Alcohol Treatment, Pharmacotherapy, and Recovery Research (R34 Clinical Trial required) | PAR 23 249

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 249

The Alcohol Treatment, Pharmacotherapy, and Recovery Research funding opportunity (PAR-23-249) is a National Institutes of Health grant run by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) that supports alcohol health services research aimed at closing the treatment gap for people with alcohol use disorder (AUD). In practical terms, the opportunity is looking for projects that can help more people with AUD get into care, stay in care, and benefit from care, especially in real-world settings where access barriers, cost issues, stigma, and uneven quality of services often limit impact. The award uses the R34 mechanism, which is typically used to support early-stage clinical trial-related work such as pilot testing, feasibility studies, refinement of protocols, and other preparatory steps needed to move an intervention toward a larger, fully powered trial or broader implementation.

The notice of funding opportunity highlights five main research emphasis areas. First, it prioritizes studies designed to increase access to treatment for AUD. That can include service delivery models that expand where and how treatment is offered, such as integrating AUD care into primary care, emergency departments, mental health clinics, telehealth, mobile health, or community-based settings, as well as strategies that reduce logistical barriers like transportation, scheduling, childcare needs, or limited provider availability. Second, it encourages work that makes AUD treatment more appealing, which generally means reducing stigma and friction in the treatment experience and aligning services with patient preferences. Projects in this area might focus on patient-centered engagement approaches, lowering the threshold to start care, improving retention, tailoring care pathways, or testing messaging and outreach strategies that motivate people to consider treatment earlier.

Third, NIAAA is explicitly interested in the cost side of the treatment gap, including cost structures and insurance systems that shape whether care is reachable and sustainable. This can involve analyzing reimbursement policies, benefit design, prior authorization, provider incentives, and out-of-pocket costs, along with how these factors affect adoption of evidence-based AUD services. Fourth, the opportunity emphasizes dissemination and implementation research focused on getting existing evidence-based AUD treatments used more consistently and effectively in everyday practice. Rather than inventing new interventions from scratch, this area often focuses on identifying barriers and facilitators to adoption, testing implementation strategies (for example, training models, decision support, workflow redesign, audit-and-feedback, or measurement-based care), and evaluating fidelity, reach, and sustainability in routine care systems.

Fifth, and woven throughout the entire NOFO, is a strong emphasis on reducing health disparities in AUD treatment as a direct way to close the overall treatment gap. The intent is to support research that improves access and outcomes for health disparity populations and addresses structural and contextual factors that contribute to unequal treatment availability, quality, and engagement. Projects may focus on culturally responsive care models, inequities in service distribution, differences in insurance coverage or treatment quality, and implementation approaches that are designed from the start to work well in underserved communities.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad and includes many types of public and private organizations. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public housing authorities; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The NOFO also explicitly calls out additional eligible groups such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, as well as faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and even non-U.S. (foreign) entities.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant in the health category (CFDA 93.273). The listed award ceiling is $450,000. The opportunity was created on August 9, 2023, and the original closing date is September 7, 2026. Overall, the program is essentially a call for rigorous, practice-relevant research that can remove real barriers to AUD care, improve uptake of evidence-based treatment and pharmacotherapy, and build workable paths to recovery support, with particular attention to implementation in real systems and to equity-focused outcomes.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Alcohol Treatment, Pharmacotherapy, and Recovery Research (R34 Clinical Trial required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.273.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-08-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-09-07. (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 $450,000.00 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 PAR 23 249

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