Advancing Learning Health Care Research in Outpatient Mental Health Treatment Settings (R34 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 25 278

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 25 278

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering this discretionary grant opportunity, PAR-25-278, titled "Advancing Learning Health Care Research in Outpatient Mental Health Treatment Settings (R34 Clinical Trial Optional)." It uses the R34 mechanism, which is designed to support smaller, time-limited pilot studies that build the foundation for larger, more definitive research later. The overall aim is to strengthen data-driven "learning health care" approaches in real-world outpatient behavioral health settings, so that clinics and community programs can continuously use data to improve care quality, outcomes, and equity.

This NOFO is focused on pilot effectiveness research, implementation research, data science, and services research that can make outpatient mental health care systems better at learning from routine practice. In practical terms, NIH is looking for projects that generate knowledge, methods, and tools that help organizations implement, sustain, and optimize evidence-based mental health services. The emphasis is on community settings where people actually receive care, rather than highly controlled research environments, with the end goal of improving access to high-quality, equitable services for people with mental illness.

A central example of the settings of interest includes community-based clinics and systems such as Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), though the opportunity is not limited to CCBHCs. Projects may examine issues like how evidence-based practices are adopted in typical outpatient workflows, what helps or hinders long-term sustainment, and how organizations can use clinical and operational data to guide ongoing improvements. Because it is framed around learning health care, strong applications will typically connect the research to feedback loops that use data collected during care delivery to support rapid-cycle improvement, decision support, and continuous refinement of services.

Clinical trials are optional under this announcement, meaning applicants may propose studies that do or do not meet the NIH definition of a clinical trial, as long as the work aligns with the pilot nature and learning health care focus. The work is expected to be exploratory and developmental, helping teams test feasibility, refine implementation strategies, validate measurement approaches, assess data infrastructure, or produce early signals of effectiveness and equity impact that justify later scale-up.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and 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; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The NOFO also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories 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, U.S. territories or possessions, and eligible federal agencies.

Foreign involvement is not permitted under the rules provided. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. In addition, foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed, which effectively keeps the work and supported organizational components within the U.S. framework.

The funding activity falls under education and health, with CFDA numbers 93.242 and 93.279. The original closing date listed is January 7, 2026, and the opportunity was created on November 21, 2024. The provided source data does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, so applicants would need to consult the full NOFO text and NIH budget guidance for the R34 mechanism to shape an appropriate budget and scope.

Overall, this opportunity is aimed at teams that can partner with outpatient mental health treatment settings to test practical, data-driven approaches for improving implementation and ongoing performance of evidence-based care. Competitive projects will usually be tightly grounded in routine service delivery, include a clear plan for using real-world data to support learning and improvement, and show how the pilot work will produce actionable insights or scalable tools that help community systems deliver better, more equitable mental health services.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing Learning Health Care Research in Outpatient Mental Health Treatment Settings (R34 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242, 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-11-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-01-07. (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 PAR 25 278

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