Innovative Approaches to Studying Cancer Communication in the New Information Ecosystem (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 22 164

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 22 164

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), under NIH, is funding R01 research projects that take a communication science lens to cancer prevention and control in what the FOA calls the "new information ecosystem." The core idea is to support rigorous, innovative studies that reflect how people now encounter, share, and act on cancer information across digital platforms, social media, online communities, clinical settings, and interpersonal networks. Projects are expected to connect communication processes to concrete behavioral targets and measurable health outcomes tied to cancer prevention, screening, treatment decision-making, survivorship, and related areas. Clinical trials are allowed but not required, which means applicants can propose anything from observational and measurement-focused work to intervention testing, as long as the approach fits an R01-level scope.

The opportunity is organized around three main research domains. First, NCI is looking for work that advances cancer communication surveillance, meaning new or improved ways to monitor and understand the communication environment at scale. This can include novel methods for tracking exposure to cancer information, misinformation, message spread, engagement patterns, and changes over time, especially in rapidly shifting online spaces. The emphasis is on the utility and application of new surveillance approaches, so proposals should make clear how the surveillance method would actually be used to inform cancer prevention and control, identify disparities in information access or exposure, or detect emerging issues that affect public understanding and behavior.

Second, the FOA encourages the development and testing of rapid cancer communication interventions using innovative methods and study designs. This reflects a need to respond faster to evolving narratives, misinformation, news cycles, and platform changes that can influence cancer-related beliefs and decisions. Competitive projects in this domain would typically show how an intervention can be iterated, adapted, and evaluated efficiently while still maintaining scientific rigor. The intervention focus is communication-centered, such as message strategies, delivery channels, tailoring approaches, or platform-specific dissemination tactics, and the expectation is that applicants will use designs that fit fast-moving environments, rather than relying only on slower traditional models.

Third, NCI is specifically interested in multilevel cancer communication models that emphasize bidirectional influence between levels. In practice, that means projects should go beyond one-way "top-down" communication frameworks and instead examine how factors at different levels shape each other over time. Relevant levels can include individuals, families and social networks, communities, healthcare teams and organizations, media systems, and broader policy or structural contexts. Bidirectional influence implies feedback loops, such as how community narratives and online discourse affect healthcare interactions, and how healthcare guidance and institutional messaging feed back into social sharing and belief formation. Projects in this area should build or test models that capture these cross-level dynamics in a way that improves explanatory power and supports better intervention targeting.

Across all three domains, the FOA expects applicants to use one or more innovative communication research methodologies. While the announcement does not prescribe specific methods, the intent is to encourage modern approaches that match current information realities, such as advanced analytic techniques, novel data sources, adaptive or pragmatic designs, and tools that can measure communication processes in real time or near real time. Importantly, the methodological innovation should serve the cancer prevention and control goals, not just be innovation for its own sake. Strong applications will typically articulate why the chosen methods are necessary to answer the communication question and how they improve on conventional approaches.

This is a discretionary grant mechanism using the NIH R01 funding instrument (Funding Opportunity Number PAR 22 164). The activity category is listed under education and health, with CFDA number 93.399. The listed award ceiling is $500,000, indicating the opportunity is suited for substantial multi-year projects with enough scope to develop and validate methods, build models, or test interventions in meaningful populations or settings. The original closing date provided is 2025-09-07.

Eligibility is broad and includes many domestic organization types that commonly apply for NIH grants. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; 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 that are not federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education when listed in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the FOA draws clear boundaries around foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply. Non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed. In other words, applications must be fully domestic in both the applicant organization and the project components, without foreign components embedded in the work.

Taken together, this opportunity is aimed at strengthening the science of cancer communication under modern conditions where information is abundant, fragmented, and often contested. NCI is looking for projects that can more accurately observe the communication landscape, intervene quickly and effectively when communication problems arise, and explain cancer communication as a multi-level, dynamic system that includes feedback loops between individuals, communities, institutions, and media environments.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Innovative Approaches to Studying Cancer Communication in the New Information Ecosystem (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): 93.399.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-06-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-07. (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 $500,000.00 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 PAR 22 164

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