Up to $500,000 Funding Available for Research on COVID-19 Consortium in US

Deadline: 8-Nov-21

The Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health has announced the Emergency Award: Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research on COVID-19 Consortium to advance research on the impact of COVID-19 and associated mitigation efforts on individual, family, and community behavior, as well as research on how subsequent economic disruption affects health-related outcomes.

Emphasis should be placed on addressing these questions in underserved and vulnerable populations. Health effects/outcomes studied are not limited to direct effects of infection and can/should consider indirect and secondary effects of the pandemic.

• Behavioral and social factors contributing to SARS-CoV-2 transmission and prevention, such as individual, family, community, and environmental influences that shape adherence to and transmission reduction from coronavirus mitigation behaviors including COVID-19 vaccination.
• The integration of economic feedback to mitigation policies and behaviors affecting estimates of transmission/prevention. The impact of timing and design of state and local government mitigation policies on differentially affected transmission.
• How communication disorders or use of hearing aids, American Sign Language, or associative and augmentative communication (AAC) devices impact the likelihood of contracting the SARS-COVID-2, suffering adverse effects from infections, or management of mitigation protocols.
• Leveraging and integrating data from large cohort studies for the development of machine learning algorithms and other novel methods for prediction models of COVID-19 transmission as well as impact of interventions on transmission.
• The impact of public health interventions to mitigate COVID-19 transmission on preventive care delivery and use (e.g., mental health care, drug/alcohol use treatment, well-visits, vaccinations, other routine preventive care) and the quantified effects on health.
• The impact of the pandemic and the concomitant public health response on the management of chronic conditions and disabilities (e.g., cardiovascular disease, HIV, autism, individuals with spinal cord injuries), including effects on self-management of illnesses and relevant health behaviors (e.g., diet, sleep, physical activity, medication adherence, health-monitoring).
• How the pandemic and associated mitigation policies have affected care of patients with in-person care needs (e.g., persons with dementia) and their caregivers.
• The impact of the pandemic and concomitant public health response on the management of pregnancy and the post-partum period, including access to healthcare, self-management of health behaviors, and the impact on maternal mortality and morbidity, and pregnancy outcomes, including the management and development of pre-term and other medically fragile infants.
• How school closures and alternative educational approaches in response to the coronavirus pandemic have affected child development and learning in the short- and long-term, including among children with physical and psychological disabilities; and how school closures have impacted parental functioning and behavioral health (e.g., stress, substance use, etc.).
• Shifts in modes of healthcare (e.g., telemedicine) and how these shifts are impacting health outcomes.
• Access to telehealth as a function of health disparities and vulnerability, and the impact of differential access on mental health and substance use-related concerns.
• The underlying mechanisms linking the pandemic and mitigation strategies with mental and behavioral disorders.
• The effect of public health mitigation efforts on family- and community-level outcomes, including but not limited to the prevalence of interpersonal violence in families; changes in prevalence of poverty at the community/county/state level; behavioral health symptoms including but not limited to depression, anxiety, and substance use; and the interaction between these various phenomena.
• The consequences on individual and community health of policies and programs whose primary intention may not have been to address health outcomes (e.g., economic stimulus).
• Assessment of differential death rates because of COVID that consider biological and social determinants of health.
• The efficacy of communication to vulnerable populations about preventative health measures (e.g., hand washing, mask wearing, physical distancing, testing, vaccines) and associated adherence outcomes: what modes of communication are most effective and why?

Funding Information

• Award Ceiling: $500,000
• Application budgets are limited to less than $500,000 in direct costs in any year.
• All requested costs need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
• The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period.
• The maximum project period is 5 years.

Eligibility Criteria

• Higher Education Institutions
• • Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
  • Private Institutions of Higher Education
  • The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
    • Hispanic-serving Institutions
    • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
    • Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
    • Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
    • Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
• Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
  • Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
  • Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
• For-Profit Organizations
  • Small Businesses
  • For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
• Local Governments
  • State Governments
  • County Governments
  • City or Township Governments
  • Special District Governments
  • Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
  • Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
• Federal Governments
  • Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
  • U.S. Territory or Possession
• Other
  • Independent School Districts
  • Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
  • Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
  • Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
  • Regional Organizations

For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=332634