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NIH Phase 1 Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R61)

Funds Phase 1 Exploratory/Developmental Grant, NIH's R61 mechanism.

National Institutes of HealthUnited StatesGrant

The National Institutes of Health describes the Phase 1 Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R61) this way: As part of a bi-phasic approach to funding exploratory and/or developmental research, the R61 provides support for the first phase of the award. This activity code is used in lieu of the R21 activity code when larger budgets and/or project periods are required to establish feasibility for the pr…

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Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.

Exploratory Clinical Trial Grants in Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R61)
Open

Funds early-stage clinical trials in arthritis, musculoskeletal and skin disease. A trial is compulsory.

— pool·67 days
Development of Biomarkers or Composite Biomarkers for Neurological and Neuromuscular Disorders
Open

Funds the discovery and first evaluation of biomarkers for neurological and neuromuscular disorders, ending with candidates ready for formal validation.

— pool·498 days
NHLBI Early Phase Clinical Trials for Therapeutics and/or Diagnostics for HLBS Disorders
Open

Funds Phase I trials for heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders — and pays for the final preclinical work needed to start one.

— pool·133 days
Translational Neural Devices
Open

Funds a therapeutic or diagnostic device for the nervous system through prototyping, safety testing, regulatory clearance and a first small clinical study.

— pool·154 days
Innovation Grants to Nurture Initial Translational Efforts (IGNITE): Assay Development and Neurotherapeutic Agent Identification
Open

Funds building the assays and running the screens that find drug candidates for neurological disease — the on-ramp to NIH's Blueprint network.

$750K pool·419 days
Innovation Grants to Nurture Initial Translational Efforts (IGNITE): Development and Validation of Model Systems to Facilitate Neurotherapeutic Discovery
Open

Funds building animal and tissue models that behave enough like a real neurological disease to test drugs against.

$750K pool·419 days
Development of Psychosocial Therapeutic and Preventive Interventions for Mental Disorders (R61/R33)
Open

Funds two years establishing that a psychosocial intervention hits its target, then three replicating it and linking it to clinical change.

— pool·414 days
Early Stage Testing of Pharmacologic or Neuromodulatory Device-based Interventions for the Treatment of Mental Disorders (R61/R33)
Open

Funds a feasibility phase then a testing phase for a novel-mechanism drug or a device for mental disorders, with milestones between them.

— pool·414 days
Enhancing Mechanistic Research on Precision Probiotic Therapies (R61/R33)
Open

Funds two years finding the host biology behind inconsistent probiotic responses, then more to test whether those patterns actually predict who responds.

— pool·279 days
Innovation Grants to Nurture Initial Translational Efforts (IGNITE): Neurotherapeutic Agent Characterization and In vivo Efficacy Studies
Open

Funds the pharmacology and animal efficacy work that shows a neurological drug candidate is worth developing further.

— pool·419 days
NCCIH Natural Product Early Phase Clinical Trial Phased Innovation Award
Open

Funds three years of pharmacokinetics and target-engagement work on a botanical, probiotic or supplement, then three more if the milestones are met.

$350K pool·78 days
Effectiveness Trials to Test Mental Health System Interventions
Open

Funds a feasibility and infrastructure phase, then a well-powered trial, of an intervention aimed at how mental health services are organised and delivered.

— pool·414 days
Mind and Body Interventions to Restore Whole Person Health via Emotional Well-Being Mechanisms
Open

Funds mechanistic trials testing how mind-body practices change emotional well-being, in two gated phases.

— pool·650 days
Single-Site Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trials
Open

Funds a single-site clinical trial in heart, lung or blood disease, run through two milestone-gated phases by one team.

— pool·798 days
Early-Stage Innovative Technology Development for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research
Open

Funds proof-of-concept work on a genuinely new tool, assay, platform or instrument for characterising cancer cells or handling biospecimens.

$5.1M pool·75 days
Early-Stage Innovative Technology Development for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research
Scheduled

Funds early proof-of-concept work testing whether a new cancer research tool, assay, platform or instrument is technically feasible at all.

$5.4M pool
HEAL Initiative: Translating Addiction Epidemiology, Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Research into Practice
Open

Funds action-oriented research turning addiction prevention, treatment and recovery science into real-world practice.

— pool·897 days
BRAIN Initiative: Exploratory Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain
Open

Funds exploratory human studies that record and stimulate neurons directly, using brain access that invasive procedures already create.

$6M pool·168 days
Catalyze: Product Definition for Small Molecules, Biologics and Combination Products - Target Identification and Validation, and Preliminary Product/Lead Series Identification
Open

Funds identifying and validating a disease target, then finding a preliminary drug, biologic or combination-product lead against it.

— pool·483 days
Catalyze Product Definition Medical Device prototype design/testing and disease target identification and assay development
Open

Funds building and testing an early medical-device prototype and its matching disease target or assay, for heart, lung, blood or sleep disease.

— pool·483 days
HEAL Initiative: Studies to Enable Analgesic Discovery
Open

Funds the assays, screening and first characterisation that a pain drug discovery programme needs before it can start properly.

— pool·141 days
INCLUDE Project: Clinical Trials Phased Awards for Down syndrome Research
Open

Funds planning then running a milestone-driven clinical trial for a health condition that co-occurs with Down syndrome.

$3M pool·658 days
Last verified: 27 Aug 2026Source: grants.nih.gov