Advancing HIV service delivery through pharmacies and pharmacists (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA MH 25 185

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 25 185

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering a discretionary research grant opportunity titled "Advancing HIV service delivery through pharmacies and pharmacists (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" under funding opportunity number RFA-MH-25-185. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) supports research aimed at strengthening and expanding the role of pharmacists and pharmacies in delivering HIV services, with an emphasis on making those services easier to access, more equitable, and more effective. The work can be conducted in the United States and/or in global settings, reflecting an interest in approaches that are adaptable across different health systems, communities, and resource environments.

At its core, the NOFO is focused on research that helps capacitate, transform, and scale HIV testing, prevention, and care through pharmacy-based pathways. That means the NIH is looking for projects that do more than test small, isolated ideas; it is encouraging research that can build the practical ability of pharmacy personnel and pharmacy systems to deliver the full spectrum of HIV-related services, and then support broader implementation. Examples of the kinds of HIV services implied here include HIV testing and linkage to care, prevention services such as PrEP-related support (where relevant), and ongoing care support activities that pharmacies may be well positioned to provide due to convenience, extended hours, and frequent patient touchpoints.

A major theme in the NOFO is workforce and system readiness, particularly through training and education. The announcement specifically calls out the advancement of training curricula to enable pharmacy students, practicing pharmacists, pharmacies, and larger pharmacy systems to deliver HIV services "with ease, equity, and effectiveness." In practice, this points to research that develops, refines, and evaluates educational and training approaches, implementation supports, workflow redesign, clinical decision support, referral and linkage models, and other strategies that help pharmacy teams consistently provide HIV services without creating unnecessary burden or widening disparities. The explicit mention of equity signals that applicants should be attentive to who benefits from pharmacy-based HIV service delivery, including groups disproportionately affected by HIV and communities with barriers to traditional clinic-based care.

This NOFO uses the R01 grant mechanism and is labeled "Clinical Trial Optional," meaning applicants may propose studies that include clinical trials if appropriate, but a clinical trial is not required. The R01 mechanism generally fits projects that already have preliminary data and are ready for more definitive, larger-scale evaluations, including large-scale clinical trials, robust implementation studies, or longitudinal analyses that examine outcomes over time. The NOFO also references a companion opportunity using the R21 mechanism (RFA-MH-25-186), which is better suited to earlier-stage projects such as pilots or novel interventions that do not yet have substantial preliminary data. In other words, RFA-MH-25-185 (R01) is positioned for more mature research programs that can justify scale, rigor, and longer arcs of evaluation.

Eligibility for this opportunity is broad and includes many types of organizations that could lead pharmacy- and community-centered HIV research. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local 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; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The NOFO further highlights additional eligible groups such as 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, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility signals an intent to encourage partnerships that bring together academic researchers, community organizations, health systems, and pharmacy sector stakeholders, including those embedded in underserved settings.

The opportunity is categorized as a grant within a broad set of funding activity areas that include health and social services, and it is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (including 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.307, 93.310, and several others listed in the source data), reflecting NIH programmatic alignment across related health research and service delivery priorities. The original closing date listed for applications is 2024-08-13, and the announcement was created on 2024-04-29. The source data does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, so applicants would typically look to the full NOFO in NIH systems for budget expectations, project period details, review criteria, and any institute- or program-specific priorities tied to this funding opportunity.

Overall, this NOFO is aimed at generating practical, scalable evidence on how pharmacies and pharmacists can play a larger, more consistent role in HIV testing, prevention, and care, while also building the training and system supports needed to make pharmacy-based HIV service delivery sustainable and equitable in real-world settings.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing HIV service delivery through pharmacies and pharmacists (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): 93.233, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.307, 93.310, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.847, 93.855, 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-13. (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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