Alcohol Health Services Research (R34 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 25 192

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 25 192

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is offering a discretionary grant opportunity titled "Alcohol Health Services Research (R34 Clinical Trial Optional)" under Funding Opportunity Number PAR 25-192 (CFDA 93.273). This program uses the NIH R34 mechanism, which is commonly designed to support early-stage, preparatory, or pilot work that can position a research team to compete for larger, full-scale studies later. Clinical trials are allowed but not required, meaning applicants can propose either trial or non-trial health services research as long as the project fits the purpose and scope of the announcement.

The central goal of this opportunity is to help close the treatment gap for people with alcohol use disorder (AUD), meaning the persistent mismatch between the number of individuals who could benefit from evidence-based AUD care and the smaller number who actually receive accessible, acceptable, and effective treatment. The announcement emphasizes alcohol health services research, which generally focuses on how care is organized, financed, delivered, and implemented in real-world settings, rather than focusing only on basic science or tightly controlled efficacy studies. Projects responsive to this opportunity should be aimed at identifying practical, scalable ways to improve how AUD services reach patients and how well those services work across different systems and communities.

Within that overall goal, NIAAA highlights five major areas of emphasis. First is increasing access to treatment for AUD, which can include studying barriers in clinical workflows, workforce capacity, geographic availability, referral systems, or integration of AUD care into settings where patients already receive services (such as primary care, emergency departments, mental health clinics, or community-based programs). Second is making treatment for AUD more appealing, reflecting the reality that many people avoid or drop out of care due to stigma, inconvenience, poor fit with patient preferences, low perceived benefit, or previous negative experiences. Research in this area may focus on patient-centered models, engagement strategies, low-threshold approaches, culturally responsive services, or novel service configurations that reduce friction and improve uptake.

Third, the opportunity calls for examining cost structures and insurance systems, recognizing that payment policy, reimbursement levels, prior authorization, network adequacy, and benefit design can either enable or block access to evidence-based AUD care. This can include analyses of how different financing arrangements affect service availability and sustainability, what financial incentives drive provider behavior, and how insurance coverage translates (or fails to translate) into real access for patients. Fourth is dissemination and implementation research focused on existing evidence-based approaches for treating AUD, with an emphasis on how proven interventions can be adopted, implemented with fidelity, and sustained in routine practice. This area often includes studying implementation strategies (training, supervision, decision support, audit and feedback, workflow redesign), organizational readiness, leadership support, and the practical adaptations needed to fit local contexts without undermining core intervention components.

Fifth, and woven throughout the announcement, is reducing health disparities as a direct strategy to address the AUD treatment gap for health disparity populations. This emphasis reflects concern that underserved groups often face compounded barriers related to structural inequities, differential access to high-quality care, discrimination, language barriers, rurality, and uneven distribution of services. Responsive projects may focus on identifying and reducing inequities in access, engagement, retention, and outcomes, and on designing and testing service delivery approaches that are effective in real settings serving populations that have been historically marginalized or under-resourced.

Eligibility for this funding is broad and includes many types of applicants across the public, private, academic, nonprofit, and tribal sectors. Eligible applicants include state, county, 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; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments. The opportunity is also open to nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, small businesses, and other eligible entities. In addition, the announcement explicitly calls out categories of "other 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, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, eligible federal agencies, and non-U.S. (foreign) entities.

Key administrative details include an original closing date of 2026-09-07 and a creation date for the opportunity record of 2024-11-27. The funding instrument is a grant, the activity category is health, and the award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Alcohol Health Services Research (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): 93.273.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-11-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-09-07. (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 25 192

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