NIDA REI: Addressing Racial Equity in Substance Use and Addiction Outcomes Through Community-Engaged Research at Minority Serving Institutions (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA DA 23 032

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The NIDA REI: Addressing Racial Equity in Substance Use and Addiction Outcomes Through Community-Engaged Research at Minority Serving Institutions (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) funding opportunity (RFA-DA-23-032; NEPS Concept #1875) is a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant program designed to directly confront racial and ethnic inequities in substance use and addiction outcomes. It sits under NIDA's broader Racial Equity Initiative, described as a multi-year, multi-pronged effort to address inequities both in the real-world burden of substance use and related harms and within NIDA's overall research portfolio. The main intent is to support research projects that can produce meaningful, practical improvements for communities that experience disproportionate impacts from substance misuse, substance use disorders, and associated health consequences, explicitly including HIV.

This FOA invites applications using the NIH R01 mechanism, which is typically used for substantial, multi-year research projects. The scope is intentionally broad in terms of research stage and approach: proposed studies may identify problems and underlying drivers, develop new strategies or interventions, implement approaches in real-world settings, or rigorously test strategies aimed at improving prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, or related outcomes. The unifying theme is that the work should have strong potential to prevent, reduce, or eliminate disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority populations. The "clinical trial optional" designation means applicants can propose either clinical trial research or non-clinical trial research, depending on what best fits the research question and methods.

A defining requirement of this opportunity is the emphasis on community-engaged research. NIDA is signaling that faster, more useful progress on equity-focused substance use research happens when communities help shape what gets studied and how it gets studied, so the research questions, design, and outcomes reflect immediate needs and practical realities. As a result, applications must be submitted by collaborative, community-partnered investigative teams, and the projects must address issues that are prioritized by the relevant communities rather than solely investigator-driven priorities. In practice, this implies that reviewers will be looking for a clear, credible partnership structure and a strong plan for shared decision-making, relevance, and accountability to community-identified concerns.

The FOA also lowers a common barrier to entry by stating that no preliminary data are required. Instead of expecting extensive pilot results, NIDA is asking applicants to make a compelling case through strong logic and a well-supported rationale that the proposed project has real potential to produce desired outcomes. That puts extra weight on the clarity of the problem statement, the link between the proposed strategy and expected impact, and the feasibility of the approach within the community context.

Eligibility is geared toward U.S.-based institutions, with a notable emphasis on Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education. The FOA explicitly calls out several MSI categories as eligible, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). At the same time, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible either. However, foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant can include certain international elements when justified and structured according to NIH rules.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant under the education and health activity area, with CFDA number 93.279. The opportunity was created on 2022-08-09, and the original closing date listed is 2024-11-14. The notice does not provide an award ceiling amount or an expected number of awards in the provided text, so applicants would need to consult the full FOA and NIH budgeting policies to understand allowable costs, project periods, and any institute-specific funding considerations.

Overall, this FOA is aiming to fund rigorous, high-impact research that is built with communities rather than simply conducted in communities, using the R01 structure to support substantial projects that can change outcomes. The core success factors suggested by the description are: a clear focus on racial and ethnic disparities in substance use, addiction, and related consequences like HIV; a credible, community-prioritized research agenda; and a logically strong, feasible plan for developing, implementing, or testing strategies that can measurably improve equity in real settings.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIDA REI: Addressing Racial Equity in Substance Use and Addiction Outcomes Through Community-Engaged Research at Minority Serving Institutions (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-08-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-14. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

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