Exploratory/Developmental Surgical Disparities Research (R21) | PAR 16 392

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 16 392

The Exploratory/Developmental Surgical Disparities Research (R21) funding opportunity (PAR-16-392) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant designed to spark early-stage, developmental, or exploratory research that improves understanding of disparities in surgical care and surgical outcomes. The central emphasis is on minority and other health disparity populations, with the expectation that applicants will investigate why inequities occur across the surgical care continuum and test or refine intervention ideas that could reduce those inequities. Because this is an R21 mechanism, it is geared toward generating foundational evidence, piloting new approaches, and producing proof-of-concept findings that could lead to larger, more definitive studies later.

A key theme of the announcement is moving beyond describing disparities and toward actionable, multi-level solutions. The FOA encourages research that examines disparities not only at the patient level (such as access barriers, comorbidities, language, trust, and adherence challenges), but also at institutional and health system levels, where policies, referral patterns, workforce composition, clinical workflows, resource availability, and quality improvement infrastructure can strongly shape whether patients receive timely, appropriate surgical evaluation, treatment, and follow-up. Projects are expected to explore the effectiveness of clinical intervention approaches to address surgical disparities while explicitly considering the real-world settings in which surgery is delivered, including hospitals, surgical practices, and larger care networks.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; 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; tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other unspecified eligible entities. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant types that align with its disparities focus, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized entities, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, there are important restrictions related to foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as components. However, foreign components are allowed as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S. applicant may include certain foreign elements in the project when they are justified and compliant with NIH policy, even though a foreign institution cannot be the applicant organization.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is categorized under Education and Health and is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.307, 93.313, 93.395, 93.399, 93.846), reflecting NIH programmatic areas that can support this type of work. The award ceiling listed is $200,000, indicating a relatively modest budget consistent with an exploratory R21 project. The opportunity record shows an original closing date of January 24, 2018, and a creation date of August 5, 2016, which is useful context for understanding the time frame in which this specific posting was active.

Overall, the FOA is aimed at teams that can bring together surgical expertise, disparities research methods, implementation or health services research perspectives, and partnerships with affected communities and care delivery organizations. The intent is to produce early but meaningful evidence on strategies that can reduce inequities in who gets surgery, when they get it, what quality of care they receive, and how well they recover, with particular attention to interventions that can be embedded within institutions and systems rather than relying solely on individual-level change.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Exploratory/Developmental Surgical Disparities Research (R21)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.307, 93.313, 93.395, 93.399, 93.846.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-08-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-01-24. (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.

Apply for PAR 16 392

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