Science of Behavior Change: Revision Applications for Use-inspired Research to Optimize Adherence, Behavior Change Interventions, and Outcomes (R01) | RFA RM 17 022

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 17 022

Science of Behavior Change: Revision Applications for Use-inspired Research to Optimize Adherence, Behavior Change Interventions, and Outcomes (R01) is an NIH Common Fund funding opportunity (RFA-RM-17-022) that supports competitive revision applications to existing NIH-funded R01 clinical trials. In practical terms, it is aimed at investigators who already have an active R01 clinical trial and want to add a well-justified set of new aims or measures to that parent trial by submitting a competitive revision (historically called a competitive supplement). The overarching purpose is to strengthen behavior change science by embedding a mechanisms-focused, experimental medicine approach inside real-world clinical trials that are already underway.

The FOA is anchored in the Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) Program, which focuses on understanding how and why behavior change happens, not just whether an intervention works. SOBC emphasizes identifying specific, hypothesized mechanisms of behavior change (the targets), using experimental manipulations intended to engage those targets, and then verifying target engagement with validated assays and measures. Through the SOBC Research Network, NIH-supported teams have already developed a range of experimental manipulations, assays, and measurement tools (collectively referred to as "assays" in the announcement) that are designed to assess and test these behavior change mechanisms. Many of these resources are publicly accessible via the SOBC Measures Repository hosted on the Open Science Framework (OSF) at https://osf.io/zp7b4, and the broader SOBC Research Network information is available at https://commonfund.nih.gov/behaviorchange/fundedresearch.

The central goal of this opportunity is to speed up the adaptation, validation, and translation of those SOBC-developed assays by incorporating them into ongoing NIH-supported clinical trials. Rather than funding a brand-new standalone behavior-change study, NIH is using this mechanism to leverage existing trials of drugs, devices, procedures, or behavioral interventions and add SOBC assays to them. Importantly, the parent clinical trial does not need to be a behavior change trial, and behavior change does not need to be the primary outcome. A medication trial, a device trial, or a procedure-focused trial could still be appropriate if adding SOBC assays would help evaluate behavior-related mechanisms relevant to adherence, engagement, self-management, or other behaviorally mediated pathways that influence outcomes.

By integrating SOBC assays into active trials, NIH is trying to accomplish two things at once. First, it enables researchers to test whether interventions or experimental manipulations in the parent trial actually engage a proposed mechanism of behavior change, which helps move beyond simple outcome comparisons and toward causal explanations. Second, it helps build evidence that SOBC assays are feasible, reliable, and valid across different populations and contexts, accelerating their broader use. The announcement frames this as a way to support the development of interventions and experimental manipulations that are shown to engage specific mechanisms and to strengthen the tools needed to verify that engagement, which is a key step in making behavior change interventions more precise and transportable.

This is a discretionary grant opportunity administered by the National Institutes of Health under CFDA 93.310, using the grant funding instrument and the health activity category. The archived details provided list an original closing date of December 5, 2017, a maximum award ceiling of $500,000, and an expected awards field that is not populated in the supplied text. The opportunity was created on September 18, 2017.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common NIH-eligible applicant types, such as state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; special district governments; and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities. It also includes a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit entities, including nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. In addition, the FOA explicitly highlights categories often emphasized in federal funding for inclusive participation, including 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); Indian/Native American tribal governments that are not federally recognized; eligible federal agencies; faith-based or community-based organizations; regional organizations; non-U.S. (foreign) organizations; and U.S. territories or possessions.

Taken together, the opportunity is essentially a targeted NIH push to embed rigorously developed, openly available SOBC measurement and manipulation tools into real clinical trial settings, so that behavior change mechanisms and adherence-related processes can be measured in a standardized, testable way. The intended payoff is faster progress on understanding what drives behavior change, better evidence on which intervention components actually move the needle, and stronger, mechanism-linked explanations for why clinical outcomes improve (or fail to improve) in trials where human behavior plays a meaningful role.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Science of Behavior Change: Revision Applications for Use-inspired Research to Optimize Adherence, Behavior Change Interventions, and Outcomes (R01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-09-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-12-05. (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 RM 17 022

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