Use of Technology to Enhance Patient Outcomes and Prevent Illness (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 18 145

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 145

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant opportunity titled "Use of Technology to Enhance Patient Outcomes and Prevent Illness (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PA 18-145) supports clinical research projects that develop, test, and apply technology-based approaches intended to measurably improve patient outcomes and reduce illness. The emphasis is on using practical, scalable technologies in real-world healthcare environments, including clinics, homes, and community settings. The award mechanism is an R01 research project grant, and clinical trials are allowed but not required, which means applicants can propose anything from early clinical validation work through full intervention testing and implementation studies, as long as the work fits the clinical research scope.

The core goal of the FOA is to fund research where technology is not just an add-on, but a primary driver of improved health outcomes. NIH is looking for proposals that clearly define which patient outcomes are expected to change and why the chosen technology is likely to produce those benefits. Competitive projects will connect the technology to a clinical need and then to specific, measurable endpoints, such as improved adherence, reduced symptom burden, fewer exacerbations or hospitalizations, better functional status, stronger disease control markers, improved access to care, or other clinically meaningful outcomes. A key expectation is that applicants explain how the technology will operate in the intended setting, such as how it will be used by patients, caregivers, and clinicians in the home, in outpatient clinics, or across community care systems.

The FOA highlights a wide range of eligible technology areas. Examples include telehealth and other remote care models that extend clinical services to patients outside traditional settings; mobile health tools designed to improve access, self-management, and adherence; robotics or automated systems that support medication adherence or care tasks; technology-enabled on-site care delivery in either clinical or home environments; and web-based decision support tools that help patients or clinicians make better, timelier choices. Beyond these examples, the announcement is open to other technology categories as long as the proposal makes a strong case that the tool can improve patient outcomes and prevent illness.

From a research design standpoint, NIH is open to multiple stages and types of clinical research. Projects may focus on assessment or diagnosis (for example, technology-assisted screening, detection, or monitoring), intervention development (building and refining a tool or platform), or intervention implementation (studying how to integrate a proven tool into workflows, systems, and communities). The FOA explicitly encourages projects that use emerging and cutting-edge technologies to explain and predict patient trajectories, inform interventions, support real-time clinical decision making, and enable effective long-term chronic disease management. In practice, that can include technologies that personalize care, provide just-in-time adaptive interventions, integrate data streams for risk prediction, or support continuous monitoring paired with clinician or system responses.

A distinguishing feature of this opportunity is the requirement to be explicit about the outcomes and the pathway to impact. Proposals should identify the patient outcomes that will improve, describe the mechanisms through which the technology will deliver benefit, and demonstrate how the intervention will be used in the environments that matter most for patient health, including home and community contexts. This pushes applicants to go beyond demonstrating feasibility or usability alone and instead show a credible plan to produce meaningful clinical improvements and, when relevant, reductions in illness incidence or complications.

Eligibility is broad, reflecting NIH's interest in both traditional research institutions and community-facing organizations that can help deploy and evaluate technology in diverse populations. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other organizations. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicants 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 and community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This broad eligibility aligns with the goal of studying technology-enabled health solutions that can work across many settings and populations.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the education and health activity categories, with CFDA numbers 93.173 and 93.361. The NIH is the sponsoring agency. The source information provided lists an original closing date of 2020-01-07 and a creation date of 2017-11-07, which indicates the FOA originated in 2017 and had submission deadlines that may have been tied to specific receipt dates during its active period. Award ceiling and expected award counts are not specified in the provided data, so applicants typically would need to consult the full FOA and related NIH institute guidance for budget expectations, review considerations, and any institute-specific priorities.

Overall, this opportunity is aimed at clinically grounded, outcomes-driven technology research: projects that use telehealth, mobile tools, robotics, decision support, or other innovative systems to improve measurable patient outcomes, support better clinical decisions in real time, and strengthen long-term chronic disease management in the settings where patients actually live and receive care.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Use of Technology to Enhance Patient Outcomes and Prevent Illness (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): 93.173, 93.361.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-07.
• 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.

Apply for PA 18 145

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: