Using Secondary Data Analysis to Determine Whether Preventive Interventions Implemented Earlier in Life Reduce Suicide Risk (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA MH 23 275

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 23 275

This funding opportunity, titled "Using Secondary Data Analysis to Determine Whether Preventive Interventions Implemented Earlier in Life Reduce Suicide Risk (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (RFA-MH-23-275), is a National Institutes of Health initiative in the health category (CFDA 93.242) that focuses on answering a long-term public health question using existing data rather than launching a new clinical trial. The core idea is to take large, already-completed prevention trial datasets from earlier-life interventions (for example, programs delivered in childhood or adolescence) and combine them in a careful, standardized way so researchers can test whether those early interventions are linked to lower risk later on for suicide-related outcomes. The main outcomes of interest include suicide thoughts and behaviors (STB), both fatal and nonfatal, as well as closely related external injury outcomes such as nonfatal substance use disorder or opioid use disorder events and accidents. The FOA also highlights the importance of assessing all-cause mortality, potentially by linking participants to mortality sources like the National Death Index, to capture long-run outcomes that single studies may be underpowered to detect on their own.

The award mechanism is a U01 cooperative agreement, which generally means the funded project will involve substantial scientific and programmatic involvement from the NIH compared to a typical investigator-initiated grant. The work is organized around four major responsibilities. First, the awardee is expected to obtain existing prevention trial datasets and do so in active collaboration with the original principal investigators who generated those datasets, which is meant to ensure appropriate interpretation of variables, study design details, and intervention context. Second, the project must anonymize participant data and then aggregate and harmonize the datasets. Harmonization is the centerpiece of the effort: it involves mapping measures across trials, aligning variable definitions, reconciling differences in timing and follow-up, and documenting assumptions so that outcomes and predictors can be analyzed consistently across studies. Third, the award supports providing strong methodological and statistical expertise to conduct rigorous secondary analyses, using theory-based approaches, to evaluate whether earlier preventive interventions reduce later STB and mortality risk. This includes examining mediators (the pathways through which interventions might influence later outcomes, such as improvements in mental health, substance use, family functioning, or school engagement) and moderators (for whom and under what conditions the interventions appear most protective, such as differences by baseline risk, demographics, setting, or intervention dosage). Fourth, the awardee is responsible for overseeing creation of a final harmonized dataset and ensuring it is deposited into the NIMH Data Archive (NDA), turning the product into a long-lasting shared resource for the broader research community rather than a one-off analytic project.

A key boundary of this FOA is embedded in the title: "Clinical Trial Not Allowed." In practical terms, the funded work is intended to be secondary data analysis and data integration, not the initiation of new intervention testing in humans. The expected deliverable is not only a set of findings about long-term suicide risk reduction, but also a well-documented, anonymized harmonized dataset that other qualified researchers can reuse for years, increasing transparency, reproducibility, and efficiency in suicide prevention research.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and several non-U.S. entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and 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 and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses; and other organizations. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-domestic (foreign) entities. The opportunity was created on 2023-02-27 and had an original closing date of 2023-10-10.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Using Secondary Data Analysis to Determine Whether Preventive Interventions Implemented Earlier in Life Reduce Suicide Risk (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-10-10. (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 RFA MH 23 275

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