CARE for Health

CARE for Health — Open Funding (Seed)

Supports integrating clinical research into primary care environments through rural-focused network models.

CARE for Health (Clinical and Community Research Engagement for Health) is a trademarked NIH Common Fund program launched June 6, 2024. Its goal is to test the feasibility of a national network of primary care research hubs that embed clinical research directly into frontline healthcare settings — particularly in rural and underserved communities where access to academic medical centers is limited. The program is designed to extend research opportunities to where patients actually live, work, and seek care, and to facilitate participation in clinical research across the full geographic breadth of the United States.

The program currently funds six Network Research Hubs with a rural focus: Oregon Health and Science University (partnered with University of Washington), University of Alabama–Birmingham, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, University of Oklahoma Sciences Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and West Virginia University. The FY2026 Congressional Budget Request allocates $18.25 million to CARE for Health, a modest increase from $17 million in FY2025. Eligible applicants are U.S. universities, nonprofit organizations, and research organizations; for-profit entities are not eligible for hub funding.

Funding opportunity announcements are published at commonfund.nih.gov/clinical-research-primary-care; contact is CAREforHealth@od.nih.gov. The current six-hub structure suggests that expansion competitions may open for additional hubs or network coordination activities as the program scales. Organizations with existing primary care networks, community health infrastructure, or experience running embedded pragmatic trials in rural settings are the strongest candidates. The program's emphasis on geographic reach and community engagement distinguishes it from traditional clinical trial networks anchored in urban academic medical centers.