Contact information by research area is provided in the application instructions.

This opportunity will provide funding for research to identify and evaluate the ongoing and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing specifically on governmental (local, state, tribal, federal) policy and programmatic actions that address two specific social determinants of health: food/nutrition security and housing security. Projects should examine how these food/nutrition and housing policies and programs aimed at lessening the effects of the pandemic impacted health and health equity in individuals, families, and communities from health disparity populations.

Health disparity populations include Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, underserved rural populations, and sexual and gender minorities.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Examining changes in food/nutrition insecurity reported by individuals and families following implementation of COVID-19 policies and programs; examination of the impact of such policies and programs on the health of individuals, including diet-related diseases, both in those newly experiencing food/nutrition insecurity and those with longer term experience
• Studies of the health impacts of housing-related COVID-19 era policies and programs aimed at mitigating risk factors
• Studies embedded in existing research cohorts that take advantage of their rich longitudinal data. Such studies should take care to clearly address measurement of specific policy exposures related to housing or food insecurity in the cohort and address health equity
• Pandemic-related factors that hinder or enhance the successful implementation of COVID-19 food/nutrition security policies and programs and the resulting impact on health and health equity
• Existing individual, family, and/or community-level barriers that reduced the widespread utilization of benefits or provisions from COVID-19 food/nutrition security policies and programs, such as decreased access to healthy foods (food deserts), transportation gaps, insufficient access to SNAP eligible food markets, and the impact on health outcomes
• Long-term impact of COVID-19 food/nutrition and/or housing security policies and programs for reducing risk and severity of chronic illnesses (such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, mental illness), symptoms of stress, substance misuse, and/or mental health outcomes (such as suicidal behavior, depression, anxiety), that are experienced as a result of pandemic-related food/nutrition and housing insecurity
• Studies of the impact from ending or de-implementation of COVID-19 food/nutrition and/or housing security policies and programs on health and health equity
• Natural experiments taking advantage of local, state, or regional variations in policies, programs, economic circumstances, and other exogenous factors to identify causal factors
• Studies of interactions between COVID-19 food/nutrition and/or housing security policies and programs and other government policies and programs in place prior to the onset of the pandemic

Eligible applicants include:

• Higher education institutions
  • Public/state controlled institutions
  • Private institutions
• Nonprofit organizations
  • With 501(c)(3) status
  • Without 501(c)(3) status
  • Native American tribal organizations
  • Faith-based or community-based organizations
  • Regional organizations
• Governments
  • State
  • County
  • City or township
  • Special districts
  • Federally recognized Indian/Native American tribal governments
  • Indian/Native American tribal governments (other than federally recognized)
  • Eligible agencies of the federal government
  • U.S. territory or possession
• Other
  • Independent school districts
  • Public housing authorities
  • Indian housing authorities
  • Small businesses
  • For-profit organizations

Award ceiling: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
Project period: Up to 5 years
Estimated number of awards: 6-8
Estimated total program funding: $6,000,000

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.

While not required, potential applicants are encouraged to email a letter of intent to FOAReviewContact@csr.nih.gov by March 7, 2022.