternal health outcomes and health disparities. Significant contributing factors include comorbid conditions (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, chronic stress, immune-mediated diseases, sleep disorders, organ-specific diseases, mental illness, and substance use disorders) and structural and social determinants of health, which include structural racism and health care system factors.

The goal of this initiative is for trans-disciplinary research teams to conduct multi-layered novel research projects that will have the potential to drastically reduce pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated maternal deaths and decrease SMM. Proposed research can address maternal health in the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, or postpartum period, provided that the research outcomes directly address severe maternal morbidity and/or maternal mortality and equitable healthcare. Studies may be interventional (including testing novel interventions, effectiveness, comparative effectiveness, optimization, or dissemination and implementation studies), or observational (including health services studies, natural experiments, or policy analyses) and assess maternal health outcomes. To stimulate novel approaches, it is anticipated that key personnel in complementary disciplines (e.g., biology, medicine, nursing, environmental science, public health, behavioral and social science, biostatistics/statistics, mathematics; computer science, engineering) and community partners will jointly develop and test multi-level strategies to address overall maternal well-being and preventable contributors to SMM and MM. In addition to demonstrating disciplinary diversity of the team, applications submitted in response to this FOA will be expected to submit a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP). The PEDP will demonstrate how diverse perspectives will be obtained throughout the course of the project and will be assessed as part of the scientific and technical peer review evaluation, as well as considered among programmatic matters with respect to funding decisions.

The Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence will be uniquely poised to collaborate on studies and projects with other networks and initiatives – such as the NICHD Neonatal Research Network, the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network, the NICHD Maternal and Pediatric Precision in Therapeutics (MPRINT) initiative, the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative, the NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, the Foundation for the NIH, and other NIH institutes, and maternal health activities ongoing at partner Federal health agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health and Research Services Administration, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary on Women's Health.

This FOA runs in parallel with companion FOAs that seek applications for an Implementation Science Hub/Resource Center (RFA-HD-23-037) and a Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub/Resource Center (RFA-HD-23-036). It is expected that all components of the Centers of Excellence, Research Centers and Hubs, work collaboratively to design and implement research projects, including data collection and data sharing. It is expected that funded investigators will work jointly with NIH scientific staff to assist, guide, coordinate, or participate in project activities. Annual Centers of Excellence meetings will be held. The annual meeting will foster the initiation and maintenance of collaborative efforts and resource sharing among the Centers. Centers of Excellence PD/PIs should budget funds for the PD/PI and one to -two designees to attend an annual meeting in the Bethesda, Maryland / Washington DC area or virtually, if necessary.

Posting Date: August 11, 2022
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): November 2, 2022
Letter of Intent Due: November 2, 2022
Due Date: December 5, 2022

Full Announcement

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) seeks applications for the Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub/Resource Center (hereafter referred to as “the Data Innovation Hub”) for the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence initiative. This FOA runs in parallel with companion FOAs that seek applications for Research Centers of Excellence (RFA-HD-23-035) and an Implementation Science Hub/Resource Center (RFA-HD-23-037). The primary goal is to support the Centers of Excellence and second goal is to facilitate the reuse of data. Annual Centers of Excellence meetings will be held. The annual meeting will foster the initiation and maintenance of collaborative efforts and resource sharing among the Centers. Applicants should budget funds for the PD/PI and one to -two designees to attend an annual meeting in the Bethesda, Maryland / Washington DC area or virtually, if necessary.

This FOA seeks applications from investigators with broad expertise and experience in providing an environment of excellence in clinical and public health informatics and in maximizing data comparability with projects proposed in the Research Centers to facilitate harmonization with existing large-scale research efforts. Investigative teams with diverse areas of expertise are encouraged. Data types or sources relevant to the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence initiative include patient reported outcomes, electronic health records, claims data, patient registries, vital statistics, healthcare facility organizational data, and national datasets (surveillance, household surveys, US Census, environmental data indexes, etc.). The Data Innovation Hub will support the Research Centers to maximize research efforts and rapidly implement approaches to address the caues of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and maternal mortality (MM). Whenever possible, applicants should leverage, adopt, or adapt resources from ongoing NIH-supported efforts (e.g., NIH Common Data Elements Repository or the PhenX Toolkit) or other nationally recognized efforts to facilitate comparisons across datasets and/or data integration.

