Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Eliminate Oral Health Disparities (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trials Optional) | RFA DE 22 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DE 22 002

The NIH funding opportunity titled "Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Eliminate Oral Health Disparities (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trials Optional)" (RFA-DE-22-002) supports research aimed at reducing oral health disparities by focusing on upstream social determinants of health (SDOH). The core idea is that many oral health problems, especially in vulnerable and underserved communities, are driven or worsened by social and structural factors that sit outside the dental clinic. These factors can block people from getting preventive care, following treatment plans, or benefiting fully from clinical interventions. The opportunity is designed to fund studies that figure out which upstream factors matter most, how they influence oral health outcomes, and what combinations of interventions can realistically reduce disparities at a population level.

A major emphasis of the announcement is on research that goes beyond single-factor explanations and instead reflects how real communities function. Applicants are encouraged to use multi-disciplinary collaborations, meaning teams may bring together dentistry, medicine, public health, behavioral and social sciences, economics, implementation science, policy research, and community partners. The opportunity also highlights mechanistic research, which in this context means studying the pathways and processes through which social determinants translate into oral disease risk or poor outcomes (for example, how housing instability affects continuity of care, or how chronic stress and limited access to healthy food shape behaviors and biological responses relevant to oral health). In addition, NIH is looking for multi-level research that accounts for influences at the individual, family, community, organizational, and policy levels, rather than treating oral health solely as an individual responsibility.

The FOA explicitly encourages complex systems science approaches. That includes methods that can handle interacting variables, feedback loops, and changing conditions over time, such as systems dynamics modeling, agent-based modeling, network analysis, and other approaches suited to understanding how interventions play out in complicated real-world settings. The goal is to help identify strategies that are not only effective in controlled settings but also scalable, sustainable, and responsive to community realities. Clinical trials are optional, which means projects may include trials if appropriate, but they can also focus on observational, mechanistic, intervention-development, or implementation-oriented work depending on the research question.

This is a discretionary funding opportunity using a Cooperative Agreement mechanism, which typically means NIH expects substantial involvement from program staff during the project period compared to a standard grant. The activity category is Health, and the listed CFDA numbers are 93.121 and 93.313. The original closing date shown in the source information is 2021-07-26, and the creation date is 2021-04-29. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided data.

Eligibility is broad and includes many government, education, nonprofit, and private-sector entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and 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; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and 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; small businesses; and other organizations that meet NIH requirements. The announcement also calls out additional eligible applicant types that NIH particularly welcomes, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, Indian/Native American Tribal Governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is limited in a specific way. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization. However, foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, meaning a U.S.-based applicant may include certain well-justified foreign elements in the project if they meet NIH definitions and requirements.

Overall, this opportunity is meant for projects that directly confront the root social and structural conditions that produce unequal oral health outcomes. NIH is signaling interest in rigorous, collaborative, and systems-aware research that can clarify causal pathways and test or refine real-world strategies that make oral health improvements more achievable for communities that have historically faced barriers to care and disproportionate disease burden.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Eliminate Oral Health Disparities (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trials Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121, 93.313.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-04-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-26. (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.

Apply for RFA DE 22 002

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: