Engaging the dental workforce to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required) | RFA DE 21 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DE 21 002

This funding opportunity, titled "Engaging the dental workforce to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required)" (RFA-DE-21-002), is a National Institutes of Health cooperative agreement under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is designed to fund intervention research that helps dental professionals better meet the needs of people living with HIV and people at risk of acquiring HIV. The core idea is that dental settings can be an underused but strategically important place to support national HIV goals, since many patients see dental providers regularly and dental teams can play a role in identifying risk, linking people to services, and supporting prevention and treatment efforts.

The initiative is explicitly aligned with the federal "Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America" framework, which focuses on four major aims: diagnosing HIV as early as possible, rapidly treating HIV to achieve durable viral suppression, preventing new infections using proven strategies such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and responding quickly to emerging HIV clusters to stop further spread. The grant calls for projects that connect dental practice to one or more of these aims in practical, evidence-based ways, such as strengthening HIV screening or referral pathways, improving linkage-to-care processes, incorporating prevention counseling or PrEP navigation, or building systems that help dental clinics coordinate with medical and public health partners.

A major emphasis of the announcement is that dental providers face real-world barriers that limit their ability to participate in HIV-related services, even when they are willing. The opportunity highlights common challenges that proposals are expected to tackle: whether patients will find HIV-related activities acceptable in dental settings; gaps in provider training, confidence, and ongoing support; workflow constraints in busy dental clinics; complicated and inconsistent state or local laws and regulations related to HIV testing, counseling, or referrals; and the practical problem of billing and reimbursement, which often determines whether a service can be sustained beyond a research study. Applicants are encouraged to design interventions that directly address these obstacles rather than simply demonstrating that HIV-related services are theoretically possible in dental care.

The program is open to a wide range of applicants, including state, county, and city governments; tribal governments and tribal organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; special district governments; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (including small businesses); and other eligible entities as described in the full eligibility details. This broad eligibility reflects the expectation that effective dental HIV interventions may be developed and tested by universities, health systems, community organizations, public agencies, or private-sector partners, often working collaboratively.

Projects submitted under this funding announcement are expected to develop, adapt, and/or test interventions that equip dental care providers to provide HIV-related services or to participate meaningfully in HIV prevention and treatment efforts. Importantly, the announcement allows interventions to target barriers at multiple socioecological levels. That means a proposal could focus on individual-level factors (such as provider knowledge and attitudes, or patient concerns and stigma), clinic-level systems (like workflow redesign, electronic health record prompts, staff roles, and referral tracking), organizational and network-level coordination (formal partnerships with HIV clinics, community-based organizations, or health departments), or broader community and policy-level issues (such as navigating legal constraints, standing orders, or reimbursement strategies). In practice, strong applications would likely combine several of these levels to produce change that is both effective and sustainable.

The funding mechanism uses a phased UG3/UH3 structure and requires a clinical trial component. The first phase (UG3) supports a milestone-driven planning and preparation period for up to two years. This stage typically focuses on finalizing the intervention, building partnerships, refining clinic workflows, establishing training and support systems, developing study procedures, and meeting predefined milestones that demonstrate readiness to launch the full trial. Projects that meet those milestones can transition to the second phase (UH3), which supports the clinical trial implementation for up to five additional years. The cooperative agreement format also signals that NIH will have substantial involvement during the project, often through collaboration on milestones, oversight, and study execution to ensure the research remains feasible and aligned with program goals.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on December 14, 2020, with an original application closing date of February 10, 2021. The listing notes an expected number of awards of about five and shows an award ceiling of $0, which typically indicates that the specific budget limits and award sizes are defined in the full announcement or depend on the proposed scope rather than being capped in the summary field. The CFDA listing is 93.350, and the activity category is health, consistent with NIH research support.

Overall, the grant is aimed at turning the dental workforce into a more active, prepared, and sustainable partner in ending the HIV epidemic by funding rigorous intervention development and clinical trial testing. It prioritizes projects that solve concrete implementation problems in real dental care environments, so that HIV-related services can fit into routine practice, be acceptable to patients and providers, comply with applicable laws, and remain financially viable after the research ends.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Engaging the dental workforce to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.350.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 14, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 10, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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