Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 14 181
Apply for RFA MH 14 181
- The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Methodologies and Formative Work for Combination HIV Prevention Approaches (R21)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242 Mental Health Research Grants 93.855 Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research 93.856 Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research.
- This funding opportunity was created on May 2, 2013 and posted on May 2, 2013.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 3, 2013. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $1,706,250.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: City or township governments County governments For profit organizations other than small businesses Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized) Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities Private institutions of higher education Special district governments Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Independent school districts Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Small businesses State governments Public and State controlled institutions of higher education Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification) Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments).
- Other Eligible Applicants include the following Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs) Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government Faith based or Community based Organizations Hispanic serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized) Non domestic (non U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) Regional Organizations Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) U.S. Territory or Possession Non domestic (non U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are eligible to apply. Non domestic (non U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
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Opportunity Summary:
The NIH grant opportunity "Methodologies and Formative Work for Combination HIV Prevention Approaches (R21)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-MH-14-181) was designed to push forward the practical science needed to plan, build, and test effective combination HIV prevention strategies. The central idea behind the announcement is that HIV prevention has changed: newer biomedical tools such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment as prevention only reach their full potential when the real-world behavioral pieces are handled well, such as getting people to start prevention or treatment, stay engaged, adhere to medication, and remain in care over time. At the same time, public health efforts have increasingly moved toward community-wide approaches rather than isolated, individual-level interventions, with the goal of reducing HIV incidence at the population level.
The FOA emphasizes that meaningful reductions in new HIV infections are unlikely to happen through a single intervention alone. Instead, it highlights the need for combinations of approaches that intentionally blend biomedical and behavioral interventions and also address social, economic, and structural drivers of risk and transmission. In practice, that can mean pairing PrEP access with behavioral support for adherence, improving HIV testing and rapid linkage to care, strengthening retention and viral suppression efforts, and reducing structural barriers like stigma, housing instability, limited healthcare access, or other community-level constraints. The announcement makes clear that "combination prevention" is not just a list of activities running in parallel; the promise comes from synergy, where components reinforce one another and collectively produce stronger public health impact than any single element could on its own.
A major reason NIH issued this call is that combination prevention is inherently complicated to design, implement, and evaluate. When multiple interventions are bundled together and delivered across a community, it becomes harder to determine what is driving outcomes, how elements interact, what level of coverage is needed for population impact, and what implementation conditions make success more likely. For that reason, this initiative focuses on methodological, formative, and implementation research. In other words, it supports studies that develop or refine research methods and measurement strategies, do formative groundwork (such as assessing feasibility, acceptability, community context, delivery systems, and barriers), and generate evidence about implementation processes and outcomes that can improve real-world rollout. The overall aim is to strengthen the science base that helps communities and health systems deliver combination prevention more effectively and learn from it more rigorously.
The funding mechanism is an NIH R21, which is typically used for exploratory, developmental projects that can generate early evidence, pilot data, or methodological advances that set up later, larger-scale trials or implementation efforts. The announcement lists an award ceiling of $200,000 and an estimated total funding amount of $1,706,250 for the FOA. There is no cost sharing or matching requirement. The opportunity was posted May 2, 2013, with an original and current closing date of September 3, 2013, and it was archived on October 4, 2013, meaning it was a time-limited call rather than an open, ongoing program announcement.
Eligibility is broad and reflects NIH interest in supporting work that can be rooted in real communities and diverse delivery settings. Eligible applicants include many types of U.S. governmental entities (city/township, county, state, special district governments, and independent school districts), public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (including 501(c)(3) organizations and certain nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status), public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, small businesses, and for-profit organizations other than small businesses. The FOA also explicitly allows applications from non-U.S. entities and foreign institutions, and permits foreign components of U.S. organizations consistent with NIH policy. Additional eligible groups called out include faith-based and community-based organizations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, AANAPISIs, tribally controlled colleges and universities, and tribal organizations and governments in several categories, as well as U.S. territories or possessions and regional organizations.
From a topic standpoint, the FOA sits at the intersection of mental health research and infectious disease research, which is reflected in the CFDA numbers listed (93.242 for Mental Health Research Grants and 93.855/93.856 for allergy, infectious diseases, and microbiology/infectious diseases research). That alignment signals the intent to support work that recognizes how behavior, adherence, engagement in care, substance use, stigma, and other psychosocial factors interact with biomedical prevention and treatment tools in real-world settings.
Overall, this opportunity was aimed at teams that could help solve the "how" questions behind combination HIV prevention: how to design packages of interventions that fit local epidemics and community contexts, how to implement them at meaningful scale, how to measure coverage and fidelity across multiple components, how to understand and model synergy, and how to evaluate outcomes in a way that is useful for public health decision-making. The practical payoff NIH was seeking is better evidence and better methods that can accelerate effective community-wide implementation of combined behavioral, biomedical, and structural strategies to reduce HIV incidence.
The full archived announcement was available through NIH at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MH-14-181.html
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the name of this NIH funding opportunity?
The funding opportunity is titled "Methodologies and Formative Work for Combination HIV Prevention Approaches (R21)."
What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FOA number)?
The Funding Opportunity Number is RFA-MH-14-181.
