Limited Competition: HEAL Initiative Resource Centers for the Pain Management Effectiveness Network (ERN) (Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
🏛 National Institutes of Health (HHS-NIH11)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Jul 15, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for research institutions and organizations planning large-scale multisite clinical trials on pain management and pain-related conditions. Applicants must be part of or willing to join the NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) consortium. This is a limited competition opportunity, meaning only pre-identified eligible organizations can apply.
Organizations must demonstrate capacity to serve as resource centers providing clinical coordination, data coordination, biostatistical support, and patient recruitment assistance. Prior experience with multisite clinical trials or translational research is expected.
The grant supports planning, implementation, and completion of rigorous pain management research studies. Studies may address acute pain, chronic pain, or pain as a standalone disease across various conditions. Clinical trials testing new therapeutics or strategies for pain management are eligible.
Geographic scope is national. Eligible applicants must be research institutions, academic medical centers, or similar organizations with established research infrastructure. Funded resource centers will coordinate with CTSA hubs across multiple institutions.
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Key dates
- Sep 29, 2025 Applications open
- May 25, 2026 Application deadline
- Aug 2, 2027 Award announced
- Sep 2, 2027 Project start
Program description
The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), with NINDS, NIA, NIDCR, NCCIH, NCI, NIAMS, NHLBI, NICHD and the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative seeks to advance its mission by renewing the HEAL Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network (ERN) Resource Centers (RCs) needed for the successful planning, implementation, and completion of rigorous large-scale multisite clinical trials (CTs). CTs will expand the suite of evidence-based effective strategies and therapeutics to alleviate pain across the continuum of acute to chronic pain associated with many types of diseases and conditions, or presenting as a disease itself. The RCs will continue the provision of CT operational expertise, clinical coordination and safety monitoring, data coordination and biostatistical resources, and recruitment and retention support as well as access to additional clinical recruitment sites for CTs with a shared common theme of improving pain management. RCs work within the broad consortium of NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) hubs that each may contain multiple clinical sites at different institutions, to implement studies.
Grant authorities that allow NCATS and HEAL to forecast this opportunity are 42 U.S.C 241, 284, and 247d.
This is a forecast for a limited competition Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that will invite application(s) from eligible organizations to apply. Application(s) will be peer-reviewed and only funded if meritorious.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- NIH SF-424 (R&R) Form
- Project Narrative and Specific Aims
- Budget and Budget Justification
- Biographical sketches of key personnel
- Institutional support letters
- Evidence of CTSA consortium affiliation or partnership agreements
- Letters of commitment from potential clinical trial sites
Program contact
- 👤 Yolanda F. Vallejo, PhD
- 📧 yolanda.vallejo@nih.gov
- 📞 301-451-1751
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 93.350 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
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$139,753,636
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$118,592,298
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$118,098,707
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$112,138,469
-
$102,903,347
-
$102,422,256
-
$100,095,982
-
$99,978,264
-
$98,955,036
-
$97,784,066
Top States by Funding
- CA 13 awards $652.0M
- NY 11 awards $506.1M
- MA 6 awards $321.4M
- NC 5 awards $313.7M
- OH 5 awards $162.0M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 93.350). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $595,597,945 | |
| 2025 | $626,227,752 |
FAQ
Who can apply for these Resource Center awards?
This is limited competition. Only pre-identified eligible organizations will be invited to apply. Typically, these are research institutions participating in NCATS CTSA programs or major academic medical centers.
What activities can be funded?
Funding supports resource center operations: clinical coordination, data management, biostatistical analysis, patient recruitment/retention, and safety monitoring for multisite pain management trials. Clinical trial activities themselves are not eligible.
Can I conduct my own clinical trial with this funding?
No. This grant funds resource center infrastructure to support other researchers' trials. Your institution may host trial sites, but the primary role is providing operational and support services.
When is the deadline?
The deadline is May 25, 2026. This is a fixed deadline, not rolling. An official Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be released in advance with specific submission instructions.
What makes applications competitive?
Strong applications demonstrate proven clinical trial management experience, existing relationships with clinical sites, robust biostatistical and data management capacity, and clear plans for supporting diverse pain management research portfolios.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Review the NCATS CTSA program structure before applying. Understanding the consortium model strengthens your resource center proposal.
- Highlight existing clinical trial infrastructure at your institution or network. Document past successful multisite trial experience and outcome metrics.
- Build partnerships early. Resource centers benefit from relationships with clinical sites, patient recruitment networks, and complementary research organizations.
- Detail your biostatistical and data management capabilities. This is a core competitive advantage for resource center applications.
- Address pain management research broadly. Show capacity to support trials across different pain types and disease areas, not just one specialty.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Applicants focus too heavily on conducting their own research rather than serving as operational infrastructure for others. Resource centers must be service-oriented support entities. Applications lack specific documentation of prior clinical trial coordination success. Poor proposals underestimate the biostatistical expertise and data management systems required.
Similar grants
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- OPEN HEAL Initiative: Pain Research Enhancement Program (PREP) (R15 Clinical Trial Optional) — National Institutes of Health
- CLOSED HEAL NOFO for the HEAL INTERACT Data Center — National Institutes of Health
- OPEN HEAL Initiative: Program to Reveal and Evaluate Cells-to-gene Information that Specify Intricacies, Origins and the Nature of (PRECISION) Human Pain Network — National Institutes of Health
- CLOSED Limited Competition: Community-Partnered Nursing Research Centers for Schools and Colleges of Nursing with Limited NIH Funding (P20 Clinical Trial Optional) — National Institutes of Health