Community-Partnered Nursing Research Centers (P20 Clinical Trial Optional)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the National Institutes of Health and specifically the National Institute of Nursing Research, is offering funding under the Community-Partnered Nursing Research Centers program, supported through the P20 Exploratory Grants mechanism. This initiative is designed to strengthen nursing-led interdisciplinary research by fostering centers that focus on developing community-partnered approaches to address persistent health challenges. The program is aligned with NINR’s mission to promote health and well-being across populations by considering the conditions where people live, learn, work, and play. The program emphasizes trust, respect, and collaboration between academic nursing institutions and community partners in order to co-develop research from design through implementation and dissemination. The grant seeks to build and expand centralized research resources within Schools or Colleges of Nursing and to promote the development of sustainable interdisciplinary teams that include both academic and community members. Eligible centers must include an Administrative Core responsible for oversight, a Pilot Core to manage pilot research projects, and a Capacity Building Core for professional development. The centers are expected to complete at least three pilot projects during the award period, each involving both an academic investigator and a community investigator. At least one pilot project must be launched in the first year. Pilot projects must gather primary data and be designed to generate preliminary results that will support subsequent NIH research proposals, particularly R-series grants. Applicants must demonstrate that they have strong community partnerships in place, with at least one community-based organization serving as a co-investigator. Community Advisory Boards and Scientific and Operational Advisory Committees must be included to ensure that research is responsive to local priorities and conducted with meaningful engagement. Pilot projects must be directly relevant to social determinants of health and designed to inform future NIH applications. Importantly, pilot projects cannot focus on methodology development, new technology creation, animal models, or embryonic stem cell research. Instead, projects must address pressing public health needs through community-partnered, nursing-led approaches. The program has a maximum award budget of less than $500,000 in direct costs per year for up to five years. Each pilot project can be awarded up to $50,000 annually for up to two years. Applications must include appropriate compensation for community partners and provide evidence of institutional commitment, such as protected time for faculty, resources, and infrastructure. Centers must also budget for attendance at the annual NINR Center meeting, and ensure that both academic and community partners are engaged in governance and operations. Budgets should also include compensation for community partners involved in pilot projects and advisory committees. Applications must be submitted electronically through NIH ASSIST or an institutional system-to-system interface, with compliance to NIH’s application instructions. The open date for submissions is December 26, 2025, and the first due date is January 25, 2026. Standard NIH due dates apply in subsequent years, with the final expiration date of this funding opportunity set for May 8, 2028. Applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant institution. Letters of intent are not required for this funding opportunity. Submissions will undergo NIH’s peer review process, including evaluation of significance, innovation, investigators, approach, and environment, as well as considerations for human subjects and inclusion policies. Eligible applicants include a wide range of U.S.-based entities such as higher education institutions, nonprofits, for-profit organizations, state and local governments, tribal governments, independent school districts, housing authorities, and faith- or community-based organizations. Foreign organizations and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. The Center Director must be a nurse with a research doctorate and a faculty appointment at the applying nursing school or college. Applications must include both academic and community partners as co-investigators, and demonstrate the capacity to foster sustainable research infrastructure. For inquiries, applicants may contact Dr. Joshua Wolff, PhD, at the National Institute of Nursing Research by telephone at 301-793-5758 or by email at joshua.wolff@nih.gov for scientific or research-related questions. For financial and grants management issues, the contact is Ron Wertz at 301-594-2807 or wertzr@mail.nih.gov. General grants information may be directed to GrantsInfo@nih.gov or 301-480-7075. Questions about submission systems may be directed to the eRA Service Desk or Grants.gov support lines. This funding opportunity represents a significant investment in nursing-led, community-engaged research designed to address health disparities and improve health outcomes across the United States.