HEAL Initiative: Development and validation of virtual assessments to study children and caregivers in their natural environment (R01- Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DA 23 050

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 23 050

This NIH HEAL Initiative funding opportunity (RFA-DA-23-050) supports research projects that create and rigorously validate virtual assessment tools for studying children and their caregivers in everyday, real-world settings. The core goal is to develop remote or technology-enabled measures that can capture sociocultural, biobehavioral, and environmental factors that shape how substance use, substance exposure, and substance use disorders emerge and change over time. In practical terms, the FOA is looking for strong measurement science: tools that work outside the clinic or lab, can be used in the home or community, and can reliably characterize mechanisms and influences linked to substance-related trajectories in children and families.

The emphasis is on building validated virtual measures rather than running clinical trials, and the mechanism is an R01 with the specific designation "Clinical Trial Not Allowed." That means applicants should focus on instrument development, refinement, reliability and validity testing, feasibility, acceptability, and related analytic work, not on testing an intervention for health outcomes in a way that meets the NIH definition of a clinical trial. The assessments themselves can still be sophisticated and multi-modal, but the project needs to be clearly framed around measure development and validation for research use in natural environments.

The opportunity sits within NIH and is part of the broader HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative, aligning with federal priorities to improve the science around addiction and substance exposure, including upstream determinants and mechanisms that affect risk and resilience. By funding virtual assessments, the FOA is also implicitly addressing a practical barrier in child and family research: many populations are hard to reach with traditional in-person data collection, and remote tools can expand reach, reduce burden, and enable more frequent or ecologically valid measurement.

A wide range of applicant organizations are eligible, including state, county, city, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled universities; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible groups such as 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, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible; however, foreign components, as NIH defines them, are allowed, which typically means specific parts of the work can occur abroad if justified and compliant with NIH policy.

Key administrative details included in the source information are that the sponsoring agency is the National Institutes of Health, the instrument is a grant under an R01-type announcement, and the opportunity is categorized under Education and Health. The CFDA numbers listed are 93.213, 93.273, and 93.279. The original closing date shown is 2023-02-03, and the award ceiling listed is $500,000. The opportunity record indicates an expected awards field but does not provide a number in the provided text.

Overall, the FOA is essentially a call for teams that can combine developmental and addiction-related science with modern, remote measurement approaches to produce virtual assessments that are credible, validated, and useful for understanding how real-life contexts and mechanisms influence substance use risk and outcomes across childhood and caregiving environments.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "HEAL Initiative: Development and validation of virtual assessments to study children and caregivers in their natural environment (R01- Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213, 93.273, 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-08-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-02-03. (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 $500,000.00 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 23 050

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