Mechanisms Underlying the Contribution of Sleep Disturbances to Pain (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 19 201

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 19 201

The NIH funding opportunity "Mechanisms Underlying the Contribution of Sleep Disturbances to Pain (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number PA-19-201) supports early-stage, mechanistic research aimed at explaining how sleep problems contribute to the development and persistence of chronic pain. The main focus is not simply showing that poor sleep and pain are related, but digging into the biological, psychological, and behavioral processes that link sleep disturbances to chronic pain onset, worsening, or long-term maintenance. The FOA is built around the idea that sleep disruption can affect pain through many pathways, and applicants are encouraged to propose studies that directly test plausible mechanisms rather than purely descriptive or correlational projects.

A key theme of the announcement is interdisciplinarity. NIH explicitly invites research teams that bring together expertise across neuroscience, psychology, endocrinology, immunology, genetics, pharmacology, chemistry, physics, behavioral science, clinical practice, caregiving, and other relevant areas. This reflects how complex the sleep-pain relationship is: sleep disruption may alter central nervous system pain processing, stress and hormonal regulation, immune and inflammatory activity, gene expression, cognition and mood, and day-to-day behaviors that influence pain sensitivity and recovery. Projects that integrate methods across fields (for example, combining sleep measures with immune profiling or neuroimaging, or pairing behavioral sleep manipulation with pain processing assessments) are aligned with the spirit of the FOA.

This opportunity uses the NIH R21 mechanism, which is typically designed for exploratory, high-impact ideas that may be earlier in development but have a clear mechanistic hypothesis. The FOA is labeled "Clinical Trial Optional," meaning applicants may propose studies that include clinical trials if appropriate, but they are not required to do so. In practice, that allows for a broad range of designs, from preclinical mechanistic work and human experimental studies to pilot clinical intervention trials, as long as the central aim is understanding how sleep disturbances contribute to chronic pain.

The funding instrument is a grant under a discretionary program run by the National Institutes of Health, with the activity area listed under Education and Health. The opportunity is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (93.121, 93.213, 93.273, 93.279, 93.313, 93.361, 93.393, 93.853, 93.866), indicating involvement or relevance across several NIH institutes and programs. The listed award ceiling is $200,000, signaling that budgets are expected to be relatively contained, consistent with the R21 exploratory scope. The original closing date shown is 2022-05-07, and the FOA record was created on 2019-02-28.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and institutions. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories 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), eligible federal agencies, faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, tribal governments that are not federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

The foreign eligibility rules are specific. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which means a U.S. applicant can include certain international elements of the research when they are well-justified and meet NIH policy requirements, even though a foreign institution cannot be the primary applicant.

Overall, this FOA is aimed at strengthening the evidence base for why and how disturbed sleep drives chronic pain, with the longer-term goal of informing better prevention strategies and more targeted treatments. NIH is signaling strong interest in mechanistic clarity, cross-disciplinary teamwork, and studies that move beyond association to causal or process-level explanations of the sleep-to-pain pathway.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mechanisms Underlying the Contribution of Sleep Disturbances to Pain (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.213, 93.273, 93.279, 93.313, 93.361, 93.393, 93.853, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-02-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-05-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• 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 PA 19 201

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