Advancing the Science of Geriatric Palliative Care (R01) | PA 17 225

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 17 225

Advancing the Science of Geriatric Palliative Care (R01) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number PA-17-225) that supports studies aimed at improving palliative care for older adults. The central focus is on generating stronger evidence, better care models, and more effective ways to deliver symptom relief, communication support, decision-making assistance, and care aligned with patient and family goals for geriatric populations who are living with serious illness. The announcement is intentionally broad and is designed to fund rigorous research that can strengthen clinical practice and health system approaches to palliative care specifically as it applies to aging patients and the settings where they commonly receive care.

A major feature of the FOA is that it welcomes research across a wide range of real-world care environments. Proposed studies may take place in hospitals and within specific hospital locations such as specialty medical or surgical wards, intensive care units, and emergency departments. It also extends to post-acute care, outpatient clinics and physicians offices, and community-based sites such as patients homes and other residential settings. In addition, it explicitly includes assisted living facilities, nursing homes, hospices, and other health care or community settings. This wide scope is meant to encourage applications that reflect how older adults actually move through care systems, including transitions between settings and the unique needs that appear in each environment.

The FOA encourages both new prospective studies and work that uses existing information sources. Applicants can propose collecting new data over time, but they can also conduct analyses using datasets that already exist, including health and medical records, insurance claims data, and other established data sources. NIH also signals that it values efficiency and scalability by encouraging investigators to leverage existing research infrastructure, such as ongoing cohorts, intervention studies, research networks, and data or specimen repositories. In practice, that means proposals that build on established platforms, reuse high-quality data, or plug into existing collaborations are viewed as aligned with the intent of the opportunity, especially when doing so strengthens methodological rigor or speeds the path to actionable findings.

In terms of acceptable methods, the FOA supports a variety of study designs rather than restricting applicants to a single approach. It explicitly includes observational studies, quasi-experimental designs, and interventional studies, allowing teams to match their design to the question, feasibility constraints, ethical considerations, and the realities of working with seriously ill older adults. This flexibility is helpful for palliative care research, where randomized trials are sometimes challenging, where implementation questions are common, and where pragmatic and real-world evidence can be particularly valuable.

The funding mechanism is an R01, which is NIH's standard investigator-initiated research project grant. It falls under a discretionary grant category and is tied to NIH CFDA listings 93.213, 93.307, 93.361, and 93.866, reflecting that multiple NIH institutes and centers may have interests that intersect with geriatric palliative care. The opportunity was created on March 20, 2017, with an original closing date listed as December 15, 2017. No award ceiling or expected number of awards is specified in the provided source details, which typically means budgets and award counts may vary depending on institute priorities, application volume, and available appropriations.

Eligibility is broad and includes many organizational types that could contribute to geriatric palliative care research. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. It also includes public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (outside of higher education), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses. The FOA also calls out additional eligible applicant groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), 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-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations). Taken together, this reflects an emphasis on encouraging diverse institutions and community partners to participate, which is often important for studying palliative care needs across different populations and care settings.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as NIH support for rigorous, setting-diverse, and methodologically flexible research that advances the evidence base for palliative care for older adults. It invites proposals that either generate new data or make strong use of existing data and infrastructure, with the overarching goal of improving the quality, delivery, and outcomes of palliative care for geriatric patients across the full continuum of care.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing the Science of Geriatric Palliative Care (R01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213, 93.307, 93.361, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-03-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-12-15. (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 PA 17 225

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