Drug Discovery For Nervous System Disorders (R01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | PAR 22 031

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 22 031

Drug Discovery For Nervous System Disorders (R01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant opportunity (PAR-22-031) that supports early-to-mid stage drug discovery research aimed at preventing or treating nervous system disorders. It is a reissue of PAR-19-147 and is administered under the NIH R01 mechanism, with participating institutes including the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The emphasis is squarely on generating and advancing novel small-molecule or related therapeutic candidates through preclinical development activities, rather than conducting human studies, since clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement.

The program is designed to push promising biology toward tangible therapeutic leads by funding key steps in the discovery pipeline. Supported work can include identifying and validating starting compounds ("hits"), designing and synthesizing new compounds, and running preclinical tests that demonstrate activity against a disease-relevant target or pathway. It also explicitly encourages hit-to-lead medicinal chemistry efforts that improve potency, selectivity, and overall activity, followed by more advanced lead optimization to improve efficacy and drug-like properties such as pharmacokinetics. In addition, the FOA highlights the importance of early drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic (DMPK) studies, which help researchers understand how a candidate is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and cleared, and whether it has properties compatible with further development.

A distinguishing feature of this opportunity is its preference for projects that bring novel approaches to identifying potential therapeutic agents. In practice, that means applicants are expected to do more than run standard screening and chemistry workflows; they should articulate what is innovative about their discovery strategy, models, assays, target engagement plan, or compound optimization approach, and how those innovations increase the odds of producing a credible therapeutic candidate for nervous system indications.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and, in some cases, foreign or non-U.S. entities. Eligible applicants listed for this FOA include state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The announcement also calls out additional eligible 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 (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-domestic (foreign) organizations.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and uses a grant instrument under health and education activity categories. It is associated with CFDA numbers 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, and 93.866. The record provided lists an original closing date of 2025-01-07. Award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data, which typically means applicants should consult the full FOA text and NIH application guide for current budget expectations, allowable costs, and any institute-specific guidance.

Overall, this FOA is best suited for teams that can demonstrate a credible path from target-to-chemical matter-to-optimized lead in a preclinical setting, backed by strong experimental plans for medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and early ADME/DMPK. It funds the kind of translational discovery work that bridges basic neuroscience insights and later-stage development, with the clear boundary that studies must remain preclinical and cannot include clinical trial activities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Drug Discovery For Nervous System Disorders (R01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-11-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-07. (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.

Apply for PAR 22 031

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