Service-Ready Tools for Identification, Prevention, and Treatment of Individuals at Risk for Suicide (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA MH 21 110

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 21 110

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced this discretionary grant opportunity to fund research that can strengthen real-world suicide prevention services. The program is centered on "service-ready" tools and technologies, meaning practical resources that are already mature enough to be plugged into routine care, training, and quality improvement efforts with minimal extra development. The overall goal is to expand the availability and consistent delivery of evidence-based approaches for identifying, preventing, and treating suicidal thoughts and behaviors by supporting studies that can show, in a definitive way, whether a given tool works and how it can be implemented and sustained in typical service settings.

A key emphasis is research that sits on the effectiveness-implementation continuum. On one side, applicants can focus on developing and testing the effectiveness of optimized, service-ready tools for suicide risk identification, prevention, and treatment. On the other side, applicants can test strategies that improve adoption, implementation fidelity, and long-term sustainment of these tools, with the expectation that studies will be guided by an implementation science framework. In practice, that means NIMH is looking not only for evidence that a tool improves outcomes, but also for clear, testable plans to understand and reduce the real-world barriers that often prevent good interventions from being used correctly and consistently.

Because the initiative is explicitly aimed at practice-ready resources that can be used broadly, NIMH encourages applicants to use technology and design features that make tools scalable and resilient to "implementation drift" (the common problem where programs gradually deviate from their intended model over time). Examples of the kinds of features NIMH is signaling interest in include tools that can be integrated into clinical workflows, tools that support training and supervision, and tools that enable quality monitoring and continuous quality improvement. The announcement also stresses a deployment-focused approach, meaning the development and testing process should incorporate perspectives from the people and systems that will actually use the tool: service users (patients/clients), providers, administrators, and other stakeholders. Applicants are expected to consider system-level constraints such as staffing and workforce capacity, since these factors often determine whether an intervention can realistically be adopted and maintained.

This funding opportunity uses the R01 mechanism and is labeled "Clinical Trial Optional," indicating that applicants may propose a clinical trial if it fits their research question, but a clinical trial is not required for every project. What NIMH is clearly prioritizing under this R01, however, is effectiveness research that is statistically powered to provide a definitive answer about whether the tool or technology works. In other words, the Institute is not aiming this particular R01 at early, exploratory pilots; it is aimed at larger and more rigorous studies where the expected outcome is a clear determination of effectiveness in relevant service contexts.

The announcement also clarifies how this R01 fits into a broader set of related funding options. For earlier-stage pilot effectiveness work that focuses on feasibility, tolerability, acceptability, safety, and preliminary signals of benefit, NIMH points applicants to a separate R34 opportunity (RFA-21-111). For small business-led projects (SBIR) focused on service-ready tools and technologies for suicide prevention, NIMH points to the R43/R44 opportunity (RFA-21-112). This division highlights NIMH's intention that the R01 described here should support more mature tools that are ready for definitive effectiveness testing and real-world implementation research.

Eligibility is broad and spans many types of U.S.-based organizations, reflecting the applied public health and service delivery focus of the program. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The opportunity also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American and 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, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is limited. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-U.S. institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also 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 certain foreign activities or collaborations when they are well-justified and consistent with NIH policy.

Administrative details from the source record include the funding opportunity title "Service-Ready Tools for Identification, Prevention, and Treatment of Individuals at Risk for Suicide (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)," funding opportunity number RFA-MH-21-110, and CFDA number 93.242 (mental health-related NIH assistance). The agency is NIH (specifically NIMH), the funding instrument is a grant, and the activity category is health. The original closing date listed is June 15, 2022, and the record shows a creation date of November 13, 2020. The listing does not provide an award ceiling or an expected number of awards in the provided fields, so those specifics are not available from the included source data.

Taken together, this opportunity is designed for teams that already have a well-developed, practice-ready suicide prevention tool (or a near-final optimized version) and can run a rigorous, adequately powered study to prove its effectiveness, while also addressing the practical realities of implementation: uptake by providers and systems, fidelity over time, integration into workflows, and sustained use in real service settings.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Service-Ready Tools for Identification, Prevention, and Treatment of Individuals at Risk for Suicide (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): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-11-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-06-15. (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 RFA MH 21 110

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