HIV Prevention and Alcohol (R01 Clinical Trials Optional) | RFA AA 21 016

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AA 21 016

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity announcement RFA-AA-21-016, titled "HIV Prevention and Alcohol (R01 Clinical Trials Optional)," supports research grants aimed at strengthening and broadening the HIV prevention toolkit for people and communities affected by alcohol use. The central idea is that alcohol use, whether episodic (for example, binge drinking patterns) or long-term and chronic, can increase vulnerability to HIV acquisition through behavioral pathways (such as increased sexual risk-taking or reduced adherence to prevention routines) and biological pathways (such as alcohol-related impacts on immune function or inflammation). The FOA encourages projects that do more than look at alcohol and HIV risk side by side; it emphasizes integrating proven HIV prevention and HIV treatment strategies with a clear prevention framework focused on lowering new infections.

A major theme is the development, testing, and practical deployment of interventions that address alcohol use in the context of HIV prevention. This can include creating new interventions, adapting and expanding interventions that already have evidence behind them, and studying how to implement these approaches effectively in real-world settings. The announcement is explicitly interested in research that is cross-cutting and informative across multiple prevention strategies, meaning proposals can focus on mechanisms, strategies, and delivery models that improve prevention outcomes across populations and contexts rather than only in a narrow niche.

The FOA highlights six priority research areas connected to alcohol use and common co-occurring conditions like mental health disorders and other substance use. First, PrEP utilization research is of interest, including questions about starting PrEP, maintaining adherence, persistence over time, and how alcohol use patterns interfere with or can be addressed to improve PrEP outcomes. Second, treatment as prevention (TasP) is a focus, which includes research on improving HIV testing, linkage to care, retention in care, and sustained viral suppression, especially when alcohol use creates barriers to adherence or consistent engagement with care. Third, the FOA calls for integration of preventive intervention strategies, which can include combining alcohol-related interventions with biomedical prevention (like PrEP), behavioral risk reduction, or clinical service delivery in ways that make prevention packages more effective and easier to access.

Fourth, prevention-related cross-cutting research is encouraged, which can cover shared drivers of prevention success or failure, measurement and methodological advances, and research that informs multiple prevention modalities at once. Fifth, syndemic approaches are emphasized, reflecting the reality that alcohol-related HIV vulnerability often clusters with other conditions such as depression, trauma exposure, intimate partner violence, stimulant or opioid use, housing instability, and stigma. This area supports work that tackles interacting epidemics together rather than treating alcohol use as an isolated factor. Sixth, implementation and operations research is a key priority, supporting studies that examine how to deliver integrated prevention interventions in diverse settings (such as clinics, community organizations, justice settings, or other service systems), how to scale effective models, how to improve reach and equity, and how to address barriers like workforce capacity, stigma, and fragmented services.

The mechanism is an R01 research project grant, and clinical trials are optional, meaning applicants may propose clinical trials if appropriate, but they are not required to do so. The activity category is health, and the CFDA number listed is 93.273. The opportunity was published by NIH, with a creation date of August 20, 2021, and an original closing date of December 16, 2021. The award ceiling shown is $500,000 (as listed in the source data), indicating the maximum award amount under the posting.

Eligibility is broad and includes many government, academic, nonprofit, and private-sector 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other types of organizations as allowed by NIH policy. The FOA also explicitly notes additional eligible applicants such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, US territories or possessions, and non-US entities (foreign organizations). This broad eligibility aligns with the FOA’s emphasis on implementing and testing interventions across diverse populations and real-world settings where alcohol-related HIV risk is a pressing concern.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "HIV Prevention and Alcohol (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): 93.273.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-08-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-12-16. (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 AA 21 016

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