Promoting Reductions in Intersectional StigMa (PRISM) to Improve the HIV Prevention Continuum (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA MH 19 412

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 19 412

The Promoting Reductions in Intersectional StigMa (PRISM) to Improve the HIV Prevention Continuum funding opportunity (RFA-MH-19-412) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program using the R01 mechanism, with clinical trials allowed but not required ("Clinical Trial Optional"). Its overall purpose is to strengthen HIV prevention by tackling intersectional stigma, meaning the overlapping and reinforcing effects of multiple stigmatized identities (for example, stigma related to race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, substance use, poverty, immigration status, involvement with the criminal legal system, or sex work). The FOA focuses on how these combined stigmas can block people from getting HIV tested and from successfully linking to and staying engaged in ongoing HIV prevention services.

The opportunity supports two main types of research. First, it encourages studies that improve how intersectional stigma is measured and understood, including creating or refining tools and metrics that capture real-world experiences of layered stigma across settings (such as healthcare, community environments, and social networks). In addition to measurement development, this research track also emphasizes identifying mechanisms and pathways, essentially mapping how intersectional stigma leads to reduced HIV testing, delayed engagement with prevention, poor linkage to services, or drop-off along the HIV prevention continuum. Projects under this aim would typically try to clarify where stigma shows up (interpersonal interactions, institutional policies, clinic practices, internalized stigma), how it affects behavior and decision-making, and what factors mediate or moderate its impact.

Second, the FOA supports the development and testing of interventions specifically designed to reduce intersectional stigma and improve HIV prevention outcomes. This includes designing approaches that can be implemented in clinical, community, or hybrid settings and then evaluating whether these interventions increase uptake of HIV testing and strengthen linkage to prevention services, including ongoing prevention engagement among key populations at substantial risk for HIV infection. Because the announcement is "clinical trial optional," applicants can propose either observational/mechanistic studies or intervention studies that may rise to the level of a clinical trial, depending on the design.

From an administrative standpoint, the program is offered as a grant, with an award ceiling listed as $499,999. The original closing date in the source information is 2019-01-23, and the FOA record shows a creation date of 2018-11-23. The CFDA numbers associated with this opportunity are 93.242 and 93.307, indicating the federal assistance listings tied to NIH programs relevant to the topic area.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of applicants across government, academia, nonprofit, and private sectors. Eligible applicants explicitly include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant groups such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). In practical terms, this broad eligibility signals an interest in supporting research that is scientifically rigorous while also being grounded in the communities most affected, including work led by or conducted in partnership with community organizations and institutions serving populations disproportionately impacted by HIV and stigma.

Taken together, PRISM is aimed at producing both better science (more accurate measurement and clearer causal explanations of how intersectional stigma disrupts prevention) and actionable solutions (interventions that reduce stigma and measurably improve HIV testing and prevention linkage). The emphasis on key populations at substantial risk for HIV infection and on improving the prevention continuum indicates that applicants are expected to connect stigma reduction not just to attitudes or experiences, but to concrete prevention outcomes such as testing uptake and successful connection to ongoing prevention services.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Promoting Reductions in Intersectional StigMa (PRISM) to Improve the HIV Prevention Continuum (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242, 93.307.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-11-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-01-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $499,999.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA MH 19 412

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