Prescription Drug Abuse (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 18 076

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 076

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity "Prescription Drug Abuse (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number: PA 18 076; CFDA 93.279) supports innovative, early-stage research aimed at understanding and reducing prescription drug abuse. Using the R21 mechanism, the announcement is geared toward projects that can generate new ideas, pilot data, or proof-of-concept findings that may lead to larger future studies. The overall goal is to strengthen the science around why prescription medications are misused, what harms result, and what prevention, service delivery, and treatment approaches (behavioral and/or pharmacological) are most effective. Clinical trials are allowed but not required, which leaves room for a wide mix of study designs depending on the research question.

A central emphasis of the FOA is identifying and testing the factors that contribute to prescription drug abuse and mapping the consequences of that abuse. NIH is looking for applications that can characterize medical, mental health, and social outcomes tied to misuse of prescription medications, as well as work that can improve how prevention and care are delivered in real-world settings. The scope is intentionally broad and welcomes multiple methodological approaches, including basic science, clinical research, epidemiology, and health services research. Applicants are encouraged to define the extent of the problem, describe which drug classes and drug combinations are most commonly involved, and explore the etiology of abuse, including how patterns may differ across subpopulations.

The FOA strongly encourages studies that examine variation by population characteristics such as age group, race and ethnicity, gender, and psychiatric symptom profiles. It also highlights the value of research that looks beyond the individual to include prescriber-level factors (for example, prescribing practices, clinical decision-making, monitoring behaviors, or risk assessment) and health system-level factors (such as care models, access to treatment, insurance coverage, clinical workflows, use of prescription drug monitoring programs, and other structural or policy drivers). NIH signals particular interest in high-abuse-liability prescription drug classes, explicitly naming analgesics, stimulants, sedative/hypnotics, and anxiolytics, while leaving the door open to other relevant medications and emerging misuse trends.

Another key theme is the relationship between the medication itself, the medical indication for which it was prescribed, and the environmental and personal conditions that may increase risk of misuse. In practical terms, this means proposals can focus on how conditions like pain, sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, or obesity intersect with prescribing decisions, patient experiences, access to care, social context, stress, comorbid mental health symptoms, and other factors that shape the pathway from legitimate medical use to problematic use or addiction. This framing supports studies that clarify when and why risk increases, and which points in the prescribing and care continuum offer the best opportunities for prevention or intervention.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations and governments. 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities. The FOA also explicitly notes additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility is consistent with NIH interest in encouraging diverse research settings and populations, including communities disproportionately affected by prescription drug misuse and its consequences.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity under NIH with a grant funding instrument. The source data lists an award ceiling of $200,000 and an original closing date of 2019-05-07, with a creation date of 2017-11-02. In summary, the FOA is designed to catalyze creative, impactful research that improves understanding of prescription drug abuse and accelerates the development of effective prevention strategies, service delivery improvements, and treatment approaches across diverse drugs, populations, and healthcare contexts.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Prescription Drug Abuse (R21 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 2017-11-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-05-07. (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 $200,000.00 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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