Time-Sensitive Evaluation of Policies Affecting Health Behaviors and Chronic Disease Risk (R01-Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 25 312

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 25 312

Time-Sensitive Evaluation of Policies Affecting Health Behaviors and Chronic Disease Risk (PAR-25-312) is an NIH R01 funding opportunity designed for research teams that need to move fast to study a newly implemented or imminent policy or program that could affect obesity-related behaviors and weight outcomes. The core idea is that certain real-world policy changes create brief, rare windows where rigorous evaluation is possible, and if the research does not start quickly, the chance to collect meaningful pre/post or comparison data may disappear. The NOFO therefore sets up an accelerated review and award pathway specifically for time-sensitive, policy-relevant evaluations tied to obesity prevention or reduction.

The projects this NOFO is trying to support are evaluations of policies or programs that are likely to influence behaviors linked to obesity and chronic disease risk, such as dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior, as well as outcomes like body weight. In practice, this could include evaluations of changes to nutrition assistance benefits, school or workplace nutrition standards, food labeling requirements, built environment or transportation initiatives that affect physical activity, restrictions or incentives that alter food purchasing, or other public or private sector programs that meaningfully change the conditions shaping energy balance. What matters most is that the policy or program is new (or newly rolled out in a way that creates a measurable contrast), and that the application makes a strong case that the research opportunity is unusual, scientifically compelling, and will be lost without rapid funding.

A defining feature of the opportunity is its emphasis on urgency and the expectation that awards can be issued quickly. NIH indicates an intent to make awards within about four months of the application due date for applications selected for funding, while also noting that administrative requirements or unforeseen issues can still cause delays. Because the mechanism is built around a fleeting opportunity, applications submitted under this NOFO are not eligible for resubmission. That makes initial submission quality especially important, since there is no second attempt through the usual amended application process.

The NOFO is an R01 and is labeled "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning applicants must propose research that does not meet NIH's definition of a clinical trial. In general terms, the work should focus on evaluating the impacts of policies or programs in real-world settings rather than assigning individuals to prospective interventions to test health outcomes. Typical designs for this kind of policy research often include natural experiments, quasi-experimental approaches, interrupted time series, difference-in-differences, comparative policy analyses across jurisdictions, and other observational or analytic strategies that leverage the external implementation of the policy or program rather than investigator-controlled intervention assignment.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; 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; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; and other Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized. Nonprofit organizations can apply whether or not they have 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those specific nonprofit categories), and for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses are also eligible. The NOFO also explicitly calls out several additional eligible applicant types such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign involvement is tightly restricted. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined by NIH policy are not allowed. In other words, the applicant organization and the work supported by the grant must be U.S.-based without foreign components.

From an administrative perspective, this is a discretionary grant program run by the National Institutes of Health. The opportunity falls under CFDA numbers 93.393, 93.847, and 93.865. The funding opportunity title and number are Time-Sensitive Evaluation of Policies Affecting Health Behaviors and Chronic Disease Risk (R01-Clinical Trial Not Allowed) and PAR-25-312. The listing shows an original closing date of 2028-01-11. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data, which often means applicants need to rely on the full NOFO text and NIH Institute/Center interests to understand typical budget expectations, project periods, and the likely scale of awards.

Overall, the NOFO is best suited for teams that already have strong partnerships, access to relevant data sources, and a near-ready evaluation plan, because the entire premise is speed: a policy window is opening, and NIH wants to fund rigorous evaluation quickly enough to capture the change as it unfolds. The strongest applications will clearly justify the time sensitivity, identify the policy/program and implementation timeline, explain why delay would undermine the scientific value of the evaluation, and present a credible, methodologically sound approach for measuring impacts on obesity-related behaviors and weight outcomes without proposing a clinical trial.

• 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 "Time-Sensitive Evaluation of Policies Affecting Health Behaviors and Chronic Disease Risk (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): 93.393, 93.847, 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2028-01-11.
• 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 25 312

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