Advanced Laboratories for Accelerating the Reach and Impact of Treatments for Youth and Adults with Mental Illness (ALACRITY) Research Centers
Can you apply?
This grant is for established research institutions and organizations conducting mental health research. Applicants must have interdisciplinary teams capable of conducting practice-based research, typically including behavioral science, health data science, implementation science, or related fields. Eligible applicants usually include universities, medical schools, research centers, and healthcare organizations with existing research infrastructure and clinical partnerships.
Applications must focus on mental health interventions for youth and adults. Research must address one or more of three areas: optimizing intervention effectiveness, improving mental health care access and quality, or enhancing intervention durability and impact.
Projects require collaboration across the mental health research ecosystem. Applicants should demonstrate capacity for rapid development and testing of novel approaches in real-world clinical settings.
Key dates
- Mar 16, 2026 Applications open
- May 27, 2027 Application deadline in 360 days
- Apr 1, 2028 Award announced
- Apr 1, 2028 Project start
This grant is for established research institutions and organizations conducting mental health research. Applicants must have interdisciplinary teams capable of conducting practice-based research, typically including behavioral science, health data science, implementation science, or related fields. Eligible applicants usually include universities, medical schools, research centers, and healthcare organizations with existing research infrastructure and clinical partnerships.
Applications must focus on mental health interventions for youth and adults. Research must address one or more of three areas: optimizing intervention effectiveness, improving mental health care access and quality, or enhancing intervention durability and impact.
Projects require collaboration across the mental health research ecosystem. Applicants should demonstrate capacity for rapid development and testing of novel approaches in real-world clinical settings.
Program description
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) intends to publish a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to solicit research applications for practice-based research centers to support interdisciplinary teams of mental health researchers to engage in high-impact studies that will significantly advance clinical practice and generate knowledge to fuel the transformation of mental health care in the United States. Advanced Laboratories for Accelerating the Reach and Impact of Treatments for Youth and Adults with Mental Illness (ALACRITY) Research Centers support research projects aimed at the rapid development, testing, and refinement of novel and integrative approaches for (1) optimizing the effectiveness of therapeutic or preventive interventions for mental disorders; (2) developing and testing empirically informed patient-, provider- and system-level interventions to improve mental health care access, engagement, continuity, efficiency, and quality; and (3) continuously improving the quality, impact, and durability of optimized interventions and health for individuals with or at risk for mental health problems, including those with serious mental illness. Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive research projects. This NOFO will utilize the P50 activity code.
Applications must propose research that maximizes synergies across various components of the mental health research ecosystem, including new discoveries in clinical research, transformative health care technologies, advances in information science, and new federal and state mechanisms for organizing mental health care. Applicants with interdisciplinary expertise, such as behavioral science, health information and data science, health systems engineering, decision science, implementation science, and related fields, whose practice-based research needs cannot be met through standard research project grant mechanisms, should consider applying to this NOFO. Applications are also expected to include research activities that facilitate the widespread sharing of data, methods, and resources to accelerate clinical research and to provide opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career investigators to participate in interdisciplinary research-to-practice translational mental health research.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
- 501(c)(3) Public Charity
- City / Municipal Government
- County Government
- Hospital
- Nonprofits
- Private University
- Public University
- Small Business (SBA-defined)
- Special District
- State Government
- Tribal Nation
- Tribal Organization
Demographic focus
Details
This grant is for established research institutions and organizations conducting mental health research. Applicants must have interdisciplinary teams capable of conducting practice-based research, typically including behavioral science, health data science, implementation science, or related fields. Eligible applicants usually include universities, medical schools, research centers, and healthcare organizations with existing research infrastructure and clinical partnerships.
Applications must focus on mental health interventions for youth and adults. Research must address one or more of three areas: optimizing intervention effectiveness, improving mental health care access and quality, or enhancing intervention durability and impact.
Projects require collaboration across the mental health research ecosystem. Applicants should demonstrate capacity for rapid development and testing of novel approaches in real-world clinical settings.
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- SF-424 Application Form
- Project Narrative
- Budget and Budget Justification
- Biographical Sketches (key personnel)
- Facilities and Resources
- Letters of Commitment from clinical partners
- Data Sharing Plan
- Mentoring Plan (if including trainees)
Program contact
- 👤 Division of Services and Intervention Research
- 📧 NIMH.DSIR.inquiries@nih.gov
- 📞 Please contact via e-mail.
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 93.242 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
-
$75,056,208
-
$74,756,329
-
$72,845,834
-
$64,705,159
-
$63,991,707
-
$54,214,022
-
$38,895,082
-
$38,475,557
-
$34,635,977
-
$34,475,710
Top States by Funding
- CA 15 awards $408.1M
- MA 9 awards $230.3M
- NY 6 awards $184.2M
- WA 4 awards $174.9M
- CT 3 awards $138.9M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 93.242). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $1,722,300,004 | |
| 2025 | $1,726,864,191 | |
| 2026 est. | $99,221,272 |
FAQ
Who is eligible to apply for ALACRITY funding?
Research institutions, universities, medical schools, and healthcare organizations with established research capabilities and clinical partnerships. Your team must have interdisciplinary expertise in behavioral science, health data science, implementation science, or related fields.
What types of research does ALACRITY support?
Projects optimizing therapeutic interventions, improving mental health care access and quality, or enhancing intervention durability. Research must be practice-based and involve rapid testing in clinical settings.
When is the application deadline?
The deadline is May 27, 2027. This is a fixed deadline; no rolling or continuous acceptance.
What makes a competitive ALACRITY application?
Strong applications demonstrate interdisciplinary team expertise, meaningful clinical partnerships, clear pathways to impact, and plans for data and resource sharing. Focus on translating research into real-world practice.
What is the funding range for awards?
The total funding pool is $1,500,000, but individual award amounts are not specified. Contact NIMH for typical award ranges before applying.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Build your interdisciplinary team early. Include experts from behavioral science, health data science, implementation science, and clinical practice.
- Establish strong partnerships with clinical settings or healthcare systems. ALACRITY prioritizes practice-based research with real-world impact.
- Clearly articulate how your research will accelerate the translation of findings into clinical practice. Show specific pathways to patient benefit.
- Plan for data, methods, and resource sharing in your proposal. ALACRITY expects contributions to the broader research ecosystem.
- Demonstrate capacity to mentor graduate students and early-career researchers. The program values building the next generation of translational researchers.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Proposing single-discipline research rather than truly interdisciplinary work. ALACRITY requires integrated teams across multiple complementary fields.
Lacking meaningful clinical partnerships or practice-based research infrastructure. This program requires real-world engagement, not laboratory-only studies.
Failing to demonstrate how research will improve access, engagement, or quality of mental health care. Applications must show clear clinical and system-level impact beyond basic science.
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