Alcohol Treatment, Pharmacotherapy, and Recovery Research (R34 Clinical Trial required) | PAR 25 193

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 25 193

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is seeking grant applications under the funding opportunity titled "Alcohol Treatment, Pharmacotherapy, and Recovery Research (R34 Clinical Trial required)," Funding Opportunity Number PAR-25-193. This is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health category (CFDA 93.273) that uses the R34 mechanism, which is typically used to support early-stage, preparatory, or pilot work that helps teams develop and refine interventions and study procedures before pursuing a larger-scale clinical trial or effectiveness study. As written, the opportunity emphasizes alcohol health services research and is aimed at producing practical, real-world evidence that can help more people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) get into care and stay in care.

The central goal of the notice of funding opportunity is to close the treatment gap for people with AUD, meaning the persistent mismatch between the number of individuals who could benefit from evidence-based AUD services and the much smaller number who actually receive them. NIAAA frames this as a health services problem as much as a clinical one, signaling interest in research that addresses barriers in care delivery, system design, financing, implementation, and patient engagement. While the title references treatment, pharmacotherapy, and recovery research, the emphasis is not limited to medication studies alone; it broadly covers the service pathways and supports that make treatment and recovery more reachable, acceptable, and equitable.

Within that broad goal, the opportunity highlights five main areas of emphasis. First is increasing access to treatment for AUD, which can include research on new entry points into care, better identification and referral, integration of AUD services into general medical settings, telehealth approaches, or models that reduce logistical barriers like transportation, scheduling, childcare needs, or lack of local providers. Second is making treatment for AUD more appealing, reflecting the reality that many people avoid or delay care because of stigma, low perceived fit, concerns about privacy, distrust of institutions, or prior negative experiences. Projects in this area might focus on patient-centered design, engagement strategies, low-threshold service models, culturally responsive approaches, or improvements to how treatment options are presented and matched to individual preferences.

The third emphasis area is examining cost structures and insurance systems, pointing to the role that coverage rules, reimbursement policies, prior authorization, network adequacy, and out-of-pocket costs play in shaping whether services are available and sustainable. NIAAA is signaling that strong applications may look at how financing and payment models influence adoption of evidence-based AUD treatment and pharmacotherapy, and how system-level changes could reduce financial friction for both patients and providers. The fourth area is dissemination and implementation research focused on getting existing evidence-based approaches into routine practice. Rather than inventing entirely new interventions, this line of work centers on how to deploy what already works at scale, including how to train staff, adapt workflows, measure fidelity, use implementation strategies, and sustain programs across diverse settings such as primary care, emergency departments, specialty addiction clinics, criminal legal settings, or community-based organizations. The fifth emphasis area is reducing health disparities in ways that directly address the AUD treatment gap among health disparity populations. This can include work that targets unequal access, differential quality of care, culturally and linguistically appropriate services, structural barriers, and unequal outcomes experienced by groups that have historically been underserved or harmed by healthcare systems.

Eligibility for the award is broad and includes many types of domestic organizations: state, county, city or township 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; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The notice also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicants 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); faith-based or community-based organizations; eligible federal agencies; Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized entities; regional organizations; non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations); and U.S. territories or possessions. In practice, this breadth suggests NIAAA is open to applications from both traditional academic research centers and community-anchored organizations that are positioned to test service innovations in real-world environments.

Key administrative details included in the source data are the agency (NIH/NIAAA), the funding instrument type (grant), and the original closing date of 2026-09-07. The award ceiling and expected number of awards were not listed in the provided excerpt. Overall, the opportunity is geared toward research that can tangibly improve how AUD treatment and recovery supports are delivered, paid for, implemented, and experienced, with a clear priority on interventions and strategies that narrow the gap between need and actual receipt of effective care, especially for populations experiencing health disparities.

• 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 2024-11-27.
• 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.)
• 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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