Avenir Award Program for Chemistry and Pharmacology of Substance Use Disorders (DP1- Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA DA 23 014

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 23 014

The Avenir Award Program for Chemistry and Pharmacology of Substance Use Disorders (DP1 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is a National Institutes of Health funding opportunity designed to pull exceptional early-stage investigators into the substance use disorders (SUD) research space, specifically on the chemistry, pharmacology, and drug discovery side of the field. The program is meant for researchers who are still early in their independent careers and may not yet have the kind of extensive preliminary data that is often expected for a traditional R01 application, but who have bold, high-impact ideas and a clear trajectory toward becoming future leaders. In other words, it is structured to reward creativity, innovation, and potential, rather than requiring applicants to already have a mature, heavily validated project.

Scientifically, the opportunity is focused on transformative research that advances the chemical and pharmacological understanding of substance use disorders and accelerates development of new therapeutic strategies. It is rooted in the idea that the field has recently gained powerful new tools and approaches, including improved methods to identify novel biological targets, mechanisms, and pathways relevant to addiction and SUDs, as well as better ways to discover, optimize, and validate chemical probes and candidate compounds. The FOA is therefore aimed at investigators who can bring emerging technologies in chemistry, pharmacology, and modern drug discovery to bear on SUD-related questions, such as identifying new intervention points, clarifying how substances interact with biological systems, or creating and refining molecules that could eventually become medications. Because it is a DP1 mechanism under the NIH Director's Pioneer/Avenir-style approach, the emphasis is typically on originality and potential for a major leap forward rather than incremental progress.

A key limitation is embedded directly in the title: clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement. This means the funded work must remain on the non-clinical-trial side of the research spectrum, such as basic, mechanistic, preclinical, translational chemistry, pharmacology, and discovery or optimization research that does not meet NIH's definition of a clinical trial. Applicants need to plan projects accordingly, keeping the aims focused on discovery, mechanism, target validation, probe development, compound optimization, pharmacology, and related non-trial activities rather than testing interventions in human participants.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic applicants across government, academia, nonprofit, and industry. Examples listed 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 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 explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories that NIH often calls out to encourage broad participation, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), 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, and U.S. territories or possessions. This framing signals an intent to attract talent from a wide range of institutional settings, including organizations that serve historically underrepresented communities.

Restrictions around foreign participation are specific. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic (non-U.S.) institutions are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are eligible, and foreign components (as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed. Practically, this means the prime applicant must be a U.S.-based eligible organization, but parts of the work can be carried out in collaboration with foreign sites or foreign collaborators if structured as allowable foreign components under NIH policy.

Administrative details from the source listing include the Funding Opportunity Number RFA-DA-23-014 and identification under CFDA 93.279, with the activity falling under education and health. The opportunity category is discretionary, and the instrument is a grant. The original closing date shown is 2022-08-11, and the posting was created on 2022-03-21. The source excerpt does not provide a clear award ceiling or expected number of awards, so applicants would normally confirm current budget structure, project period, and award count in the full FOA text and any NIH notices of funding opportunity updates.

Overall, this program is best understood as a career-accelerating, high-risk/high-reward funding pathway for early-stage scientists who want to tackle substance use disorders through cutting-edge chemistry and pharmacology, particularly work that can uncover new targets and mechanisms or generate new probes and optimized compounds that could feed future therapeutic development, while staying firmly outside the clinical trial category.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Avenir Award Program for Chemistry and Pharmacology of Substance Use Disorders (DP1- 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): 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-03-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-08-11. (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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