The purpose of this initiative is to advance research that reduces firearm injury and disparities through the development and evaluation of firearm injury primary prevention interventions leveraging community healthcare settings. This funding opportunity solicits applications that focus on primary prevention of firearm injury leveraging community healthcare settings. Applications may propose intervention studies with a rigorous design including, but not limited to, policy implementation studies, natural experiments and other studies with a quasi-experimental design, as well as those meeting the NIH definition of a clinical trial. Aims may focus on efficacy, effectiveness, or hybrid effectiveness/implementation research. Health or behavioral outcomes for this funding opportunity should be appropriate to the aims and should include, but are not limited to, changes in behavior related to firearm injury prevention and firearm safety procedures, and implementation outcomes. Change in knowledge of firearm injury prevention measures may be a secondary outcome (e.g., as a mechanism of action) but should not be the focus of the project. Multi-level, multi-disciplinary interventions and outcomes are encouraged, including individual, interpersonal, organizational, and community levels. Individual level outcomes should be one of the outcome levels included. Rigorous methods that address potential sources of bias that are appropriate to the study design are expected. Intervention studies are expected to include a theory-informed examination of the mechanisms of intervention effects.

Projects that are responsive to this funding opportunity include R01 studies of all size, from small, single-site, three-year projects such as to adapt an intervention to the community or to test efficacy of an intervention, to large multi-site trials to test effectiveness and implementation strategies. Applications that meet any of the non-responsiveness criteria will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed. Implementation studies should include an evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention in the site or sites. Years requested and project budgets should reflect the scope of the project. A description of plans for community engagement, including clear justification of the planned approach, is required. Projects that focus on populations that experience health disparities are highly encouraged.