Community Level Interventions to Improve Minority Health and Reduce Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional)

The Community Level Interventions to Improve Minority Health and Reduce Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional) is a funding initiative administered by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), within the Department of Health and Human Services. This initiative is designed to support research aimed at developing and testing interventions at the community level that address health disparities and promote health among minority populations. The program is a continuation of the NIMHD’s community-based participatory research (CBPR) program and reflects a shift in emphasis from individual-level interventions to structural, multi-level, and community-driven strategies aligned with the NIMHD Research Framework. This funding opportunity encourages the use of community-engaged research methodologies that involve collaborative partnerships with stakeholders such as community organizations, public agencies, and local businesses. Proposed interventions must aim to modify community characteristics—such as social norms, environments, or institutional policies—that affect public health outcomes. Projects must focus on NIH-designated health disparity populations and clearly demonstrate the potential to influence health outcomes at various levels (individual, interpersonal, organizational, or community). The intervention strategies must be guided by a well-articulated conceptual model and supported by relevant preliminary data, though prior multi-community pilot testing is not required. Eligible applicants include a wide range of organizations, including public and private higher education institutions, nonprofits, local and state governments, tribal entities, small businesses, and public housing authorities. Foreign organizations and non-domestic components are not eligible. Applicants must complete multiple registrations, including with SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov, and obtain a unique entity identifier. Letters of intent are encouraged but not required and should be submitted 30 days prior to application deadlines. Applications must comply strictly with the NIH’s instructions for electronic submissions. The application due dates follow the NIH standard schedule, with the earliest submission date being July 31, 2024. Upcoming deadlines include October 5 of 2024, 2025, and 2026. Letters of intent are due 30 days before each deadline. The funding opportunity expires on May 24, 2025, under the notice NOT-OD-25-113. Applications are reviewed by peer reviewers for scientific merit based on criteria including significance, innovation, investigators’ qualifications, and methodological rigor. Particular attention is given to the sustainability and scalability of interventions and the depth of community engagement. Applications should address how community partners are involved, detail the data sources for assessing changes, and specify analytic plans for evaluating community-level impact. The maximum project budget is $1,000,000 in direct costs annually, with a maximum project period of five years. No cost-sharing is required. Award announcements follow peer and advisory council reviews, with the earliest possible start dates set for July following each application cycle. Contact for scientific inquiries is Dr. Crystal L. Barksdale at crystal.barksdale@nih.gov or 301-827-4288. Financial management contact is Priscilla Grant, JD at pg38h@nih.gov or 301-594-8412. Additional support is available through Grants.gov and the NIH eRA Service Desk.