It is expected that the Data Innovation Hub will provide 1) a coordination infrastructure to foster communication and collaboration for participating Research Centers and the Implementation Science Hub under the Maternal Health Centers of Excellence initiative, 2) a centralized resource to support data collection, facilitate curation, and ensure high-quality data capture and exploration, and 3) provide cutting edge biomedical research informatics and data science expertise to maximize data comparability and facilitate data harmonization. The Innovation and Data Hub itself will not generate new experimental data, but rather will serve as a resource, analysis tools, and portal for available analytical and data tools and will facilitate sharing of data with the broad research community through submissions to existing data repositories such as the NICHD Data and Specimen Hub (DASH).

Posted Date: August 11, 2022
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): November 2, 2022
Letter of Intent Due Date: November 9, 2022
Due Date: December 5, 2022

Full Announcement

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) seeks applications for an Implementation Science Hub/Resource Center as part of the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence initiative. This FOA runs in parallel with companion FOAs that seek applications for Research Centers of Excellence (RFA-HD-23-035) and a Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub/Resource Center (RFA-HD-23-036). The Implementation Science Hub will serve as a resource to awarded Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence Research Centers and collaborate with the Data Innovation and Coordinating hub/resource center.

This FOA seeks applications from investigators with expertise in implementation science research models, including but not limited to implementation science conceptual frameworks, including those emphasizing health equity, and hybrid-effectiveness implementation design, expertise in disseminating information to diverse audiences/ interested parties, integrating implementation related data elements, including needs assessments, process evaluations, and aiding in the design of implementation-focused sub-studies. The Implementation Science Hub will develop and implement a consultation and technical assistance program tailored to the needs of the Maternal Health Research Centers and facilitate in bridging the evidence-to-practice gap to inform integrated efforts involving policy and practice changes to improve pregnancy, perinatal, and postpartum care and advance maternal health and maternal health equity. Expertise in the promotion and equitable dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions among underrepresented communities is strongly encouraged.

This FOA seeks applications from investigators with demonstrated expertise in maternal health related implementation science, including but not limited to implementation science conceptual frameworks and hybrid-effectiveness implementation design, expertise in disseminating information to diverse audiences/interested parties, serving as an implementation science consultant, integrating data elements, including needs assessments, leading process evaluations, and aiding in the design of implementation-focused sub-studies.

Posting Date: 7/22/2022
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): 11/6/2022
Letter of Intent Due Date: 11/6/2022
Due Date: 12/6/2022

Full Announcement

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites applications to participate in a research program cooperative agreement to support the Prevention and Treatment through a Comprehensive Care Continuum for HIV-affected Adolescents in Resource Constrained Settings Implementation Science Network (PATC3H-IN). The Network will expand and/or improve on successes achieved by its predecessor, PATC3H, to new geographic settings and/or risk populations and stimulate much needed implementation science (IS) research in a neglected area of public health significance: prevention of new HIV infections among adolescents at risk and the identification of, and linkage and retention to care of and long-term viral suppression among youth living with HIV in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). These settings must have an HIV epidemic density defined by UNAIDS estimates as either a country 1) in which at least 200,000 people are living with HIV and the number has not decreased by more than 5% over the last 2 consecutive years of available data or 2) has an HIV incidence among youth ages 10 to 24 years of 0.01% or more.

Rates of successful achievement of milestones on the HIV prevention and/or HIV care continuum (PHCC) must be improved to address the youth HIV epidemic most effectively. This requires rigorous IS research, the most critically needed next step to optimally differentiating successful interventions to meet the needs of adolescents who typically experience challenges with adherence behaviors and adjusting to health systems not well adept with providing for their care. IS research is the study of methods to promote the integration of research findings and evidence into public health, clinical practice, and community settings. It seeks to understand the behavior of healthcare professionals and other stakeholders as a key variable in the sustainable uptake, adoption, and implementation of evidence-based interventions. PATC3H-IN will establish a network of investigators with expertise on the youth-specific PHCC and in IS research to evaluate promising prevention innovations contextually and developmentally tailored for HIV uninfected at-risk youth, and also treatment and care interventions for youth living with HIV which have demonstrated efficacy and/or effectiveness in adolescent or adult populations.

