Wearable to Track Recovery and Relapse Factors for People w/ Addiction(R43/R44) | RFA DA 18 010

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 18 010

The grant opportunity titled "Wearable to Track Recovery and Relapse Factors for People w/ Addiction (R43/R44)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-DA-18-010) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) program designed to push forward practical, next-generation technology that can help people in recovery from substance use disorders. The core aim is to support small business concerns in building wearable devices and companion mobile applications that can detect meaningful, measurable signals in real time, then use those signals to predict when someone may be at higher risk of returning to drug use. The opportunity is framed around translating these signals into digital biomarkers, meaning objective data streams collected by devices (such as physiological or behavioral measures) that correlate with clinically important states like craving, stress, withdrawal symptoms, destabilization in recovery, or imminent relapse risk.

A major emphasis of the announcement is on pairing detection with action. It is not just about collecting sensor data, but about using those data to create a workable model for "just-in-time intervention." In practice, this means developing a system that can identify a risky moment as it is unfolding and trigger a timely, tailored response through the mobile app or connected services. The envisioned interventions could involve prompts, coping tools, supportive messaging, connections to peers or clinicians, or other evidence-informed strategies delivered at the moment they are most needed, rather than relying only on scheduled visits or retrospective self-reporting.

The eligible applicants are limited to small businesses, consistent with the R43/R44 mechanisms (commonly associated with the NIH Small Business Innovation Research pathway). The FOA is discretionary and uses the grant funding instrument, with its activity category listed under education and health, and it is associated with CFDA number 93.279. While the announcement is open to U.S. small business applicants, it explicitly excludes non-U.S. entities (foreign institutions) from applying, and it also states that non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. At the same time, it notes that "foreign components" may be allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which typically refers to limited, well-justified elements of a project that occur outside the U.S. and are integral to the project, subject to NIH review and approval.

In terms of what NIH is trying to catalyze, the program is aimed at improving the ability to monitor recovery outside traditional clinical settings and to reduce relapse by detecting early warning signs sooner. Wearables can continuously track factors that are hard to capture in standard care, such as changes in sleep patterns, stress responses, physical activity, heart rate variability, geolocation patterns, social routine disruption, or other sensor-derived indicators that may correlate with destabilization. The mobile application component matters because it can serve as the interface for data collection, user engagement, intervention delivery, and integration with care teams or support networks when appropriate. The overall concept is a feedback loop: measure relevant signals, interpret them with a predictive model, and deliver a timely intervention that is practical enough for everyday use.

Administrative details included in the source information indicate the opportunity was created on 2017-05-12, with an original closing date of 2017-08-15. The agency is NIH, and the announcement is clearly targeted at product-oriented development rather than purely observational research, with an expectation that the funded work would result in usable tools that can be tested, refined, and potentially advanced toward broader adoption in addiction treatment and recovery support. Although the source excerpt does not list an award ceiling or number of expected awards, the structure and purpose signal a competitive R43/R44-style solicitation where applicants are expected to propose a development plan, demonstrate feasibility of the wearable-plus-app approach, and show how the resulting system could reliably identify relapse-related biomarkers and support real-time intervention in a way that is clinically meaningful and scalable.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Wearable to Track Recovery and Relapse Factors for People w/ Addiction(R43/R44)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-05-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-08-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

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