Science of Behavior Change: Use-inspired Research to Optimize Adherence, Behavior Change Interventions, and Outcomes (R21) | RFA RM 17 028

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA RM 17 028

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the NIH Common Fund Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) Program, offered this grant opportunity to support exploratory, early-stage studies that test how and why behavior change happens, rather than only whether an intervention works. The mechanism is an R21, which is designed for developmental and proof-of-concept projects. In practical terms, the announcement is looking for short, targeted research projects that use a mechanistic, experimental medicine framework: identify a specific, changeable mechanism (a "putative target"), deliberately try to engage or manipulate it using a well-defined method, confirm that the target was actually engaged (target engagement), and then examine whether that engagement produces a near-term improvement in a health behavior such as treatment or medication adherence.

A central feature of this opportunity is its emphasis on using tools already developed by the SOBC Research Network. The SOBC Network created experimental manipulations, assays, and standardized measures to evaluate behavior-change mechanisms, and these resources were made publicly available through the SOBC Measures Repository on the Open Science Framework (OSF) at https://osf.io/zp7b4. Applicants are expected to leverage these existing assays to strengthen rigor and comparability across studies. The point is to accelerate progress by building on a shared set of validated (or at least well-specified) tools, so different projects can more directly test common mechanisms and contribute to a cumulative science of behavior change.

The scientific focus is on "putative targets" within three broad domains that SOBC prioritizes: self-regulation, stress reactivity and stress resilience, and interpersonal and social processes. Putative targets are defined here as mechanisms or processes believed to be modifiable and causally involved in producing behavior change. Instead of treating behavior change as a black box outcome, the FOA pushes applicants to specify what mechanism their intervention is supposed to affect (for example, inhibitory control, emotion regulation, stress response patterns, social support processes, or related constructs), and to use a study design that can plausibly show that the mechanism was altered and that this alteration is linked to behavior change. Importantly, the behavior change outcome is framed as short-term and use-inspired, meaning the work should be grounded in real-world health behaviors and problems (including adherence to medical regimens), but still structured to test mechanisms in a controlled, experimentally informative way.

The projects supported under this FOA are not meant to be large-scale clinical trials or definitive effectiveness studies. Instead, they are meant to answer sharper questions that often precede or strengthen later intervention trials: Can a hypothesized mechanism be engaged in the intended population and context? Can we measure that engagement with credible assays? If the mechanism moves, does the health behavior move in the desired direction, even over the short term? By prioritizing these questions, the opportunity aims to improve the design of future behavior change interventions, making them more precise, more efficient, and more likely to succeed because they are built on verified causal pathways rather than broad multi-component packages with unclear active ingredients.

From an applicant standpoint, eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. and non-U.S. organizations. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, city, and special district governments; public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses; and additional categories such as faith-based or community-based organizations and eligible federal agencies. The FOA also explicitly highlights a range of institution types commonly emphasized in federal funding for inclusive participation, including 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), along with U.S. territories or possessions and foreign organizations.

Key administrative details provided in the source information include the funding opportunity title "Science of Behavior Change: Use-inspired Research to Optimize Adherence, Behavior Change Interventions, and Outcomes (R21)," the opportunity number RFA-RM-17-028, and the sponsoring agency as NIH. The funding instrument is a grant under the health activity category (CFDA 93.310). The original closing date listed is December 5, 2017, and the award ceiling noted is $200,000. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted NIH effort to fund early-stage, mechanism-driven behavior change studies that use shared SOBC tools to test whether engaging specific, measurable processes can produce meaningful improvements in health behaviors, with a strong emphasis on adherence and other practical outcomes.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Science of Behavior Change: Use-inspired Research to Optimize Adherence, Behavior Change Interventions, and Outcomes (R21)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.310.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-09-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-12-05. (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 $200,000.00 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.

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