Innovation Award for Mechanistic Studies to Optimize Mind and Body Interventions in NCCIH High Priority Research Topics (R33 Clinical Trial Required) | PAR 18 115

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 115

The Innovation Award for Mechanistic Studies to Optimize Mind and Body Interventions in NCCIH High Priority Research Topics (R33 Clinical Trial Required) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) that focuses on figuring out how mind and body interventions actually work at a mechanistic level. The central idea is that mind and body approaches can show clinical benefits, but without a clear understanding of the underlying biological, psychological, or behavioral mechanisms, it is difficult to refine these interventions, tailor them to specific patient groups, or reliably match them to particular conditions and disorders. This program is aimed at supporting studies that move beyond simple efficacy questions and instead dig into the processes that produce clinical effects, with the explicit goal of using that knowledge to optimize and improve the interventions.

This opportunity uses the NIH R33 funding mechanism and requires a clinical trial, meaning applicants are expected to include prospective human research in which participants are assigned to one or more interventions (or control/comparator conditions) to evaluate effects on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes. In practical terms, the grant is intended to support mechanistic, hypothesis-driven clinical research that can identify causal pathways or key mediators and moderators of response, rather than only documenting that an intervention helps. The emphasis on “high priority research topics” signals that NCCIH is steering applicants toward areas it views as especially important for advancing the science of complementary and integrative health, particularly where better mechanistic understanding could make interventions more precise, more scalable, or more effective for real-world clinical use.

The program sits within the NIH health research funding landscape and is categorized under the Health funding activity area, with CFDA number 93.213. The funding instrument is a discretionary grant. The posted award ceiling is $500,000, indicating the maximum amount that can be awarded under the terms described in the listing. The opportunity was created on 2017-11-02, and the original closing date listed is 2019-06-28, which is important context if someone is using the description historically or looking for related reissues or successor announcements. The funding opportunity number is PAR 18-115, which is the identifier typically used to locate the full solicitation text, application instructions, review criteria, and any special NCCIH requirements.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common U.S. applicant types: state, county, and city or township governments; 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; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. Beyond these standard categories, the announcement highlights additional eligible applicants 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, regional organizations, eligible agencies of the federal government, and U.S. territories or possessions. This framing makes it clear that NCCIH is open to a wide range of institutional settings, including community-linked organizations that may be well positioned to deliver or study mind and body interventions in diverse populations.

At the same time, there are important limitations related to foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities, described as foreign organizations or foreign institutions, are not eligible to apply as the primary applicant organization. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible to apply, and foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed. In effect, the main awardee must be a domestic eligible organization, but the research itself can include certain foreign elements when structured as permitted “foreign components” or when conducted through non-U.S. parts of a U.S. institution, consistent with NIH policy.

Overall, this grant opportunity is designed to push the field toward more rigorous, mechanism-focused clinical trials of mind and body interventions, with optimization as a core deliverable. Rather than treating these interventions as black boxes, NCCIH is signaling that it wants studies that explain what drives outcomes, for whom, and under what conditions, so that future interventions can be improved, better targeted, and more reliably implemented in clinical and community settings.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Innovation Award for Mechanistic Studies to Optimize Mind and Body Interventions in NCCIH High Priority Research Topics (R33 Clinical Trial Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-06-28. (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.

Apply for PAR 18 115

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