NOFO: Improving Mental and Behavioural Health (Cycle 2) 2025 – US

This opportunity aims to fund studies comparing two or more approaches for prevention, diagnosis, treatment or care delivery related to mental and behavioral health conditions.

Topics

• Mental and Behavioral Health of Children and Youth : Rates of pediatric mental illness have increased significantly in recent years and have been exacerbated by the growing shortage of mental health professionals.  In the CDC’s 2023 Youth Mental Health Survey, 40% of teens “experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,” compared with 30% in 2013. Soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness and suicidality led the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) to issue a joint declaration of a National State of Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health.
• Suicide Prevention and Crisis Response: Suicide remains a leading cause of death across all age groups. In 2022, more than 49,000 Americans died by suicide, 1.6 million attempted suicide, and 13.2 million reported serious thoughts about suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in youth ages 10 to 24 and the fourth leading cause of death in people ages 35 to 64. Among adults, suicide death rates are highest among American Indian or Alaskan Native populations, males and people who live in rural areas. Rates of youth suicidality are on the rise, with the most significant increases seen in teen girls, children under 12 and LGBTQ+ youth.
• Strategies to Improve Mental Health Care Access and Delivery: Despite the existence of evidence-based pharmacologic and behavioral treatments, less than 50% of people with mental health conditions receive treatment.13 Barriers to accessing mental health care persist as a result of poor care coordination between physical health and mental health providers, a severe shortage of mental health providers, and a dominant model of care (i.e., individual treatment delivered by trained mental health professionals in traditional mental health settings) that inherently limits scale and reach. Access to high-quality care is particularly limited for individuals living in low-resource settings and among underserved populations.

Funding Information

• Funds Available Up To: $100 million
• Total Direct Costs: Up to $12 million
• Maximum Project Period: Up to five years

Expected Outcomes

• At least one primary outcome should be a validated mental health outcome. Clinically meaningful outcomes (e.g., no longer meeting diagnostic criteria or using patient-centered minimum clinically important differences) are encouraged.

Eligibility Criteria

• In general, applications for the conduct of research and management of funding may be submitted by appropriate academic research, private sector research, or study-conducting entities. This may include, among others, agencies and instrumentalities of the federal government, nonprofit and forprofit research organizations, and colleges and universities.
• Per PCORI’s authorizing statute, every applicant must demonstrate capability to comply with the following conditions: abide by the transparency and conflicts of interest requirements that apply to PCORI with respect to the research managed or conducted under contract; comply with the PCORI Methodology Standards; consult, as appropriate, with the expert advisory panels for clinical trials and rare disease; deposit de-identified data from the original research into a PCORI-designated repository to facilitate data sharing, as appropriate; have appropriate processes in place to manage data privacy and meet ethical standards for the research; comply with the requirements of PCORI for making the information available to the public; and comply with other terms and conditions determined necessary by PCORI to carry out the research project.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Individuals are not permitted to apply.

Selection Criteria

• Potential for the study to fill critical gaps in evidence
• Potential for the study findings to be adopted into clinical practice and improve delivery of care
• Scientific merit (research design, analysis, and outcomes)
• Investigator(s) and environment
• Patient centeredness
• Patient and stakeholder engagement

For more information, visit PCORI.