HEAL Initiative: Interdisciplinary Teams to Elucidate the Mechanisms of Device-Based Pain Relief (RM1 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA NS 22 016

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 22 016

The HEAL Initiative funding opportunity, titled "Interdisciplinary Teams to Elucidate the Mechanisms of Device-Based Pain Relief (RM1 Clinical Trial Optional)" (RFA-NS-22-016), is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant program aimed at improving how chronic pain is treated in the United States. It is grounded in the public health reality that more than 25 million Americans experience daily chronic pain, and that pain care has been heavily shaped by widespread opioid prescribing despite opioids often failing to restore function and carrying substantial risks of dependence, addiction, and overdose. The broader HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative is focused on accelerating scientific and medical solutions that reduce reliance on opioids, and this specific announcement targets device-based pain relief as a promising pathway to safer, non-addictive options.

The main purpose of the grant is to support interdisciplinary, highly collaborative research teams that can explain how device-based pain relief technologies actually work, with a strong emphasis on mechanisms of action. Rather than simply asking whether a device reduces pain, the FOA is oriented toward understanding the biological, neural, physiological, and possibly behavioral processes that drive therapeutic effects. The practical end goal is to use that mechanistic knowledge to optimize therapeutic outcomes for pain-relief devices that are already FDA approved or FDA cleared. In other words, the program is trying to move beyond trial-and-error use of devices and toward evidence-driven refinement of stimulation targets, dosing parameters, biomarkers, patient selection, and other factors that can make device-based therapies more reliable and effective.

A defining feature of this opportunity is its expectation of true team science. Applications are intended to be led by multiple PDs/PIs (Program Directors/Principal Investigators), reflecting the reality that device-based pain relief spans multiple domains such as neuroscience, biomedical engineering, clinical pain medicine, rehabilitation, computational modeling, signal processing, physiology, and data science. NIH is explicitly looking for projects where progress depends on synergy, frequent collaborative interactions, and shared experimental and analytical frameworks, not loosely connected subprojects. Teams are expected to develop or integrate new principles, tools, and methods for experimentation, analysis, and interpretation, with the idea that the resulting advances should be field-shaping rather than incremental. Clinical trials are optional under this RM1 mechanism, meaning teams may propose mechanistic clinical studies when appropriate, but the core emphasis remains on explaining and optimizing how these interventions produce pain relief.

Eligibility for this NIH discretionary grant is broad across the U.S. research and service ecosystem. Eligible applicants include various levels of government (state, county, city/township, and special districts), public and private institutions of higher education, independent school districts, federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in that category), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses. The FOA also highlights inclusion of institutions and organizations that serve specific communities, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian 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, tribal governments that are not federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, the announcement makes clear that non-U.S. entities and non-U.S. institutional components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply; however, foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are allowed, which typically means a U.S.-based applicant can include certain well-justified international elements within the overall project structure under NIH rules.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed as a grant funding instrument within the health activity category and is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.213, 93.350, 93.853), reflecting NIH’s cross-institute collaboration. The original closing date for the opportunity was November 3, 2021, and the FOA was created on August 31, 2021. Overall, the program is designed to accelerate a shift in pain care by building strong mechanistic evidence for device-based therapies and translating that understanding into better, more consistent outcomes with minimal addiction liability, directly supporting HEAL’s mission to reduce the harms linked to opioid-centered pain treatment.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "HEAL Initiative: Interdisciplinary Teams to Elucidate the Mechanisms of Device-Based Pain Relief (RM1 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.213, 93.350, 93.853.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-08-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-11-03. (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 NS 22 016

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