Pilot Effectiveness Studies and Services Research Grants (R34)

Additional Information:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MH-15-330.html

Description:

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage pilot research consistent with NIMH’s priorities for: 1) effectiveness research on interventions with previously demonstrated efficacy, for use with broader target populations or for use in community practice settings, and 2) innovative services research directions that require preliminary testing or development. Applications should provide resources for evaluating the feasibility, tolerability, acceptability and safety of approaches to improve mental health and modify risk factors, and for obtaining the preliminary data needed as a pre-requisite to a larger-scale intervention trial (e.g., comparative effectiveness study, practical trial) or large-scale services study.

In this pilot phase of intervention and services research, NIMH places highest priority on approaches that can be justified in terms of their potential to substantially impact practice and public health and approaches that are empirically grounded.  Specifically:  1) Applications should justify the potential impact of the proposed intervention/services models on practice and public health in terms of the magnitude of likely improvements in effect size, safety/tolerability profile, value and efficiency, or dissemination potential, as compared to existing approaches;  2) Adaptations or augmentations of efficacious interventions should only be undertaken if there is an empirical rationale for the adaptation target and for the corresponding mechanism by which the adapted intervention or augmentation is expected to substantially enhance outcomes; and  3) For pilot tests of intervention effectiveness or service delivery approaches, the study should be designed to explicitly address whether the intervention engages the mechanism that is presumed to underlie the intervention effects.