National Cooperative Drug/Device Discovery/Development Groups (NCDDG) for the Treatment of Mental Disorders (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)
NIH will fund discrete U01 projects that advance discovery, preclinical development, and proof-of-concept testing of new drug, device, or neurostimulation approaches for mental disorders, SUDs, or AUD, including tool development for target characterization/validation.
⚑ Cooperative agreement U01; partnerships between academia and industry are strongly encouraged. · Clinical Trial Optional. · Foreign organizations are listed as otherwise eligible, but non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible. · Companion U19 exists for larger multi-project programs; this FOA is for a single discrete project.
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 80 strong | technical depth: substantial; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 58 good | outside portfolio topics; social/behavioral work is substantial; funds applied research; biomedical core — IPPRA health lane is communication/crisis/policy (capped); clinical-trial/biomedical core — IPPRA angle is policy/community (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 45 partial | funds applied research; prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
Description
Reissue of PAR-20-118. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) encourages applications to advance the discovery, preclinical development, and proof of concept (PoC) testing of new, rationally based candidate agents and neurostimulation approaches to treat mental disorders, substance use disorders (SUDs) or alcohol use disorder (AUD), and to develop novel ligands and circuit-engagement devices as tools to further characterize existing or to validate new drug/device targets. Partnerships between academia and industry are strongly encouraged. This NOFO using the U01 mechanism supports a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies Projects seeking support for a research program of multiple projects directed toward a specific major objective, basic theme or program goal, requiring a broadly based, multidisciplinary and often long-term approach should consider the companion U19 FOA.
Eligibility
Other Eligible Applicants include the following: Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs); Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government; Faith-based or Community-based Organizations; Hispanic-serving Institutions; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized); Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations); Regional Organizations; Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) ; U.S. Territory or Possession; Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations) are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: National Institutes of Health <grantsinfo@nih.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · National Institutes of Health conventions SEE AN NIH EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — National Institutes of Health's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.