New Initiative Highlights Women’s Health Research Priorities

Through Notice of Special Interest: Women’s Health Research, participating NIH institutes and centers (ICs) highlight an interest in applications focused on disease and health conditions that predominantly affect women, present and progress differently in women, or are female-specific. This notice of special interest (NOSI) stands in alignment with the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. 

Research Objectives 

Applications must focus centrally on women’s health research, as demonstrated through Specific Aims that either explicitly address a particular condition in women or focus on one of the high-priority topics below. NIH and its ICs encourage intersectional or multidimensional approaches that consider the health of women in context (e.g., projects accounting for social and structural variables—including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and state and federal policies—that affect women’s health). 

To clarify, projects are not required to focus exclusively on women. However, studies that include more than one sex or gender should be designed and powered to make generalizable conclusions about women and enable sex or gender difference comparison. 

High-priority topics across NIH include but are not limited to: 

• Projects that investigate the influence of sex-linked biology, gender-related factors, or their intersections on health. 
• Projects that investigate how physical, mental, and psychological health outcomes interact with structural factors to either mitigate or exacerbate health disparities and aim to create behavioral interventions to address these issues. 
• Projects that advance the translation of research advancements and evidence in women’s health into practical benefits for patients and providers. 
• Projects to inform and develop multi-sector partnerships to advance innovation in women’s health research. 
• Research to increase public awareness of the need for greater investment in and attention to women’s health research, as well as women’s health outcomes across the lifespan. 
• Projects that advance research to reduce health disparities and inequalities affecting women’s health, including those related to race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, disability, and exposure to environmental factors and contaminants that can directly affect health. 
• Dissemination and implementation research to increase uptake of evidence-based interventions that advance women’s health. 
• Projects addressing topics identified in the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map.  

NIAID-Specific Areas of Interest 

NIAID is interested in the following areas of research interest: 

• Autoimmune diseases, including causes, prevention, treatments, and curative strategies, that disproportionately affect women. 
• Examining the immune system and its response to disease across the lifespan, including at critical timepoints such as puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, and postmenopause.  
• Developing new or enhancing existing prevention and treatment strategies and their implementation to address the disproportionate burden of STIs, HIV, and reproductive tract infections in women, including transgender women. 

Application and Submission Information 

Apply to this initiative using one of the many notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs) in which NIAID participates, as listed below, or any reissues of those NOFOs through the expiration date of this notice. This NOSI applies to due dates on or after May 6, 2024, and subsequent receipt dates through November 4, 2027. 

The NOFOs through which NIAID will consider an application for this NOSI are as follows:

• Research Project Grants
  • NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01, Clinical Trial Required)
  • NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • NIH Small Research Grant Program (Parent R03, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • Academic Research Enhancement Award for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) Award (R16, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • Support for Research Excellence First Independent Research (SuRE-First) Award (R16, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21, Clinical Trial Required)
• Small Business Grants
  • PHS 2023-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC and FDA for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR R43/R44, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • PHS 2023-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH for Small Business Technology Transfer Grant Applications (Parent STTR R41/R42, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• Career Development Awards
  • Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01, Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08, Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  • Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23, Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• Fellowship Awards
  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions with NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (Parent F30)
  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions Without NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (Parent F30)
  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Parent F31-Diversity)
  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31)
  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (Parent F32)

Your application must be aligned with one of the mission areas and requirements of NIAID for us to consider it for this initiative. 

Follow all instructions in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide and the listed NOFOs. Applicants must include “NOT-OD-24-079” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF 424 R&R form. 

Inquiries  

Direct all inquiries to Jessi Drew, NIAID’s scientific/research contact, at jessi.drew@nih.gov or 301-496-3915.