Health-professional Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI) (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA TW 18 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA TW 18 002

The Health-professional Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Education Program (R25) funding opportunity administered through the Fogarty International Center. Its central purpose is to support research education efforts that strengthen the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research workforce, with a clear emphasis on building health workforce capacity in high HIV-burden, low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The program is designed to complement and enhance existing training pathways by improving the skills, mentorship, and educational infrastructure needed to produce and sustain a capable research and health professional workforce.

A major theme of HEPI is interprofessional education, meaning the initiative encourages training models where different health disciplines learn and work together to improve team-based healthcare delivery. Alongside that, the opportunity aims to broaden and strengthen the research workforce by helping recruit individuals who bring needed specialty or disciplinary backgrounds into research careers in biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences, particularly within low-income country settings. By doing so, HEPI also supports the research ecosystem around U.S.-funded projects by increasing local capacity to contribute to, collaborate on, and sustain research activities. Another core objective is to deepen understanding of biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research and what it implies for real-world health systems, with the practical goal of improving the ability to develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-based health services.

In terms of the kinds of activities HEPI supports, the funding focuses on structured educational and capacity-building components rather than conducting clinical trials (the announcement explicitly indicates that clinical trials are not allowed). The FOA prioritizes creative educational activities centered on skills development courses, research training experiences, and mentoring activities. It also supports curriculum or methods development, which can include creating or improving training materials, teaching approaches, or program structures that strengthen research education. Outreach is also highlighted as an important element, specifically outreach to broader communities to increase participation in skills-building courses, curricula, and mentoring opportunities. Taken together, the program is framed to strengthen both individual competencies (skills and mentoring) and institutional training capacity (curricula and methods), while also widening access and participation through outreach.

Eligibility is notable because it includes non-U.S. (foreign) institutions as eligible applicants, aligning with the program’s focus on capacity building in low-income countries. At the same time, the announcement specifies that non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply as applicants. Foreign components, as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed, meaning a U.S. applicant could incorporate foreign components consistent with NIH policy, but the specific restriction on non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations applies to applicant eligibility. The opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant in the health funding activity area, associated with CFDA number 93.989, and lists eligible applicants that include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, with additional eligibility details available in the full funding announcement.

Key administrative details provided for this opportunity include the funding opportunity title "Health-professional Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI) (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and the funding opportunity number RFA-TW-18-002. The agency is the National Institutes of Health, with the opportunity created on 2018-10-10 and an original closing date of 2018-12-13. The listed award ceiling is $600,000. The expected number of awards is not specified in the provided text. Overall, HEPI is best understood as a workforce and training-focused mechanism aimed at strengthening research education, mentoring, and interprofessional training structures in sub-Saharan Africa in the context of HIV burden and broader health systems needs, without supporting clinical trial execution under this FOA.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Health-professional Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI) (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.989.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-10-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-12-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $600,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

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