What is the main purpose of this FOA?
The FOA was designed to advance the practical science needed to plan, build, and test effective combination HIV prevention strategies. It emphasizes methodological, formative, and implementation research that helps communities and health systems deliver combination prevention more effectively and evaluate it more rigorously.
What does the FOA mean by "combination HIV prevention"?
Combination prevention refers to intentionally designed packages of approaches that blend biomedical and behavioral interventions and also address social, economic, and structural drivers of HIV risk and transmission. The focus is on how components work together, not simply multiple activities running in parallel.
Why does this FOA emphasize combinations rather than a single intervention?
The FOA states that meaningful reductions in new HIV infections are unlikely to be achieved by a single intervention alone. It highlights the need for approaches that produce synergy, where components reinforce one another and lead to stronger public health impact than any single element could achieve by itself.
What kinds of biomedical tools are referenced in the FOA?
The FOA references newer biomedical tools such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment as prevention.
Why are behavioral and real-world factors important in this FOA?
The FOA explains that biomedical tools only reach their full potential when key real-world behavioral pieces are handled well, such as getting people to start prevention or treatment, stay engaged, adhere to medication, and remain in care over time.
Does the FOA focus on individual-level interventions or community-wide approaches?
The FOA emphasizes that public health efforts have increasingly moved toward community-wide approaches rather than isolated, individual-level interventions, aiming to reduce HIV incidence at the population level.
What are examples of combination prevention components mentioned in the FOA?
Examples described include pairing PrEP access with behavioral support for adherence, improving HIV testing and rapid linkage to care, strengthening retention and viral suppression efforts, and reducing structural barriers such as stigma, housing instability, and limited healthcare access.
What does the FOA mean by "synergy" in combination prevention?
Synergy is described as the added value that occurs when prevention components reinforce one another, producing greater overall public health impact than any single component could produce alone.
Why is combination prevention described as complicated to design and evaluate?
The FOA notes that when multiple interventions are bundled and delivered across a community, it becomes harder to determine what is driving outcomes, how elements interact, what level of coverage is needed for population-level impact, and what implementation conditions are most likely to lead to success.
What types of research does this FOA prioritize?
This FOA prioritizes methodological research, formative work, and implementation research. This includes developing or refining research methods and measurement strategies, conducting feasibility and acceptability assessments, understanding community context and delivery systems, identifying barriers, and generating evidence about implementation processes and outcomes.
What is the overall aim of the FOA from a practical standpoint?
The overall aim is to strengthen the science base so communities and health systems can deliver combination prevention more effectively and learn from implementation more rigorously, ultimately accelerating effective community-wide strategies to reduce HIV incidence.
What grant mechanism is used for this opportunity?
The FOA uses the NIH R21 mechanism.
What does an NIH R21 generally support?
An NIH R21 is typically used for exploratory or developmental projects that generate early evidence, pilot data, or methodological advances that can support later, larger-scale trials or implementation efforts.
What is the award ceiling listed in the FOA?
The FOA lists an award ceiling of $200,000.
What is the estimated total funding amount for the FOA?
The FOA lists an estimated total funding amount of $1,706,250.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No. The FOA states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.
When was this FOA posted?
The FOA was posted on May 2, 2013.
What was the closing date for applications?
The original and current closing date listed is September 3, 2013.
Is this FOA still open?
No. The FOA was archived on October 4, 2013, indicating it was a time-limited call rather than an open, ongoing program announcement.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is broad. Eligible applicants include U.S. governmental entities (including city/township, county, state, special district governments, and independent school districts), public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (including 501(c)(3) organizations and certain nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status), public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, small businesses, and for-profit organizations other than small businesses.
Are non-U.S. organizations eligible to apply?
Yes. The FOA explicitly allows applications from non-U.S. entities and foreign institutions.
Are foreign components allowed for U.S. organizations?
Yes. The FOA permits foreign components of U.S. organizations consistent with NIH policy.
Does the FOA encourage applications from specific institution types or communities?
The FOA explicitly calls out additional eligible groups such as faith-based and community-based organizations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, AANAPISIs, tribally controlled colleges and universities, tribal organizations and governments, U.S. territories or possessions, and regional organizations.
What research areas does this FOA connect to (as reflected by CFDA numbers)?
The FOA sits at the intersection of mental health research and infectious disease research. The CFDA numbers listed include 93.242 (Mental Health Research Grants) and 93.855/93.856 (allergy, infectious diseases, and microbiology/infectious diseases research).
Why is mental health research relevant to an HIV prevention FOA?
As described in the FOA summary, HIV prevention success depends heavily on behavioral and psychosocial factors such as adherence, engagement in care, substance use, stigma, and other factors that interact with biomedical prevention and treatment tools in real-world settings.
What kinds of "how" questions is NIH trying to address through this FOA?
The FOA is aimed at helping teams answer practical questions such as how to design packages of interventions that fit local epidemics and community contexts, how to implement them at meaningful scale, how to measure coverage and fidelity across multiple components, how to understand and model synergy, and how to evaluate outcomes in a way that supports public health decision-making.
Where can the full archived announcement be found?
The archived NIH announcement is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MH-14-181.html
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