NIMHD Health Disparities Pre-Application Program (HD PreApp)
The National Institutes of Health’s Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Program (SBIR/STTR) is one of the largest early-stage life sciences investment programs open to a wide variety of applicants. Within NIH, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) has a mission focus on “scientific research to improve minority health and reduce health disparities.” NIMHD’s goals for its SBIR/STTR portfolio is support private-sector commercialization of innovations that address health disparities for minority communities. The program also helps drive commercialized solutions in furthering the NIH’s health disparities research objectives, specifically in NIH health disparities identified populations (African Americans/Blacks/Asian Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, Rural, Socioeconomic, Latinos, and Gender/Sexual Orientation).
These populations have unique characteristics, such as social determinants of health and barriers to access to health care, biomedical research, and public health services. In confronting these unique and complicated challenges, small businesses applying to SBIR/STTR focusing on NIH-defined health disparities populations have a unique opportunity to apply for pre-application assistance through the NIMHD Health Disparities Pre-Application Program (HD PreApp).
This program will allow a select number of small businesses applying to an NIH SBIR/STTR Requests for Applications (RFA) or Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) and whose applications focus on NIH-defined health disparities populations. The applicant will receive coaching and mentoring to enhance and improve the quality of their application through third-party experts. This support will include a specific focus on the scientific merit and commercialization plan of the application. This program provides focused guidance to applicants in preparing their application (i.e., applicants will still be responsible for writing and developing their application) and aims to improve funding scores during the scientific review. (Note: the NIH HD PreApp is provided by RTI International, under contract with NIH. Recommendations from RTI do not represent the views of NIH or NIH staff.)
Applicants accepted into the HD PreApp cohort will be provided a structured curriculum focusing on and working with third party experts on the areas that include, but are not limited to:
- Business Case and Research Plan
- Specific Aims
- Commercialization Plan/Market Research
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the HD PreApp program slots are filled. The program is open to applicants applying for Phase I, Direct, and Fast Track Phase II applications. The online application for the HD PreApp program can be found at
https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6896485/NIMHD-Support-Interest-Form and questions can be directed to
NIMHDSBIRSTTR@NIH.gov.