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NIAID, along with several other NIH institutes and centers (ICs), has issued a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE), which solicits implementation science projects to advance the goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) Initiative. The Initiative, launched in 2019, is a bold plan developed by agencies across HHS to substantially reduce new HIV infections in communities disproportionately impacted by HIV.

Awarded projects responsive to this NOSI will have the opportunity to become part of a national network of HIV implementation science researchers, with access to resources and support from the NIH-funded Coordination, Consultation and Data Management Center (CCDMC) and Regional Implementation Science Hubs. Awardees will maximize the public health impact of their projects by working with the CCDMC to report and disseminate study progress and outcomes. In addition to networking with other researchers, awardees will also have opportunities to engage with federal staff across HHS as they contribute to this important national initiative.

Applications to this NOSI must be grounded in implementation science, and address one or more of the four strategies outlined in the EHE initiative:

• Diagnose all people with HIV as early as possible.
• Treat people with HIV rapidly and effectively to reach sustained viral suppression.
• Prevent new HIV transmissions by using proven interventions, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and syringe services programs.
• Respond quickly to potential HIV outbreaks to get needed prevention and treatment services to people who need them.

Applications must also focus on one or more of the 57 EHE geographic priority areas. Projects should support local EHE efforts through meaningful engagement with implementing partners such as public health departments, healthcare organizations, and other service providers, as well as community members and people with lived experience. Interested applicants should refer to the full NOSI for a complete list of requirements.

Examples of programmatic areas of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Developing and testing strategies to expand engagement and re-engagement in HIV prevention, testing, treatment, care, and response services with a focus on populations that are either disproportionately impacted by HIV or are largely unreached by current programs, or both. This would include populations experiencing unstable housing or homelessness, or people who are currently or formerly incarcerated.
• Utilizing a syndemics approach to develop and test holistic, multicomponent interventions to sustainably address structural and other social barriers to care and retention such as mental health conditions, substance use, medication adherence, management of chronic health conditions and comorbidities, housing instability, food insecurity, racism, poverty, transportation, and stigma.
• Designing and testing integrated disease care models to address barriers to HIV prevention or treatment outcomes posed by chronic health comorbidities, including those associated with HIV and aging, and co-infections, including detection, prevention, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
• Developing and testing rapid implementation strategies to improve HIV testing, care, and prevention services among people in sexual and needle-sharing networks affected by rapid HIV transmission such as clusters and outbreaks.
• Developing effective dissemination approaches for communicating and integrating implementation knowledge to specific audiences, with the goal of scaling-up, replicating, and/or sustaining evidence-based strategies to improve HIV prevention, treatment, and response.

Refer to the full NOSI for additional areas of interest.

Research areas not supported by this NOSI include:

• Research focused only on surveillance to identify people with HIV who are suboptimally engaged in existing HIV treatment programs.
• Interventions that are not substantially different from conventional service delivery that failed to engage patients with extensive adherence challenges.
• Drug or device safety trials with registration requirements.
• Studies that do not include a multidisciplinary team approach, including a community partner.
• Projects to develop de novo health interventions with a primary aim of testing efficacy.
• Research focused on identifying social determinants as risk factors, without implementing interventions.

Application and Submission Information 

This notice applies to due dates on or after September 7, 2024, and subsequent receipt dates through January 9, 2026. Select the IC and associated notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to use for submission of an application in response to the NOSI (refer to the table below). For funding consideration, include “NOT-AI-24-059” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF 424 R&R form.

Note that application details such as budget and project period limitations are set by the specific NOFO through which applicants choose to apply.