Lethal Means Safety Suicide Prevention Research in Healthcare and Community Settings (R34 Clinical Trial Required) | RFA MH 25 120

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 25 120

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is soliciting grant applications under the R34 mechanism for pilot clinical trial research focused on lethal means safety as a suicide prevention strategy in healthcare and community settings. The opportunity, titled "Lethal Means Safety Suicide Prevention Research in Healthcare and Community Settings (R34 Clinical Trial Required)" (Funding Opportunity Number RFA-MH-25-120; CFDA 93.242), supports early-stage effectiveness testing of therapeutic and service delivery interventions that specifically incorporate lethal means safety strategies, such as lethal means counseling and related approaches designed to reduce access to highly lethal methods during periods of acute suicide risk.

The core problem this funding aims to address is an evidence gap: while behavioral health clinics that incorporate lethal means counseling have been linked with meaningful reductions in suicide attempts and deaths, the broader field still lacks strong, settings-based evidence demonstrating how effective these strategies are when implemented in real-world healthcare and community environments. NIMH is looking for studies that move beyond proof-of-concept and instead generate preliminary effectiveness data that can guide future, larger and more definitive trials. In practice, that means applicants should propose interventions that can plausibly be deployed in routine care or community service systems and that are designed to measurably improve safety and reduce suicide risk.

Projects are expected to test whether lethal means safety interventions lead to concrete improvements in safety-related outcomes and downstream suicide-risk outcomes. The announcement gives examples of relevant safety metrics, including the number or percentage of firearms stored safely and indicators related to overdose harm (such as overdose injury codes for an individual). The intent is not only to see whether the intervention can be delivered, but whether it produces signals of meaningful change in the presumed pathways that connect lethal means safety strategies to reduced suicide-related behaviors and outcomes.

Because this is an R34 pilot effectiveness opportunity and a clinical trial is required, the proposed study should be explicitly structured to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, tolerability, and safety, while also generating preliminary evidence of potential effectiveness. NIMH also emphasizes the need to examine whether the intervention actually engages its hypothesized targets or mechanisms of change (for example, improved safe storage practices, reduced immediate access to lethal methods, better follow-through on safety planning, or improved uptake of counseling and support services). The expectation is that the pilot trial will produce the kind of operational and outcome data needed to justify and design a subsequent larger-scale effectiveness study, such as a comparative effectiveness trial or a practical trial intended to definitively test impact.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governments. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and 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); Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; 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 other eligible entities. The announcement also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions (AANAPISISs), among others.

Foreign participation is restricted. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed. In other words, the applicant organization and the supported work are expected to be fully domestic within the U.S. and its eligible jurisdictions, which also include U.S. territories or possessions.

Key administrative details included in the source information are that this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health funding activity category, created on March 18, 2024, with an original closing date of January 23, 2025. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided listing, so applicants would need to consult the full funding announcement for budget parameters, project period expectations, and any institute-specific funding limits or guidance.

Overall, this opportunity is designed for teams prepared to run a rigorously designed pilot clinical trial in real-world healthcare or community settings, with a clear lethal means safety intervention model, measurable safety and suicide-risk outcomes, and a strong implementation and evaluation plan that demonstrates whether the approach is ready to advance to a larger, definitive effectiveness study.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Lethal Means Safety Suicide Prevention Research in Healthcare and Community Settings (R34 Clinical Trial Required)" 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 2024-03-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-23. (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.

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