Utilizing Invasive Recording and Stimulating Opportunities in Humans to Advance Neural Circuitry Understanding of Mental Health Disorders (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 23 101

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 23 101

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Utilizing Invasive Recording and Stimulating Opportunities in Humans to Advance Neural Circuitry Understanding of Mental Health Disorders (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number: PAR-23-101) supports short, early-stage research projects that use invasive neural recording in humans to answer questions that matter directly to mental health. It is a reissue of an earlier announcement (RFA-20-351) and is designed to push forward what is known about the human brain circuits involved in mood, emotion, cognition, and behavior, especially where those functions go awry in mental health disorders. The emphasis is on using existing invasive recording situations to learn something fundamental and clinically relevant about brain circuitry and neural dynamics, taking advantage of the unique spatial and temporal precision that invasive recordings can provide.

A central idea behind this program is that invasive recordings can capture neural activity with a level of detail that noninvasive approaches usually cannot match, which makes them especially well-suited for understanding fast, circuit-level processes that may underlie psychiatric symptoms. The FOA also highlights that many implanted electrode systems can both record and stimulate, allowing researchers not only to observe neural dynamics but also to test cause-and-effect relationships by perturbing circuits and measuring changes in network activity or behavior. In other words, the goal is not just to correlate brain signals with symptoms or tasks, but to make stronger causal inferences about which circuit dynamics contribute to mental health-relevant states.

The research focus is intentionally narrow: applications should address specific, well-justified questions that are particularly suited to invasive recording modalities and that have clear translational potential for mental health. The program is aimed at filling gaps in basic and translational knowledge about neural circuit function as it relates to mental health disorders, rather than building new devices or developing new treatments. The announcement explicitly notes that development of new technologies and therapies is outside its scope. Applicants are therefore expected to leverage invasive recording and stimulation opportunities that already exist (for example, clinical contexts in which electrodes are implanted for medical reasons) to answer neuroscience and mental health questions, rather than proposing engineering development work or therapy-development pipelines.

This opportunity uses the R21 mechanism and is labeled "Clinical Trial Optional," meaning applicants may propose studies that do or do not meet the definition of a clinical trial, depending on what is scientifically necessary for the project. The overall funding category is discretionary, the instrument is a grant, and the activity area is health (CFDA: 93.242). The posting lists an original closing date of 2025-01-07. While the award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data, the R21 structure generally signals support for exploratory, hypothesis-generating, or early proof-of-concept work rather than large, multi-year programs.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can contribute to this kind of research. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, and 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 that are not federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other categories. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and even non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This breadth reflects an intent to draw strong ideas and capable teams from many settings, including institutions serving historically underrepresented communities.

In practical terms, a competitive application under this FOA would be expected to propose a focused set of aims that can realistically be completed within the R21 scope, grounded in a compelling mental health-relevant rationale, and clearly matched to what invasive recordings and stimulation uniquely allow researchers to test. The project should make it obvious why invasive access is necessary, what circuit-level measurements or manipulations will be performed, how outcomes will deepen understanding of neural circuitry linked to psychiatric symptoms or mental health-related functions, and why the findings would matter for translation, even if the work is not itself therapy development.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Utilizing Invasive Recording and Stimulating Opportunities in Humans to Advance Neural Circuitry Understanding of Mental Health Disorders (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-01-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-07. (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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