Health and Health Care Disparities Among Persons Living with Disabilities (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional) | PAR 23 309

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 309

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity PAR 23-309, titled "Health and Health Care Disparities Among Persons Living with Disabilities (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional)," supports research projects that push beyond describing disability-related disparities and instead dig into why they happen and what can be done to reduce them. The central aim is to fund novel, innovative studies that examine and/or intervene on the underlying causes, pathways, and multilevel factors that negatively affect health and well-being for people living with one or more disabilities, particularly when those individuals are also part of populations that experience health disparities. In practical terms, NIH is looking for work that connects the dots between disability, social and structural disadvantage, health care access and quality, and real health outcomes, and that can identify leverage points for meaningful change. The R01 mechanism signals support for substantial, multi-year research programs, and the "clinical trials optional" designation means applicants may propose either observational or interventional work, including clinical trials, as long as the study fits the scientific goals of the announcement.

This NOFO emphasizes that the drivers of disparities are often layered and interconnected. Applicants are encouraged to study and address factors at multiple levels, such as individual-level risks and protections, interpersonal influences (including family and caregiver dynamics), community conditions, health system design and performance, and broader policy or structural forces that shape opportunity and access. The focus is specifically on factors that worsen outcomes for people with disabilities in disparity-affected populations, which commonly includes groups facing inequities related to race and ethnicity, socioeconomic position, geography, and other social determinants of health. Projects can be designed to map causal pathways (for example, how discrimination or inaccessible care environments lead to delayed diagnosis or undertreatment), test interventions (such as care models, accessibility improvements, navigation supports, or policy-relevant strategies), or combine both approaches to explain mechanisms while also evaluating solutions. Because the topic is framed around both health and health care disparities, competitive proposals often align outcomes not only with disease burden and quality of life, but also with access, utilization, patient experience, safety, timeliness, and equitable delivery of evidence-based care.

Eligibility is broad and intentionally includes many types of organizations that can reach or represent people with disabilities and communities experiencing disparities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township 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; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other entities as allowed under NIH rules. The announcement also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American 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, U.S. territories or possessions, and Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (other than federally recognized). At the same time, it draws clear boundaries around foreign participation: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as NIH defines them in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed under this opportunity.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant competition under NIH with an original closing date listed as 2026-11-05. The opportunity references multiple CFDA numbers (93.173, 93.273, 93.286, 93.307, 93.361, 93.399, 93.846, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867), reflecting that NIH may support projects through several institutes or centers depending on the scientific content. The listed award ceiling is 500,000 (as provided in the source data), which typically indicates a cap or benchmark amount applicants should pay attention to when shaping budgets and scope. Because this is an R01, proposed projects are generally expected to be sufficiently mature in design, feasibility, and analytic approach to deliver rigorous findings, whether the work is explanatory (identifying mechanisms and causal pathways) or interventional (testing strategies to reduce disparities), and ideally both. Overall, the NOFO is aimed at producing evidence that can clarify why disability-related health inequities persist in disparity-affected populations and identify scalable, real-world approaches to improve health and health care outcomes for people living with disabilities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Health and Health Care Disparities Among Persons Living with Disabilities (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.173, 93.273, 93.286, 93.307, 93.361, 93.399, 93.846, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-09-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-11-05. (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 PAR 23 309

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