Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 24 021
The HEAL Initiative funding opportunity "Understanding Individual Differences in Human Pain Conditions (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional)" (RFA-NS-24-021) is an NIH research grant designed to push the field beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to pain by explaining why pain conditions and pain treatments play out so differently from one person to the next. The central idea is a "Whole Person Health" framing: pain is treated as a complex experience shaped not only by biology, but also by psychology, behavior, social context, and co-occurring health issues. Projects supported under this NOFO are expected to generate a more complete, evidence-based picture of heterogeneity in pain, with the practical goal of improving treatment and management strategies and moving the field toward precision or personalized pain medicine.
A major emphasis is on collecting and using clinical and/or preclinical data to model and understand between-person differences in pain. The NOFO specifically highlights studying variability in pain that occurs in the context of pain therapy or pain management, as well as variability tied to common real-world complexities such as having a second pain condition, coexisting medical conditions, coexisting mental health conditions, or substance use issues, including use or misuse of opioids, alcohol, or other substances. In other words, the program is interested in the types of intertwined factors that often complicate pain care in everyday clinical settings, and it encourages projects that can disentangle and quantify how these factors contribute to different pain trajectories, treatment responses, and outcomes across individuals.
Methodologically, the opportunity encourages novel, multidisciplinary research approaches and teams with complementary expertise. This signals that competitive applications will often blend perspectives and tools across fields such as pain medicine, neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, behavioral health, epidemiology, biostatistics, computational modeling, data science, and other relevant domains. The NOFO places strong value on rigorous, data-driven, evidence-based approaches, with an expectation that resulting analyses will clarify biological and/or biopsychosocial mechanisms behind individual differences and will support better stratification of people with lived pain experience. That stratification focus is important because it points to outputs like identifying meaningful subgroups, predictors of risk or resilience, and markers of likely treatment response, all of which can accelerate more targeted and effective interventions.
Another notable feature is the encouragement to involve patients and caregivers in shaping the goals of the project. This points to patient-centered research practices, where study questions, outcomes, and interpretations are informed by lived experience and practical needs, increasing the likelihood that results translate into improvements in care, decision-making, and quality of life. While the mechanism is an R01, the announcement explicitly states "Clinical Trial Optional," meaning proposed studies may include a clinical trial component but are not required to do so, allowing a range of study designs as long as they advance the NOFO's core aims around heterogeneity and individual differences in pain.
From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary NIH grant opportunity with an original closing date listed as 2025-02-06, and it spans multiple CFDA numbers associated with NIH research programs. Eligibility is broad and includes many government entities and research-performing organizations, such as state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; special district governments; tribal governments (federally recognized) and tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The NOFO also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant types and community-serving institutions, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, Hispanic-serving Institutions, HBCUs, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. (foreign) entities, indicating an intent to broaden participation and support diverse research settings and populations.
Overall, the opportunity is aimed at producing high-quality datasets and analytic frameworks that explain why pain experiences and treatment outcomes differ across individuals, particularly in the presence of comorbidities and substance use-related factors. The expected payoff is actionable knowledge that supports more precise matching of patients to treatments, better prediction of outcomes, and ultimately more effective, individualized pain management strategies aligned with the goals of the HEAL Initiative.Apply for RFA NS 24 021
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "HEAL Initiative: Understanding Individual Differences in Human Pain Conditions (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): 93.121, 93.213, 93.233, 93.273, 93.279, 93.394, 93.395, 93.399, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.846, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2023-08-10.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-06. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- 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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| Understanding and Mitigating Health Disparities experienced by People with Disabilities caused by Ableism (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA HD 24 007 Funding Number: RFA HD 24 007 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $499,999 |
| HEAL Initiative: HEAL KIDS (Knowledge, Innovation and Discovery Studies) Pain Program Resource and Data Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA HD 24 012 Funding Number: RFA HD 24 012 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| HEAL INITIATIVE: Development and validation of remote or patient wearable device derived objective biosignatures or functional assessments to monitor pain for use as endpoints in clinical trials (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA NS 24 023 Funding Number: RFA NS 24 023 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| BRAIN Initiative: New Concepts and Early-Stage Research for Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (R21) (Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA EY 23 001 Funding Number: RFA EY 23 001 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $400,000 |
| Health and Health Care Disparities Among Persons Living with Disabilities (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional) Apply for PAR 23 309 Funding Number: PAR 23 309 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| Career Enhancement Award to Advance the Study of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the Context of Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Research (K18 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA OD 24 001 Funding Number: RFA OD 24 001 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| R25 for Short Courses on Techniques for Measuring Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Different Populations (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA OD 24 002 Funding Number: RFA OD 24 002 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Understanding the Impact of Healthcare System and Clinician Factors on Disparities in Maternal Morbidity and Mortality (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 24 059 Funding Number: PAR 24 059 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network (BPN): Small Molecule Drug Discovery and Development of Disorders of the Nervous System (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 24 043 Funding Number: PAR 24 043 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Competing Revisions to Existing NIH Single Project Research Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PA 23 317 Funding Number: PA 23 317 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| BRAIN Initiative: Brain-Behavior Quantification and Synchronization Transformative and Integrative Models of Behavior at the Organismal Level (R34 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA DA 24 042 Funding Number: RFA DA 24 042 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $450,000 |
| Mobile Health: Technology and Outcomes in Low and Middle Income Countries (R21/R33 - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 23 318 Funding Number: PAR 23 318 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $125,000 |
| Clinical Sites for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network - 3 (UG1 Clinical Trial Required) Apply for RFA OD 24 008 Funding Number: RFA OD 24 008 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: $300,000 |
| Data Coordinating and Operations Center for the ECHO IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network - 3 (U24 Clinical Trial RequiredInfrastructure) Apply for RFA OD 24 009 Funding Number: RFA OD 24 009 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health, Income Security and Social Services Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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