Leveraging Electronic Medical Records for Psychiatric Genetic Research (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 18 904

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 904

Leveraging Electronic Medical Records for Psychiatric Genetic Research (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is an NIH discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number PAR 18 904; CFDA 93.242) designed to fund research that uses existing electronic medical records (EMRs) and other large-scale, real-world data resources to accelerate psychiatric genetic research. The central idea is to take advantage of already-established, population-based cohorts, registries, and health system datasets and pair them with individual-level genetic information to study the causes of severe mental disorders in a way that is efficient, scalable, and grounded in routine clinical data.

The FOA emphasizes molecular epidemiologic approaches that are both creative and practical. Applicants are expected to integrate genetic data in multiple forms, including polygenic risk (the combined effect of many common genetic variants across the genome) as well as specific risk variants, loci, and biological networks that have been implicated in psychiatric conditions. Rather than focusing on small, narrowly defined samples, the program is aimed at leveraging large datasets that can support robust analyses of complex disorders. This often means working with health systems that have broad patient coverage, diverse populations, longitudinal clinical histories, and linkable data sources.

A key scientific objective is to clarify how genetic liability interacts with environmental and clinical factors across the life course. The FOA frames severe mental disorders as conditions with complex etiology, meaning they arise from many contributing influences rather than a single cause. Projects supported under this announcement are expected to move beyond simple genetic association and toward models that examine interplay: how polygenic risk and specific genetic factors combine with environmental exposures, social determinants, treatment histories, comorbidities, and other real-world influences captured in EMRs. The long-term goal is to translate that improved etiologic understanding into better diagnostic strategies and, ultimately, improved treatment and outcomes for individuals with mental disorders.

Because this is an R01 mechanism, the program is intended for substantial, hypothesis-driven research projects that can produce meaningful advances, not pilot-only efforts. At the same time, the FOA strongly encourages efficiency by reusing existing infrastructure and data resources wherever possible, such as established registries, biobanks connected to health systems, and cohorts where genetic data already exist or can be feasibly integrated. The focus on EMR-linked research implies attention to phenotyping from clinical records, longitudinal follow-up, and potentially large-scale analyses that would be difficult to execute through traditional recruitment alone.

This opportunity explicitly does not allow clinical trials, which means proposed studies should not be designed to prospectively assign interventions to participants in order to evaluate health-related outcomes. The work should instead be observational and analytic in nature, using available clinical and genetic data to understand risk, trajectories, and mechanisms, including gene-environment interaction and related modeling. Projects can still involve human subjects research and secondary use of clinical data, but they must fit within the non-trial framework.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can support biomedical research. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments). The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISIs, faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, HBCUs, tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs), U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and non-U.S. (foreign) entities.

Administrative details in the source information indicate the opportunity was created on 2018-08-16 and lists an original closing date of 2021-09-07. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided data, which typically means applicants would need to consult the full FOA text and NIH institute-specific guidance for budget expectations and funding levels. Overall, the program is aimed at advancing psychiatric genetics by bringing together EMR-scale clinical data and modern genetic risk modeling, with a particular emphasis on understanding how inherited risk and environmental context jointly shape severe mental illness in real populations.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Leveraging Electronic Medical Records for Psychiatric Genetic Research (R01 Clinical Trial 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.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-08-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-09-07. (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 18 904

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