Pilot Research Opportunities in Crisis Response Services for Suicide Prevention (R34 Clinical Trial Optional)

The "Pilot Research Opportunities in Crisis Response Services for Suicide Prevention (R34 Clinical Trial Optional)" is a funding opportunity administered by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Department of Health and Human Services. This initiative aligns with evolving agency priorities and supports pilot exploratory and developmental research aimed at examining the effectiveness, implementation, and policy impact of crisis response services in real-world settings. This funding mechanism is part of a broader framework to build an evidence base for scalable and effective suicide prevention services across diverse populations and geographic contexts. The grant supports studies focused on various crisis services, such as call centers, mobile outreach, referral systems, and stabilization services. The targeted populations include youth, adults, older adults, and individuals in rural or under-resourced communities, with special attention given to racial, ethnic, and cultural disparities in mental health care. Proposed projects must demonstrate strong research-practice partnerships and include input from community providers, consumers, and policymakers. The overarching goal is to facilitate implementation-ready findings that can influence policy and practice. Applicants may propose studies that test strategies for service delivery, quality monitoring, use of technology in crisis care, training approaches, and policy evaluation. Projects are expected to generate pilot data that will inform the feasibility and design of future, larger-scale research (e.g., R01 applications). Study designs may include randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental models, or other robust methodologies justified by the research context. Applications involving clinical trials must align with NIMH’s experimental therapeutics framework, requiring detailed plans for target engagement and outcome assessment. Eligible applicants include a wide array of organizations such as institutions of higher education, nonprofits, local and state governments, tribal organizations, and for-profit businesses. Foreign entities and foreign components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. Required registrations include SAM, Grants.gov, eRA Commons, and others as detailed in the NIH Application Guide. Letters of intent are encouraged but not mandatory, and should be submitted 30 days prior to the application due date. The funding opportunity offers a maximum of $225,000 per year, with a total of up to $450,000 over a three-year period. NIMH anticipates awarding 3 to 5 new grants annually, committing up to $2 million per year. Applications are accepted in multiple cycles, with deadlines on October 1, 2024, and June 2, 2025. The earliest start dates are July 2025 and April 2026, respectively. Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov or NIH's ASSIST system and must adhere strictly to all guidelines and formatting requirements outlined in the NIH Application Guide and this specific NOFO. Evaluation criteria include significance, innovation, investigator qualifications, methodological rigor, and alignment with public health goals. Specific review points include inclusion of community partners, feasibility, policy relevance, and plans for data sharing through the NIMH Data Archive. Review and award decisions consider both scientific merit and alignment with NIMH priorities. Contact information for program, peer review, and grants management officers is provided for applicant inquiries.