NIH Encourages Studying the Risk and Prevention of Black Youth Suicide

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) have issued a Notice of Special Interest inviting grant applications proposing to research the risks and prevention of Black child and adolescent suicide.

Although both institutes are interested in scientific proposals on this broad issue, the different institutes invite applications covering different areas of science. NIMH encourages research that focuses on the topics of epidemiology, etiology, trajectories, preventative interventions, treatment interventions, and services interventions. On the other hand, NIMHD encourages research that encompasses multiple domains and levels of influence to understand and address the mental health disparities in question.

NIMH and NIMHD note that this request for research was galvanized in part by the Congressional Black Caucus, which in 2019 convened an emergency task force to examine Black suicide and mental health. The task force’s analyses determined that Black youth under the age of 13 were twice as likely to die by suicide as their white peers.

The NIMH and NIMHD will be accepting applications for this initiative submitted under existing NIH funding opportunity announcements which can be found at the link below. This special call for research will last for grants submitted from August 25, 2020 through July 31, 2022.

To learn more about NIMH’s Notice of Special Interest in Research on Risk and Prevention of Black Youth Suicide, click here.

Do you know NOSI? NIH uses notices of special interest (NOSI) to stimulate research in high-priority and high-opportunity areas of science. They highlight interest in a research area that does not have set-aside funds or special review criteria or review considerations.