HEAL Initiative: Secondary Analysis and Integration of Existing Data Related to Acute and Chronic Pain Development or Management in Humans (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | RFA DE 22 011

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DE 22 011

The HEAL Initiative FOA titled "Secondary Analysis and Integration of Existing Data Related to Acute and Chronic Pain Development or Management in Humans (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-DE-22-011) is a National Institutes of Health discretionary grant opportunity designed to fund short, exploratory projects that use data that already exist. The central goal is to support researchers who can take advantage of existing human datasets and resources, including large and diverse national cohorts, to answer targeted questions about how acute pain begins, how it transitions into chronic pain, what factors shape pain trajectories over time, and how pain is managed in real-world settings. The emphasis is on extracting new insights from previously collected information rather than collecting new information.

A key feature of this opportunity is that it is strictly limited to secondary analysis and, where relevant, integration of existing data sources. Projects can use a single dataset, combine multiple datasets, or link complementary resources, as long as the work is grounded in human data and focused on pain development or pain management. Applications are allowed to build on themes connected to the parent study that generated the data, but they must be clearly distinct from the original specific aims; in other words, the application needs to pose new questions that were not the primary purpose of the initial data collection. The FOA also makes an explicit restriction: generating new primary data is not allowed under this funding. That means applicants should not propose new recruitment, new prospective data collection, new biospecimen collection, new surveys administered to participants, or other activities that create fresh participant-level data as part of the award.

Because this is an R21 mechanism and the title specifies "Clinical Trials Not Allowed," the intent is to fund early-stage, potentially high-impact analytic work without moving into interventional testing. The appropriate scope generally includes hypothesis generation, exploratory modeling, validation of measures across cohorts, examination of risk and protective factors, subgroup analyses, and methodological approaches that can clarify mechanisms or patterns related to pain onset, persistence, severity, comorbidities, treatment utilization, or outcomes. Projects that leverage the diversity of large cohorts may be especially well positioned to examine differences by demographics, geography, socioeconomic context, comorbid health conditions, and other social or clinical determinants that can influence pain experiences and management.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and governmental units, such as 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 that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/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 applicant categories, reflecting an interest in inclusive participation across institution types and communities. These additional categories include Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs); Hispanic-serving Institutions; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs); eligible federal government agencies; faith-based or community-based organizations; regional organizations; Indian/Native American Tribal Governments other than federally recognized entities; U.S. territories or possessions; and even non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations). In practice, this means the program is open to a wide range of research-capable organizations, including those that serve underrepresented populations and those operating outside the continental United States.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed under multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.213, 93.350, 93.393, 93.846, 93.865, 93.866), reflecting NIH’s cross-institute participation and the HEAL Initiative’s broad alignment across pain-related priorities. The FOA was created on 2022-01-21, with an original closing date of 2022-03-31. The listing does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided source text, so applicants would typically rely on the full FOA details and NIH budget guidance for R21 applications when shaping scope and cost.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as support for teams that can move quickly and rigorously using existing human datasets to produce actionable knowledge about acute and chronic pain and how it is treated or managed, while staying clearly away from proposing new data collection or any clinical trial activity. The strongest applications are likely to be those that identify a well-justified, answerable question; demonstrate access to the relevant existing data/resources; show a sound analytic plan suited to the dataset(s); and make a clear case that the proposed aims extend beyond what the original data collection set out to do.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "HEAL Initiative: Secondary Analysis and Integration of Existing Data Related to Acute and Chronic Pain Development or Management in Humans (R21 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, 93.213, 93.350, 93.393, 93.846, 93.865, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-01-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-03-31. (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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