HEAL Initiative: Research to Increase Implementation of Substance Use Preventive Services (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA DA 24 066

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 24 066

The HEAL Initiative funding opportunity titled "Research to Increase Implementation of Substance Use Preventive Services (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)" (RFA-DA-24-066) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant solicitation focused on strengthening the real-world delivery of substance use prevention services as part of the broader federal response to the opioid crisis. The central idea behind this announcement is that prevention can reduce opioid misuse and opioid use disorder before they start, which creates major benefits for individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. The opportunity is motivated by the scale of need highlighted in national survey data showing that, in 2020, an estimated 9.5 million people ages 12 and older misused opioids in the past year. That figure underscores how many lives might have followed a different path if effective prevention strategies had been available and actually reached people in everyday settings.

This opportunity is not primarily about inventing entirely new prevention programs from scratch; it is about closing the persistent gap between what research has shown can work and what gets adopted, implemented well, sustained, and scaled in practice. The description emphasizes that even when prevention approaches are effective, they often fail to spread because organizations face barriers such as cost, staffing, training burdens, workflow disruption, limited infrastructure, and lack of fit with local needs. As a result, the reach and population-level impact of prevention remains far below what it could be. NIH is signaling a critical need for dissemination and implementation research that develops and tests practical strategies to increase uptake and long-term delivery of prevention services, with an emphasis on approaches that are affordable, feasible in real-world systems, sustainable over time, and designed collaboratively with end users (the organizations, providers, and communities expected to carry out prevention).

The grant uses an R61/R33 phased innovation mechanism and allows clinical trials as optional. In general terms, this kind of phased structure is meant to support a stepwise pathway in which early-stage work can focus on developing, refining, and demonstrating the promise and feasibility of an implementation strategy, followed by a later stage that more rigorously evaluates effectiveness, scalability, or sustainability in real-world conditions. The announcement also notes multiple receipt dates, which typically means applicants have more than one chance to apply before the final closing date. The listed original closing date is January 16, 2026. While an award ceiling and expected number of awards are not provided in the source text, the intent is clearly to stimulate a range of investigator-initiated projects that align with HEAL priorities around prevention implementation and building prevention infrastructure.

Substantively, the research focus centers on improving how preventive services are deployed across settings and systems. This includes strategies to increase adoption (getting organizations to start using prevention services), improve quality of implementation (delivering with fidelity and effectiveness), and ensure sustainment (keeping services in place after initial funding or enthusiasm fades). It also includes the creation of a "prevention infrastructure," which can be understood as the tools, partnerships, training capacity, data systems, workflow supports, and organizational conditions that make prevention routine rather than exceptional. The opportunity explicitly highlights that current HEAL studies are exploring whether programs that prevent or treat non-opioid substance use disorders may also reduce opioid-related outcomes, but it argues that major knowledge gaps still remain around how to put prevention into practice at scale. Projects responsive to this call would therefore be expected to pay close attention to implementation barriers and facilitators, system-level constraints, and the needs and preferences of the people and organizations responsible for delivering prevention.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled colleges and universities; private institutions of higher education; Native American tribal governments (federally recognized); tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The announcement also highlights additional eligible groups such as faith-based or community-based organizations; Hispanic-serving institutions; historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs); tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs); Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions; and Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander serving institutions (AANAPISIs). U.S. territories or possessions and certain regional organizations are also included. At the same time, the notice draws clear lines around foreign involvement: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are allowed, which generally means a U.S. applicant may include specific, well-justified foreign elements under NIH rules even though foreign organizations cannot be the applicant institution.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity under NIH, with funding activity categories listed as education and health, and CFDA numbers 93.213, 93.279, and 93.866. The overall purpose is to generate actionable evidence on how to increase the reach and durability of substance use preventive services, ultimately reducing opioid misuse and opioid use disorder by ensuring that prevention strategies do not remain confined to research settings but become reliably accessible in the places where people live, learn, and receive care.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "HEAL Initiative: Research to Increase Implementation of Substance Use Preventive Services (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213, 93.279, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-09-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-01-16. (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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