Mobile and Connected Health Interventions to Improve Care Continuum and Health Outcomes among Youth with HIV (R01) | RFA MH 18 606

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 18 606

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Mobile and Connected Health Interventions to Improve Care Continuum and Health Outcomes among Youth with HIV (R01)" (Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-MH-18-606) supports research projects that design, refine, and rigorously test the next generation of mobile and connected health (mHealth) interventions for youth living with HIV. The overall goal is to use technology in a practical, clinically meaningful way to strengthen performance across the HIV care continuum, specifically improving timely diagnosis, linkage to HIV medical care, retention and engagement in ongoing care, and achievement and maintenance of viral suppression. The announcement emphasizes that projects should move beyond basic feasibility work and instead produce strong evidence, typically through clinical trials, that technology-driven approaches can measurably improve outcomes that matter to patients and providers.

A central theme of the FOA is that proposed interventions should leverage emerging or cutting-edge technologies rather than relying only on standard texting or generic app reminders. This includes approaches that can interact with users in more responsive ways, incorporate real-time or near-real-time data streams, and adapt to an individual’s needs and context over time. The NIH also signals strong interest in interventions that support real-time clinical decision making, meaning the technology is not just a tool for the youth participant, but can also generate actionable information that helps clinicians, care teams, or health systems make better and faster decisions. In practical terms, that could involve systems that detect risk for non-adherence or disengagement and trigger timely outreach, tools that help prioritize care management resources, or platforms that integrate patient-reported outcomes with clinical workflows to guide treatment and support services.

The FOA specifically calls for applicants to identify clear, well-defined patient outcomes along the HIV care continuum that the proposed technology is expected to improve. In other words, the intervention should be built around a logical and testable link between the technological features and the targeted clinical or behavioral outcomes. Applicants are expected to articulate what success looks like and how it will be measured, such as improved appointment attendance, improved antiretroviral therapy adherence, higher rates of viral suppression, faster linkage to care after diagnosis, reduced gaps in care, or improved long-term management indicators. The emphasis on specifying outcomes is meant to ensure that technology is used as a means to address concrete barriers faced by youth living with HIV, rather than being technology for its own sake.

This is an R01 research grant mechanism, and the FOA supports clinical trials, which signals an expectation of strong study design and meaningful evaluation. Projects funded under this announcement are intended to generate evidence about effectiveness and implementation in ways that can inform clinical practice and long-term HIV management strategies for youth. The activity categories associated with the opportunity include health and education, and the CFDA numbers listed are 93.242, 93.279, and 93.361. While the announcement does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided source data, it is clearly positioned as a competitive NIH research program aimed at advancing intervention science at the intersection of adolescent/young adult HIV care and digital health innovation.

Eligibility for this opportunity is broad and includes a wide range of domestic and certain non-domestic entities. 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; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicants 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), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, tribal governments other than federally recognized entities, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This wide eligibility reflects an intent to encourage applications from diverse settings and organizations, including those closely connected to youth populations disproportionately affected by HIV and those with capacity to test technology-based interventions in real-world contexts.

Key administrative details in the source data include the original closing date of January 9, 2018, and a creation date of November 1, 2017. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary and uses the grant funding instrument type. Overall, the FOA is best understood as a targeted NIH effort to push the field toward more sophisticated, data-informed, and clinically integrated mHealth interventions that can measurably improve engagement and outcomes for youth living with HIV across the full continuum of care.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mobile and Connected Health Interventions to Improve Care Continuum and Health Outcomes among Youth with HIV (R01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242, 93.279, 93.361.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-01-09. (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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