Promoting Research on Music and Health: Phased Innovation Award for Music Interventions (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA AT 19 001

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The NIH funding opportunity titled "Promoting Research on Music and Health: Phased Innovation Award for Music Interventions (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)" is designed to push forward early-stage, high-potential research that uses music-based interventions to improve health. A central theme is innovation with minimal prerequisite data, meaning applicants do not need a large body of preliminary findings as long as the ideas are strong, the approach is well-justified, and the project can realistically generate informative results. The program is aimed at building a clearer scientific foundation for how and why music interventions work, while also setting up a practical path toward future clinical research and real-world application.

A major focus of the opportunity is understanding mechanisms of action. Rather than only asking whether a music intervention helps, the FOA emphasizes uncovering the biological mechanisms and behavioral processes that could explain health effects. This can include work in animal models, studies in healthy human participants, and research in clinical populations, depending on what best matches the scientific question. At the same time, the FOA allows projects that develop new technologies or methodological approaches that make music intervention research stronger, more precise, or more scalable, such as tools for delivering interventions, measuring engagement, quantifying musical features, capturing physiological responses, or improving standardization and reproducibility.

The award uses a phased R61/R33 structure. The first phase (R61) provides up to two years of support for early, proof-of-concept work. During this period, investigators are expected to pursue mechanistic studies, test key assumptions, generate foundational data, and/or develop enabling technology or innovative research methods. The goal is to establish a credible scientific and practical basis for moving forward, not to run a full-scale definitive trial. Importantly, applicants must define clear, measurable milestones for the R61 phase, because those milestones determine whether the project can advance.

If the R61 milestones are successfully met, the project can transition to the second phase (R33), which can provide up to three additional years of funding. The R33 phase is meant for deeper mechanistic investigation, continued intervention development, and/or pilot clinical studies that evaluate clinical relevance. These pilot clinical studies can focus on pragmatic questions that prepare a program of research for a later, larger clinical trial, such as refining and optimizing the intervention, assessing feasibility in a target setting, examining participant adherence and engagement, and identifying the most appropriate outcome measures and assessment strategies. The FOA is labeled "clinical trial optional," indicating that a clinical trial is allowed but not required; applicants can propose mechanistic and developmental work without necessarily running a trial, as long as the research aligns with the FOA goals.

Because music-and-health research often crosses disciplinary boundaries, the FOA strongly encourages multidisciplinary collaborations. Competitive teams may include basic scientists, translational researchers, clinicians, music intervention experts, music health professionals, and technology developers, among others. The underlying expectation is that high-quality mechanistic and clinically relevant music intervention research benefits from expertise spanning neuroscience, psychology, physiology, rehabilitation, clinical medicine, music theory/practice, implementation considerations, and data/technology tools.

In terms of eligibility, the opportunity is broadly open to many types of U.S.-based organizations, including state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; independent school districts; public housing authorities; and federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and certain regional organizations. Foreign institutions (non-U.S. entities) are not eligible to apply as the applicant organization; however, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations may participate, and foreign components are permitted as defined under NIH policy, allowing international collaborators or sites when justified.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity issued by the National Institutes of Health under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-AT-19-001, with activity in the health domain and CFDA listings that reflect NIH participation across multiple institutes and centers. The original closing date listed for this particular announcement was February 28, 2019, and no award ceiling is specified in the provided source details. Overall, the FOA is best understood as a structured, milestone-driven pathway that funds promising, cross-disciplinary music intervention ideas from early mechanistic exploration through pilot-level clinical and translational steps, with the explicit intent of building a stronger evidence base for both how music interventions work and how they can be meaningfully applied to health.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Promoting Research on Music and Health: Phased Innovation Award for Music Interventions (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.853, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-10-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-02-28. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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.

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