Bioethics in Research

As a publicly funded research agency, NIH has a responsibility to make sure we – and the people and work we fund – support ethically grounded research. Being at the intersection of research and policy, OSP works across NIH to integrate ethical principles into the design, conduct, and dissemination of biomedical research.

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Bioethics and OSP

To enable the rapid translation of research discoveries into practice, OSP works to ensure good science and robust ethics go hand in hand. Bioethics is foundational to the entirety of OSP’s policy work, which seeks to anticipate and plan for potential ethical implications for the research NIH supports.

Integrating bioethics into biomedical and behavioral research can enhance the translation of research into practice; increase the inclusion of participant, stakeholder, and societal values; and engender greater trust in the biomedical research enterprise. Additionally, using a bioethical lens to consider biomedical and behavioral research can strengthen individual research studies and the scientific enterprise more broadly, enabling researchers and institutions to anticipate and avoid practices that could erode the trust of research participants and the general public. Therefore, OSP supports efforts to integrate bioethics research across the NIH portfolio, to improve biomedical and behavioral science and to better inform research policies.

OSP-Supported Bioethics Awards

Research into bioethical issues can provide an evidentiary basis to guide conduct, content, and/or application of the biomedical and behavioral sciences and their associated policies. Ethical questions and challenges are interlinked with many of NIH’s general areas of scientific priority, such as responding to public health needs (e.g., COVID-19, the opioid crisis, desire for precision medicine interventions) and emerging scientific opportunities (e.g., new data sharing infrastructure, innovative technologies).

OSP has partnered with NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices to fund administrative supplements to support 1) research on bioethical issues to develop or support the development of an evidence base that may inform future policy directions, and/or 2) certain efforts to develop or augment bioethics research capacity. Applicants may propose to supplement parent awards focused on bioethics or to address a component related to bioethics in a biomedical or behavioral research study. Note that applications must be within the general scope of the parent award. Topics addressed by funded projects have been broad in scope. They include bioethical issues related to the development and use of emerging technologies, data sharing, the inclusion of populations underrepresented in research, participant representation in research, and return of research results to study participants. Information about past awards can be viewed below.

Funding Opportunities Across NIH

Bioethical issues span the NIH portfolio and, accordingly, there are numerous efforts across the agency to promote research, training, and service related to bioethical issues. The list below includes funding opportunities that, at least in part, explicitly support bioethics or research on ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) research.

This list is not necessarily comprehensive. To search for all active NIH funding opportunities, please visit the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. Note that multiple NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices may participate in these opportunities—see the specific opportunities for more details.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Agency-wide

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Notice of Interest in High Priority Research in Bioethical, Legal, and Societal Implications of Biomedical Research	NOT-LM-17-001

BRAIN Initiative

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
BRAIN Initiative: Reagent Resources for Brain Cell Type-Specific Access and Manipulation to Broaden Distribution of Enabling Technologies for Neuroscience (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)	RFA-MH-21-180	10/26/23
BRAIN Initiative: Clinical Studies to Advance Next-Generation Invasive Devices for Recording and Modulation in the Human Central Nervous System (UH3 Clinical Trial Optional)	RFA-NS-21-024	2/21/24
BRAIN Initiative: Next-Generation Invasive Devices for Recording and Modulation in the Human Central Nervous System (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Optional)	RFA-NS-21-023	2/21/24

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Innovative Screening Approaches and Therapies for Screenable Disorders in Newborns (R01 – Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-21-353	11/6/24
Innovative Screening Approaches and Therapies for Screenable Disorders in Newborns (R03 – Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-21-354	11/17/24
Innovative Screening Approaches and Therapies for Screenable Disorders in Newborns (R21 – Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-21-355	11/17/24

Fogarty International Center

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Emerging Global Leader Award (K43 Independent Clinical Trial Required)	PAR-21-251	12/12/23
Emerging Global Leader Award (K43 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)	PAR-21-252	12/12/23

National Cancer Institute

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Modular R01s in Cancer Control and Population Sciences (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-21-190	3/8/24

National Human Genome Research Institute

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Small Research Grant (R03 Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-20-257	7/20/2023
Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Research (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-20-254	7/20/2023
Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-20-255	7/20/2023
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Clarification of the Objectives and Program Elements in NHGRI Applications Submitted in Response to the “Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Institutional Resarch Training Grants (Parent T32)”	NOT-HG-21-032	5/8/2023

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
NIH Medical Scientist Partnership Program (FM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)	PAR-23-109	8/9/2025

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Research on Bioethical Issues Related to Bionic and Robotic Device Development and Translation (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) Co-issued by the Office of the Director	RFA-EB-23-001	10/3/23

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Strategies for Responsibly Reporting Back Environmental Health and Non-Genomic Research Results (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Co-issued by the Office of the Director	RFA-ES-23-006

Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office

Title	FOA/ Notice Number	Expiration Date
Notice of Special Interest in Research on the Health of Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Populations	NOT-MD-19-001

CLOSED FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Please note, this is not an exhaustive list of expired bioethics funding opportunities. For a record of all expired opportunities, please search the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.

Title	FOA/Notice Number	Issuing Org	Expiration Date
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Administrative Supplement for Research and Capacity Building Efforts Related to Bioethical Issues (Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)	NOT-OD-23-018	Agency-wide	02/17/23
BRAIN Initiative Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Required)	RFA-NS-19-044	BRAIN Initiative	03/11/23
BRAIN Initiative Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)	RFA-NS-19-043	BRAIN Initiative	03/10/23
Mobile Health: Technology and Outcomes in Low and Middle Income Countries (R21/R33 – Clinical Trial Optional)	PAR-21-303	FIC	12/10/22
BRAIN Initiative Fellows: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32)	RFA-MH-20-620	NIMH	12/10/22
NIH Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)	PAR-20-240	NINDS	09/27/22
NLM Grants for Scholarly Works in Biomedicine and Health (G13 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)	PAR-21-046	NLM	02/25/23

Integrating Bioethics and Biomedical Research Symposium

“A Match Made in Science: Integrating Bioethics and Biomedical Research” was held on July 20, 2021. The symposium highlighted the integral role that bioethics plays in advancing science. Panelists discussed concrete examples of how integrating bioethics into biomedical research has strengthened research outcomes, and they shared practical advice for initiating and sustaining successful collaborations between bioethicists and biomedical researchers.