Leveraging Big Data Science to Elucidate the Mechanisms of HIV Activity and Interaction with Substance Use Disorder (R21 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA DA 20 009

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 20 009

This funding opportunity, titled "Leveraging Big Data Science to Elucidate the Mechanisms of HIV Activity and Interaction with Substance Use Disorder (R21 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-DA-20-009), is a discretionary NIH grant designed to pull more data-focused and computationally oriented researchers into the HIV and addiction research space. The central idea is to encourage proposals that bring together many different kinds of data, across different scales and formats, in order to enable analyses that are difficult or impossible with traditional single-dataset approaches. The FOA is specifically looking for creative, technically strong ways to integrate and analyze complex data so researchers can uncover biological and mechanistic insights about HIV activity and how it interacts with substance use disorders, ultimately aiming to reveal aspects of addiction biology that have been hard to access with existing methods.

A key feature of the opportunity is its emphasis on method development and novel analytics. Applicants are expected to propose new computational, bioinformatics, statistical, and analytical approaches that can meaningfully connect heterogeneous data sources. In practical terms, that could mean integrating clinical or epidemiological data with biological measurements, combining multi-omics information with behavioral or environmental variables, linking longitudinal health records with molecular markers, or building models that can handle multi-level, multi-scale systems. The FOA is less about running a standard study and more about making it possible to ask new questions by building better tools, pipelines, or frameworks for data integration and interpretation. The expectation is that these innovations will generate previously inaccessible insights, especially around mechanisms, pathways, and interactions relevant to HIV and substance use disorder.

The mechanism is an R21, which is generally intended for exploratory or early-stage projects that test new concepts, generate preliminary evidence, or develop innovative approaches. The FOA clearly states "Clinical Trials Not Allowed," meaning applicants should not propose prospective clinical intervention studies that meet the definition of a clinical trial. Projects can still be clinically relevant and may use human data, but they must stay within the boundaries of non-trial research activities, such as secondary analyses, computational modeling, algorithm development, or other forms of research that do not involve assigning participants to interventions to evaluate health-related outcomes.

NIH is the sponsoring agency, and the activity category is listed under Education and Health, with CFDA number 93.279. The award ceiling is $200,000, indicating the maximum funding level per award under this announcement. The posting indicates an original closing date of November 14, 2019, and a creation date of June 25, 2019, which situates it as a time-limited opportunity from that period.

Eligibility is broad and is designed to include a wide range of institutional types and organizational structures. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts, along with public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education. Tribal entities are included, such as federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. The FOA also welcomes public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities. Nonprofit organizations are eligible whether or not they hold 501(c)(3) status, as are for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses. The announcement also explicitly calls out additional categories of eligible applicants, including 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, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). That broad eligibility is consistent with the FOA's goal of bringing in diverse expertise, especially from fields like data science and computational research that may sit outside traditional HIV or addiction research centers.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as an NIH effort to accelerate discovery at the intersection of HIV and substance use disorder by strengthening the data integration and analytics toolkit. The FOA is essentially inviting researchers who specialize in handling complex, large, and messy datasets to develop and apply methods that can connect biological, clinical, and behavioral signals in new ways. The deliverable NIH is pushing for is not just another dataset or isolated finding, but a step forward in how the field can combine data types and scales to reveal mechanisms, generate actionable hypotheses, and open up new lines of investigation into HIV activity and addiction biology, without conducting clinical trials as part of the funded work.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Leveraging Big Data Science to Elucidate the Mechanisms of HIV Activity and Interaction with Substance Use Disorder (R21 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" 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 2019-06-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-11-14. (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.

Apply for RFA DA 20 009

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