Research Opportunities in Crisis Response Services for Suicide Prevention (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

The Research Opportunities in Crisis Response Services for Suicide Prevention (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) funding opportunity is issued by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This grant aligns with priorities established by the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, creating the 988 emergency number. It seeks to fund research projects that examine the effectiveness, quality, and outcomes of crisis response services for suicide prevention. The initiative encourages studies in real-world settings, emphasizing health disparities, cultural considerations, and geographic contexts such as rural and remote areas. The primary purpose is to support large-scale, fully powered research projects that evaluate various aspects of crisis service systems, including call centers, mobile crisis outreach, and follow-up referral systems. Research must investigate strategies to optimize service effectiveness, improve workforce training, implement technology enhancements, and assess policy impacts on service delivery and outcomes. Applications must align with the NIMH’s experimental therapeutics framework, specifying intervention targets and mechanisms and including measures to assess the engagement and mediation of effects. Funding is available for new, resubmission, and revision applications. The total anticipated funding is up to $2,000,000 annually in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, supporting approximately 3-5 awards per year. Individual project budgets are not capped but must be justified according to project needs. The maximum project period is five years. Applications involving clinical trials must follow specific guidelines for target engagement, outcome assessment, and adherence to ethical standards in data collection and sharing via the NIMH Data Archive (NDA). Eligible applicants include higher education institutions (both public and private), nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, for-profit organizations (small and large businesses), local, state, county, and tribal governments, public housing authorities, independent school districts, and regional organizations. Foreign organizations and foreign components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. All applicants must have required registrations with SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov. Applications must be submitted through NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or institutional system-to-system solutions. A Letter of Intent is encouraged but not mandatory, and should be submitted 30 days before the application due date. Critical application dates include an open date of September 1, 2024, initial application due date of October 1, 2024, and subsequent due date of October 8, 2025. The expiration date for the opportunity is October 9, 2025. Applicants must adhere to detailed application and review criteria outlined by NIH, focusing on significance, investigator qualifications, innovation, methodological approach, and the environment for the research. For questions, applicants are encouraged to contact Jennifer Humensky, Ph.D. (Scientific/Research Contact, jennifer.humensky@nih.gov, 301-480-1265), Nicholas Gaiano, Ph.D. (Peer Review Contact, nick.gaiano@nih.gov, 301-827-3420), or Tamara Kees (Grants Management Contact, tkees@mail.nih.gov, 301-443-8811).