The "Research to Action: Assessing and Addressing Community Exposures to Environmental Contaminants (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" funding opportunity, issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), seeks to support multidisciplinary, community-engaged research. The focus is to investigate health risks associated with environmental exposures that concern specific communities and translate research findings into public health actions. The FOA was updated on March 31, 2025, to align with evolving agency priorities and has been reissued under PAR-22-210, replacing RFA-ES-20-002.

This initiative emphasizes authentic community participation in research processes, ensuring affected communities help identify environmental health concerns, co-develop research questions and methodologies, and contribute to the implementation of action plans. Projects must integrate three primary elements—community engagement, scientific research, and public health action—with an optional fourth component, evaluation. These elements aim to enhance community health outcomes by reducing exposures to environmental hazards through evidence-based, community-driven strategies.

The funding opportunity supports projects that examine a wide range of environmental exposures, including heavy metals, pesticides, chemical pollutants, extreme weather events, and more. The research must be hypothesis-driven or exploratory, focusing on issues identified by the community. Projects must propose public health actions such as educational outreach, training, and communication strategies designed to mitigate the identified risks. Evaluation plans are optional but encouraged and may use resources like the NIEHS Evaluation Metrics Manual or the Environmental Health Translational Research Framework.

Eligible applicants include a broad range of organizations: higher education institutions, local and state governments, tribal entities, nonprofits, for-profit businesses (including small businesses), and others. The maximum direct cost allowed is $500,000 per year, with a project period of up to five years. While cost-sharing is not required, applicants must demonstrate established community-university partnerships and may submit multiple applications if each is scientifically distinct.

Applications must adhere strictly to NIH guidelines, including the use of specific application forms and systems such as ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace. The application cycles follow NIH standard due dates with several review and award cycles per year. Each application will be evaluated based on its significance, investigator capabilities, innovation, approach, and environment. Projects involving clinical trials must meet additional criteria regarding study design and statistical analysis.

For technical and submission assistance, applicants can contact eRA Service Desk, NIH Grants Info, or Grants.gov. Scientific and financial inquiries should be directed to Liam O Fallon (NIEHS) and Gabriel Lai, Ph.D. (NIMHD) for research-related queries, and to Jenny L. Greer (NIEHS) and Priscilla Grant, JD (NIMHD) for financial management questions. The program also encourages applicants to participate in the Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) Network for collaboration and dissemination of educational resources.