Research on biopsychosocial factors of social connectedness and isolation on health, wellbeing, illness, and recovery (R01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | PAR 19 373

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 373

This National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity, titled "Research on biopsychosocial factors of social connectedness and isolation on health, wellbeing, illness, and recovery (R01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-19-373), supports R01 grant applications that investigate how social relationships shape health across the lifespan and across different health conditions. The central aim is to encourage research that goes beyond simple correlations and instead builds models of the mechanisms, processes, and trajectories through which social connectedness and social isolation influence health, illness progression, recovery, and overall wellbeing. In practical terms, the FOA is looking for studies that can explain how and why social factors "get under the skin," how they unfold over time, and how they interact with biological and psychological pathways to produce measurable outcomes.

A key emphasis of the announcement is on biopsychosocial science. That means proposals can focus on biological mechanisms (for example, neuroendocrine, immune, cardiovascular, genetic, epigenetic, or neural circuitry pathways), psychological mechanisms (such as stress appraisal, emotion regulation, cognition, motivation, depression or anxiety-related processes), and social or environmental mechanisms (including relationship quality, network structure, social roles, discrimination, community context, or cultural factors). Competitive projects would typically aim to specify pathways and temporal dynamics: how social relationships form and change, how isolation emerges or persists, which factors accelerate or buffer risk, and which mechanisms link these social experiences to real-world outcomes like morbidity, functional status, treatment adherence, relapse, resilience, recovery, and quality of life.

The FOA welcomes both human and animal research, which signals an interest in integrative work that can test mechanisms at multiple levels of analysis. Human studies might involve observational or longitudinal designs, measurement-intensive approaches (for example, repeated assessments over time), and modeling of trajectories and mediators that connect social experiences to downstream outcomes. Animal studies are also explicitly allowed, which can be particularly useful for clarifying causal pathways and biological processes related to social bonding, separation, stress reactivity, and recovery. At the same time, the announcement clearly states "Clinical Trials Not Allowed," meaning applicants should not propose projects that meet NIH's definition of a clinical trial (generally, prospective assignment of human participants to an intervention to evaluate effects on health-related outcomes). The FOA also notes that investigators planning basic science experimental studies involving human participants should look at a companion FOA intended for that purpose, which is NIH's way of steering applicants to the most appropriate mechanism and review pathway depending on whether the human work involves experimental manipulation.

Eligibility is broad and includes many kinds of domestic organizations and several categories of non-traditional or community-rooted applicants. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those specific nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. In addition, the FOA specifically highlights other eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), tribal governments that are not federally recognized, eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and foreign (non-U.S.) entities. This broad eligibility reflects an interest in supporting research that may be conducted in diverse settings and populations, including communities that are often underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral research.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity offered by NIH under the R01 mechanism, categorized under activity areas that include education, health, income security, and social services, and associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.361, 93.399, 93.846, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866), indicating participation or alignment across multiple NIH institutes and centers. The posting lists an original closing date of 2021-02-01 and a creation date of 2019-09-18. Award ceiling and expected awards are not specified in the provided source data, which often means budgets and award counts depend on institute-specific priorities, application volume, and available appropriations.

Overall, this FOA is designed for research teams that can rigorously characterize social connectedness and isolation, identify mechanisms that plausibly explain their effects on health and recovery, and model how these dynamics change over time. It supports a wide range of approaches and populations, but it is not intended for clinical trial-style intervention testing under this particular R01 announcement.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Research on biopsychosocial factors of social connectedness and isolation on health, wellbeing, illness, and recovery (R01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.361, 93.399, 93.846, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-02-01. (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.

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