The Network will conduct coordinated scientific inquiry to (1) improve understanding of the process of integration of research findings and evidence into public health, clinical practice and community settings and elucidate how to sustain uptake, adoption, and implementation of evidence-based interventions for youth who are at risk for or living with HIV in LMICs; (2) increase the scientific capacity and knowledgebase for IS research on at-risk, uninfected adolescents and those living with HIV in new geographies with limited IS research capacity and risk populations who are poorly represented in international adolescent HIV research (e.g. sexual and gender minorities; commercial sex workers; drug users); and (3) translate findings to inform national and global guidelines on the clinical management of at-risk, uninfected adolescents and those living with HIV in these regions. It is expected that the critical collaborative relationships with policy makers and key stakeholders needed for these applications will also lay the foundation for large scale implementation and sustainability after the grant cycle is over.

This FOA solicits applications for Clinical Research Centers (CRC) to be part of PATC3H-IN. There is a parallel companion FOA that seeks applications for a single Coordination, Translation and Advanced Methods and Analytics Center (CTAMAC) (RFA-HD-23-014).

Posting Date: 7/22/2022
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): 11/6/2022
Letter of Intent Due Date: 11/6/2022
Due Date: 12/6/2022

Full Announcement

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites applications to participate in a research program cooperative agreement to support the Prevention and Treatment through a Comprehensive Care Continuum for HIV-affected Adolescents in Resource Constrained Settings Implementation Science Network (PATC3H-IN). The Network will expand and/or improve on successes achieved by its predecessor, PATC3H, to new geographic settings and/or risk populations and stimulate much needed implementation science (IS) research in a neglected area of public health significance: prevention of new HIV infections among adolescents at risk and the identification of, and linkage and retention to care of and long-term viral suppression among youth living with HIV in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). These settings must have an HIV epidemic density defined by UNAIDS estimates as either a country 1) in which at least 200,000 people are living with HIV and the number has not decreased by more than 5% over the last 2 consecutive years of available data or 2) has an HIV incidence among youth ages 10 to 24 years of 0.01% or more.

Rates of successful achievement of milestones on the HIV prevention and/or HIV care continuum (PHCC) must be improved to address the youth HIV epidemic most effectively. This requires rigorous IS research, the most critically needed next step to optimally differentiating successful interventions to meet the needs of adolescents who typically experience challenges with adherence behaviors and adjusting to health systems not well adept with providing for their care. IS research is the study of methods to promote the integration of research findings and evidence into public health, clinical practice, and community settings. It seeks to understand the behavior of healthcare professionals and other stakeholders as a key variable in the sustainable uptake, adoption, and implementation of evidence-based interventions. PATC3H-IN will establish a network of investigators with expertise on the youth-specific PHCC and in IS research to evaluate promising prevention innovations contextually and developmentally tailored for HIV uninfected at-risk youth, and also treatment and care interventions for youth living with HIV which have demonstrated efficacy and/or effectiveness in adolescent or adult populations.

The Network will conduct coordinated scientific inquiry to (1) improve understanding of the process of integration of research findings and evidence into public health, clinical practice and community settings and elucidate how to sustain uptake, adoption, and implementation of evidence-based interventions for youth who are at risk for or living with HIV in LMICs; (2) increase the scientific capacity and knowledgebase for IS research on at-risk, uninfected adolescents and those living with HIV in new geographies with limited IS research capacity and risk populations who are poorly represented in international adolescent HIV research (e.g. sexual and gender minorities; commercial sex workers; drug users); and (3) translate findings to inform national and global guidelines on the clinical management of at-risk, uninfected adolescents and those living with HIV in these regions. It is expected that the critical collaborative relationships with policy makers and key stakeholders needed for these applications will also lay the foundation for large scale implementation and sustainability after the grant cycle is over.

This FOA solicits applications for a single Coordination, Translation and Advanced Methods and Analytics Center (CTAMAC) to be part of PATC3H-IN. There is a parallel companion FOA that seeks applications for Clinical Research Centers (CRC) (RFA-HD-23-013).