Accelerating the Pace of Drug Abuse Research Using Existing Data (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 18 062

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 062

Accelerating the Pace of Drug Abuse Research Using Existing Data (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) (Funding Opportunity Number: PAR-18-062) is a National Institutes of Health discretionary grant opportunity designed to speed up progress in drug abuse research by funding projects that rely primarily on innovative analysis of data that already exist. Instead of supporting the collection of new primary data as the central activity, this FOA emphasizes making fuller, more creative, and more rigorous use of social science, behavioral, administrative, and neuroimaging datasets that are already available through public-use sources or other extant community-based or clinical data resources. The underlying idea is that many datasets contain untapped value, and that carefully planned secondary analyses can quickly generate actionable findings about substance use and related public health outcomes.

The scientific scope is broad and focused on understanding both why drug-using behaviors develop and how they unfold over time. The FOA explicitly defines "drug using behaviors" to include alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and other drugs, and it invites research on the etiology and epidemiology of use and related disorders. Applicants are encouraged to study trajectories and patterns of use, escalation, remission, relapse, and the downstream consequences of substance use, including morbidity and mortality. A strong fit would be work that can identify risk and protective factors across individuals, families, communities, and systems, including factors that shape resilience and vulnerability and factors that contribute to the development of psychopathology alongside substance use.

A major emphasis is on prevention and service delivery, including HIV-related prevention and outcomes. The FOA supports studies that use existing data to improve understanding of how to prevent drug use and HIV, and it also prioritizes research on health service utilization. That includes analyzing how people access prevention and treatment services, how services are delivered, what predicts engagement and retention, and what system-level factors influence quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. The announcement also signals interest in evidence that can guide the development, testing, implementation, and delivery of high-quality services, meaning applicants can focus on real-world performance of interventions and systems using administrative claims, electronic health record-derived datasets, program data, justice or social service records, or linked multi-sector datasets where appropriate and feasible.

The mechanism is an NIH R01, and the FOA is designated "Clinical Trial Optional," meaning a proposed project may include a clinical trial component if it meets NIH definitions, but a clinical trial is not required. In practice, many applications under this FOA will be secondary analyses without a new intervention, but the flexibility is there for projects that include trial-related analyses or trial data when that aligns with the aims and the data source is already available.

Eligibility is intentionally expansive and includes a wide range of applicant organizations. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other eligible entities. The FOA further highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and non-U.S. (foreign) organizations. This breadth is meant to ensure that the institutions closest to affected communities, as well as organizations with specialized analytic capacity, can compete.

Key administrative details from the source listing include: the opportunity is a grant under the NIH, categorized under Education and Health funding activity areas, with CFDA numbers 93.273, 93.279, and 93.399. The listed award ceiling is $500,000 (as provided in the source data). The opportunity record shows an original closing date of 2019-09-07 and a creation date of 2017-11-01, indicating the timeframe of the posted announcement.

Overall, this FOA is best read as a call for high-impact, methodologically strong secondary data analyses that can rapidly advance what is known about substance use behaviors and disorders, their causes and consequences, HIV prevention intersections, and the real-world performance of prevention and treatment services. Competitive projects are likely to be those that clearly justify the chosen dataset(s), demonstrate that the data can answer important questions with strong analytic methods, and show how results could inform policy, clinical practice, prevention strategies, or service system improvements without requiring the time and cost of launching new data collection efforts.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Accelerating the Pace of Drug Abuse Research Using Existing Data (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): 93.273, 93.279, 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-09-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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