Targeted Implementation Science to Achieve 90/90/90 Goals for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 18 279

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 279

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Targeted Implementation Science to Achieve 90/90/90 Goals for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PA-18-279) supports research projects that focus on the real-world delivery of HIV prevention and treatment services. Rather than emphasizing discovery of new drugs or basic mechanisms, this program is aimed at implementation science: studying how to effectively put proven HIV interventions into practice in specific settings, and how to improve uptake, quality, reach, and sustainability of those services in the communities that need them.

A central requirement of the announcement is that projects be designed in partnership with service providers, both in the United States and globally. The intent is to encourage applicants to work closely with clinics, health systems, community organizations, public health programs, and other frontline implementers so that the research directly addresses practical barriers to service delivery. The FOA emphasizes tailoring approaches to the "particular needs" of the selected community, which signals a strong preference for context-specific strategies rather than one-size-fits-all solutions. In practice, that means proposals should be grounded in a clear understanding of the local epidemic, the care continuum gaps, and the structural, social, and health-system factors that prevent people from accessing or staying in effective HIV services.

The program is organized around the widely adopted 90/90/90 goals for HIV. These targets set concrete benchmarks across the HIV care continuum: first, 90 percent of all people living with HIV should know their HIV status (testing and diagnosis); second, 90 percent of those diagnosed should receive timely and effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) (linkage to care and treatment initiation); and third, 90 percent of those on treatment should achieve sustained viral suppression (retention in care and adherence leading to durable clinical outcomes). The FOA encourages projects that directly move communities closer to these benchmarks by testing and refining strategies that improve testing coverage, speed and success of treatment initiation, and long-term viral suppression.

Because the mechanism is an R01, the announcement is geared toward full-scale research projects with rigorous designs and strong analytic plans. The "Clinical Trial Optional" language means applicants may propose studies that include clinical trials if appropriate, but they are not required to do so; non-trial implementation studies are also responsive as long as they are methodologically strong and clearly tied to improving progress toward 90/90/90 outcomes. In general, a competitive application would be expected to define measurable implementation outcomes (for example, adoption, fidelity, feasibility, acceptability, penetration, cost, and sustainability) alongside patient or population outcomes (such as diagnosis rates, ART initiation, viral suppression), and to explain how findings would be used by partners to improve programs during and after the study period.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic and international organizations, reflecting the FOA's global and community-partnership orientation. 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; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other organizations. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), 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 non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility is consistent with the aim of engaging organizations that are deeply embedded in the communities most affected by HIV and those delivering services in varied health system contexts.

In terms of administrative details, the opportunity is a discretionary grant under NIH, with activity areas listed under education and health, and CFDA numbers 93.242 and 93.361. The original closing date shown in the source data is January 7, 2020, and the record creation date is November 29, 2017. The provided source data does not list an award ceiling or expected number of awards, which suggests that those figures were either not specified in the excerpt or may vary by institute, budget justification, and available appropriations.

Overall, this FOA is best read as an invitation to build strong, practice-facing research collaborations that can identify the weakest points in the local HIV prevention and treatment cascade and then test practical, scalable strategies to close those gaps. The emphasis is on measurable progress toward diagnosis, treatment initiation, and durable viral suppression, with implementation research methods used to understand what works, for whom, in which settings, and why, so that successful approaches can be adopted and sustained beyond the life of the grant.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Targeted Implementation Science to Achieve 90/90/90 Goals for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment (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, 93.361.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-01-07. (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.

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