Promoting Reproductive Health for Adolescents and Adults with Disabilities (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA HD 23 005

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HD 23 005

The grant opportunity titled "Promoting Reproductive Health for Adolescents and Adults with Disabilities (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-HD-23-005) is a discretionary National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant aimed at building stronger, practical evidence on how to support reproductive health for people with disabilities as they move from adolescence into adulthood. The central focus is on closing important knowledge and practice gaps about what actually works in real-world settings to promote reproductive health and improve the quality of care for these populations during a life stage where health needs, services, autonomy, relationships, and care systems often change quickly.

The FOA emphasizes research that identifies best practices and generates an evidence base that clinicians, public health programs, schools, community organizations, and service systems can use to improve reproductive health outcomes for adolescents and adults with disabilities. While the announcement is broad, it is clearly oriented toward producing actionable findings that can inform care delivery and supportive services, not just describing problems. Because it is an R01 mechanism, it generally supports substantial, multi-year research projects that can rigorously test approaches, examine implementation barriers, or evaluate interventions and models of care. The "Clinical Trial Optional" designation means applicants may propose studies that include clinical trials, but they are not required to do so; strong non-trial designs that still address the FOA goals are also appropriate.

A key theme is the transition period from adolescence to adulthood. This is often when young people shift from pediatric to adult healthcare systems, encounter changes in insurance coverage or service eligibility, experience new expectations around independence and consent, and begin or deepen romantic and sexual relationships. For people with disabilities, those transitions can be more complicated due to accessibility barriers, communication needs, reliance on caregivers, fragmented specialty care, limited provider training, and societal stigma or misinformation about sexuality and fertility. Projects responsive to this FOA would be expected to tackle these kinds of realities in ways that lead to measurable improvements in reproductive health knowledge, access, decision-making, autonomy, safety, satisfaction with care, and health outcomes.

The opportunity is listed under the NIH with activity categories spanning health, income security, and social services, and it is associated with CFDA numbers 93.313 and 93.865. The funding instrument is a grant, and the opportunity category is discretionary. The source information provided does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, so applicants would typically consult the full FOA and NIH institute guidance for budget expectations, scope fit, and review criteria. The original closing date shown is March 30, 2022, with a creation date of October 26, 2021, indicating this particular posting reflects a past submission window; anyone interested would usually look for reissues, related active opportunities, or NIH notices that extend or renew the initiative.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can contribute to disability and reproductive health research. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts, along with public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education. Tribal entities are explicitly included, both federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized governments. Public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities are eligible, as are nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not 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 (AANAPISISs), 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, and even non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities or foreign organizations. This wide eligibility is consistent with the topic area, since meaningful advances often require partnerships across healthcare, education, community services, and disability advocacy contexts, and may benefit from diverse settings and populations.

Overall, this FOA is designed to move the field beyond general recognition that reproductive health disparities exist for people with disabilities and toward tested, evidence-backed strategies that improve care across a critical developmental and systems transition. It encourages research that can translate into better clinical practice, better service coordination, improved accessibility and communication, and more equitable reproductive health support for adolescents and adults with disabilities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Promoting Reproductive Health for Adolescents and Adults with Disabilities (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.313, 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-10-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-03-30. (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 HD 23 005

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