Multimodal Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate HIV Clinical Care (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA MH 26 105

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 26 105

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering an R01 funding opportunity called "Multimodal Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate HIV Clinical Care (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-MH-26-105). The core goal is to push HIV clinical care forward by using newer generative AI methods in combination with established, narrower AI and machine learning tools already used in healthcare. The emphasis on "multimodal" AI signals a focus on approaches that can work across multiple types of information at once, such as text from clinical notes, structured electronic health record fields, lab results, medication histories, imaging, or other relevant data streams. The intent is to improve the ability of clinical systems to respond to the HIV epidemic as it changes over time, including shifting patient needs, evolving treatment landscapes, and real-world complexity that can be hard to capture with single-purpose models.

This opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant under NIH, using the R01 mechanism, with clinical trials listed as optional. That structure generally supports substantial, hypothesis-driven projects that develop, adapt, and validate methods with clear relevance to real clinical care. In practical terms, applicants would be expected to propose rigorous work that shows how multimodal or generative AI can augment current clinical workflows or decision support, rather than simply demonstrating a standalone model. The "augment" language is important because it frames generative AI as an add-on that enhances and broadens existing analytics, potentially improving things like clinical decision-making, patient stratification, care planning, adherence support, risk detection, documentation support, or other operational pain points in HIV care delivery. Because the epidemic is described as dynamic and evolving, proposals that address generalizability, robustness over time, and adaptation to new patterns in data and care practices are likely to fit well.

The NIH lists the activity area under Education and Health and includes CFDA numbers 93.242 and 93.279. The application deadline provided is March 27, 2025. The award ceiling is $750,000, indicating a maximum budget cap (often interpreted as a per-year direct cost cap in many NIH notices, though applicants should confirm the exact budgeting instruction in the full announcement). The number of expected awards is not specified in the provided source text, so prospective applicants would need to consult the full funding announcement for details on anticipated funding levels and paylines, if stated.

Eligibility is broad and includes many common domestic applicant types: state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; Native American tribal governments (federally recognized); tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The notice also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant categories, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), eligible federal agencies, and faith-based or community-based organizations, as well as regional organizations and U.S. territories or possessions. Taken together, this suggests NIH is encouraging participation from a wide range of clinical, academic, community, and public-sector organizations, including those serving populations disproportionately affected by HIV and those positioned to translate AI advances into real-world care settings.

At the same time, there are clear restrictions on foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, the announcement allows "foreign components" as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, which typically means a U.S. applicant organization may include a justified international element of the project (for example, a collaboration, data source, or performance site) if it meets NIH criteria and is adequately explained. The distinction matters: the applicant organization must be U.S.-based and eligible, but parts of the work can potentially involve international collaboration under NIH rules, provided the project can justify why that component is necessary and how oversight and compliance will be handled.

Overall, this funding opportunity is aimed at teams that can credibly combine HIV clinical expertise, clinical informatics, and modern AI development, with an emphasis on multimodal and generative techniques that can strengthen clinical care in realistic healthcare environments. A competitive project concept would typically include strong plans for data governance and privacy, careful evaluation design, attention to bias and fairness, and a clear path to clinical usefulness, since the purpose is not only methodological innovation but also accelerating and improving HIV care in practice.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Multimodal Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate HIV Clinical Care (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, 93.279.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-03-27. (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 $750,000.00 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 26 105

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: