Phased Innovation Award for Mechanistic Studies to Optimize Mind and Body Interventions in NCCIH High Priority Research Topics (R61/R33) | PAR 17 149

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 17 149

The Phased Innovation Award for Mechanistic Studies to Optimize Mind and Body Interventions in NCCIH High Priority Research Topics (R61/R33) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity designed to push research beyond the question of whether a mind and body intervention works and into the more actionable question of how it works. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is emphasizing mechanistic studies because understanding biological, behavioral, psychological, and physiological pathways is what allows researchers to refine, tailor, and ultimately optimize interventions for specific symptoms, conditions, and patient groups. In practical terms, this opportunity supports projects that can identify targets and processes that explain clinical effects, which in turn can guide improved intervention design, dosing, delivery, and matching of interventions to the people most likely to benefit.

The award uses an R61/R33 phased structure, meaning it is intended for innovation projects that begin with an initial, milestone-driven phase (R61) and, if predefined milestones are successfully met, transition into a second phase (R33) to continue and expand the work. This structure is commonly used when a project needs an early period of focused development and validation (for example, establishing that proposed mechanistic measures are feasible, reliable, and informative, or showing that the intervention reliably engages a hypothesized mechanism) before moving into a more comprehensive mechanistic test. The key idea is that progress is assessed against clear go/no-go criteria, helping ensure that the later-stage work is built on a solid foundation rather than assumptions.

The scientific focus is on complementary or integrative mind and body interventions. While the opportunity text here does not list specific modalities, the category generally includes approaches such as meditation and mindfulness-based programs, yoga, tai chi, qigong, relaxation training, biofeedback, hypnosis, breathing-based practices, and other interventions that combine mental processes with bodily regulation or movement. The point of the FOA is not simply to run another outcomes trial, but to link an intervention to measurable mechanisms that plausibly drive changes in health-relevant endpoints. That might involve studying neural circuits and brain-body communication, autonomic and cardiovascular regulation, immune and inflammatory signaling, stress physiology (including HPA axis function), pain processing, affective and cognitive mechanisms, sleep and circadian pathways, or behavioral mechanisms such as self-regulation and adherence. NCCIHs emphasis on high priority topics signals that applications should align with areas the center views as especially important and tractable for mechanistic discovery and intervention optimization.

From an administrative and eligibility standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity under the NIH, categorized within health research (CFDA 93.213). A wide range of applicant organizations can apply. Eligible applicants include state, county, 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; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and additional categories listed as "others." The opportunity explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American, Native American, and 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 Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized.

The opportunity also draws a clear line on foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the primary applicant organization. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible, and foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement. In other words, a U.S.-based applicant can include certain foreign elements in the research (for example, a foreign site, collaborator, or component) if it meets NIH policy requirements, but a foreign institution cannot serve as the applicant organization for the grant.

The funding opportunity number is PAR-17-149, and it was created on February 10, 2017, with an original closing date of January 24, 2018, based on the source information provided. While the award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the excerpt, the overall intent is clear: NCCIH is investing in rigorous, mechanistic, milestone-based research that can sharpen mind and body interventions into more precise, effective, and condition-targeted tools in clinical care and public health.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Phased Innovation Award for Mechanistic Studies to Optimize Mind and Body Interventions in NCCIH High Priority Research Topics (R61/R33)" 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 2017-02-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-01-24. (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.

Apply for PAR 17 149

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