The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced a funding opportunity under the Research Project Grant (R01) mechanism. This grant supports research programs that implement innovative, scalable technologies to profile and map distributed neural ensembles encoding the effects of addictive substances in rodents. The primary objective is to integrate population-scale measurements of neural activity with single-cell resolution molecular data, such as transcriptomics, epigenetics, connectivity, and spatial localization. The goal is to improve the understanding of how cells are recruited into ensembles that encode addiction-related neurobehavioral states across different stages of substance exposure, including acute use, chronic use, withdrawal, abstinence, and relapse.

This funding opportunity, identified as RFA-DA-25-023, is a reissue of RFA-DA-23-035 and is available for new and resubmission applications. NIDA intends to allocate $2 million in fiscal year 2024 to fund one to three awards, with a maximum budget of $700,000 in direct costs per year. The grant project period is capped at five years. Applications proposing clinical trials will not be accepted under this funding mechanism. Research that focuses exclusively on alcohol exposure or does not investigate addictive substance exposure in rodents is not responsive to this opportunity.

Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, for-profit businesses, local and state governments, tribal governments and organizations, independent school districts, public housing authorities, and U.S. territories. Foreign organizations and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are also eligible to apply. Applicants must complete all required registrations, including the System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (for foreign applicants), Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.

The application process includes submitting a letter of intent 30 days before the application due date, though this is not required. Applications are due annually on February 21, 2024, February 20, 2025, and February 23, 2026. The scientific merit review occurs in July of the corresponding year, followed by advisory council review in October, with the earliest award start date in December. Applications must be submitted electronically via NIH’s ASSIST system, an institutional system-to-system (S2S) solution, or Grants.gov Workspace.

Applications will be evaluated based on their significance, innovation, approach, environment, and the qualifications of the research team. Reviewers will assess whether projects provide a compelling justification for how the proposed research will enhance the understanding of neural ensemble recruitment in addiction-related neurobehavioral states. The feasibility of proposed technologies, statistical power considerations, and adherence to data-sharing policies are critical components of the evaluation process. Funded projects must make their data and models publicly available through the NIDA-funded SCORCH data coordination center or other relevant repositories.

For inquiries, applicants can contact Dr. Olivier Berton (olivier.berton@nih.gov, 301-827-7771) or Dr. John Satterlee (satterleej@nida.nih.gov, 301-435-1020) for scientific/research questions, Dr. Dharmendar Rathore (dharmendar.rathore@nih.gov, 301-402-6965) for peer review matters, and Aida Vasquez (vasquez@mail.nih.gov, 301-480-2154) for financial/grants management inquiries. Additional guidance is available through the NIH Grants Policy Statement and relevant policy notices.