Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 22 105

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 22 105

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-22-105) is a discretionary grant program designed to support rigorous research on how to get evidence-based health interventions and related practices into real-world use more effectively. Rather than focusing on inventing new treatments, this opportunity emphasizes the practical work of understanding why proven interventions often fail to reach the people and settings that could benefit from them, and then developing and testing strategies that improve real-world adoption and routine delivery. The overarching aim is to close the gap between research evidence and everyday practice across healthcare, public health, and community settings, in ways that improve population health.

A central focus of the FOA is addressing barriers that prevent evidence-based interventions, programs, guidelines, tools, treatments, and policies from being adopted, adapted appropriately for local contexts, integrated into workflows, scaled to broader settings, and sustained over time. Supported projects can include studies that identify barriers and facilitators, design implementation strategies to overcome those barriers, and test the effectiveness of those strategies in real-world environments. The announcement also highlights that implementation success is not just about initial uptake; it also includes long-term maintenance, institutionalization, and sustainability, including how interventions survive leadership changes, funding shifts, staffing constraints, and competing organizational priorities.

The FOA strongly encourages research that advances equitable dissemination and implementation, particularly for communities that have historically been underrepresented in research or underserved by health systems. In practical terms, that means projects that explicitly address inequities in access, quality, and outcomes by studying implementation strategies that work in diverse, resource-variable contexts and that reduce disparities rather than unintentionally widening them. This can include attention to culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches, trust and engagement, structural barriers, and the realities of delivering interventions in safety-net systems, rural settings, tribal communities, and other settings where implementation challenges can be distinct.

Another emphasized area is de-implementation research, which is the study of how to stop, reduce, or replace practices that are ineffective, unproven, low-value, or harmful. Many health systems continue to use outdated or unnecessary practices due to habit, incentives, workflow inertia, patient expectations, or lack of clear alternatives. This FOA supports studies that investigate when and why de-implementation is needed and how to design strategies that successfully reduce low-value care while maintaining or improving outcomes. This can include understanding clinician behavior, organizational decision-making, policy levers, and unintended consequences of removing entrenched practices.

In addition to applied implementation projects, the FOA encourages studies that advance dissemination and implementation (D and I) research methods and measures. That includes developing, refining, or validating practical measurement tools (for example, measures of adoption, fidelity, reach, feasibility, acceptability, cost, sustainability, and equity impacts), improving study designs for complex real-world settings, and building better analytic approaches for multi-level implementation questions that span individuals, organizations, and systems. The goal is to strengthen the scientific toolkit for D and I research so future studies can generate findings that are both rigorous and actionable.

This opportunity uses the NIH R01 mechanism, which is a major research project grant intended for substantial, hypothesis-driven or well-structured programs of research. Clinical trials are optional under this FOA, meaning applicants may propose studies that include a clinical trial component if appropriate, but they are not required to do so. Regardless of whether a clinical trial is included, proposed work must fall within the mission and scope of one of the participating NIH Institutes or Centers associated with the announcement, so applicants typically need to align the health topic area, setting, and outcomes with the priorities of at least one participating NIH component.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and governmental entities, such as state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. Eligibility also explicitly extends to a range of additional applicant types that NIH often encourages to apply, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, tribal governments that are not federally recognized, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and even non-U.S. (foreign) entities. This wide eligibility reflects the FOA's real-world focus and the fact that implementation challenges and solutions often require partnerships beyond traditional academic medical centers.

The opportunity is cataloged under multiple CFDA numbers (now often referred to through Assistance Listing numbers) across NIH programs, reflecting that D and I research can span many disease areas and public health topics. The FOA was created on 2022-05-10, and the original closing date listed is 2025-05-07. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data, which is common for NIH FOAs because final award size and volume depend on application quality, available funds, and institute-specific priorities in a given cycle.

In plain terms, this grant supports research that helps proven health interventions actually work in the messy conditions of everyday life: busy clinics, under-resourced community organizations, schools, health departments, and complex health systems. It funds the science of "how to make it happen," including how to spread what works fairly, how to sustain it, and how to responsibly stop doing what does not work.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, environment, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.113, 93.121, 93.172, 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.307, 93.313, 93.361, 93.399, 93.846, 93.847, 93.853, 93.855, 93.865, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-05-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-05-07. (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 22 105

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