NIH K23 grants: recently funded projects and award sizes

Project length

3 to 5 years

Who applies

Clinicians with a health professional doctorate

Effort

Usually at least 75% of full-time effort on research

Research focus

Patient-oriented research

Limits change between notices: the notice you apply to is what counts.

• OpenPA-24-185

  Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

  Deadline May 7, 2027

• OpenPA-24-184

  Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23 Independent Clinical Trial Required)

  Deadline May 8, 2027

• OpenPAR-25-091

  Limited Competition: Small Grant Program for NIDDK K01/K08/K23/K25 Recipients (R03 Clinical Trial Optional)

  Deadline Jan 7, 2028Up to $75K

• OpenRFA-HL-27-004

  Limited Competition: Small Grant Program for NHLBI K01/K08/K23/K25 Recipients (R03 Clinical Trial Optional)

  Deadline Nov 7, 2028Up to $85K

• Mechanisms of Spinal Stiffening After Growing Rod Insertion

  Blake Montgomery · Children'S Hosp of Philadelphia, PA · NIAMS · $160K · Sep 23, 2026

  Early onset scoliosis (EOS) is a significant medical condition affecting approximately 25,000 children globally each year. With an 84% complication rate and average treatment costs of $150,000 over six years, EOS imposes a tremendous burden on patients and their families due to frequent medical visits and surgeries…

• Trauma-Informed Care for Pain (TIC-P): An Acceptability and Preliminary Effectiveness Study of a Provider-Directed Training Intervention

  Jolin B. Yamin · Brigham and Women'S Hospital, MA · NIAMS · $178K · Sep 18, 2026

  Psychosocial trauma is a robust risk factor for the development, exacerbation, and maintenance of numerous chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain conditions such as chronic back pain and fibromyalgia. Patients with chronic pain who have trauma histories also experience reduced benefit in response to biomedical treatment…

• Mechanisms of incomplete treatment responses to type 2 inhibitors in asthma

  Monica Tang · University of California, San Francisco, CA · NHLBI · $191K · Sep 17, 2026

  Severe asthma is associated with high mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs. The discovery of type 2 (T2) inflammation and the clinical use of inhibitors targeting T2 inflammation have improved patient outcomes. Still, most patients with severe asthma treated with T2 inhibitors do not normalize airflow…

• Implementing Human-Centered AI in Acute Care to Facilitate PrEP Delivery

  William S Bradford · University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL · NIDA · $200K · Sep 17, 2026

  People who use drugs (PWUD) are at high risk for acquiring HIV, yet they are rarely prescribed HIV pre- exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), particularly in acute care settings such as the emergency department and hospital, where many have their only meaningful contact with the healthcare system. Existing HIV risk assessment…

• Mechanisms and phenotypes of cognitive dysfunction in pediatric-onset systemic lupus erythematosus

  Ryan Kammeyer · University of Colorado Denver, CO · NIAMS · $170K · Sep 17, 2026

  Cognitive dysfunction is a common neurologic complication of pediatric onset systemic lupus erythematosus. It significantly impacts academic performance, socialization, medical compliance, and quality of life, and may herald more severe forms of neuropsychiatric lupus. Despite multiple possible causes of cognitive…

• The Role of Circadian Disruption and Disordered Sleep in Heart Failure Risk and Management among Rural Adults

  Brittanny Polanka · University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL · NHLBI · $179K · Sep 17, 2026

  The overall goal of the 5-year K23 proposal is to support Brittanny Polanka, PhD to become an independent clinical investigator with a program of research in cardiovascular behavioral medicine. Heart failure (HF) is a progressive and life-threatening illness projected to impact ~8 million U.S. adults by 2030. Using…

• Mapping Cognition to Structural Brain Networks with Ultra-High Frequency Intracranial Electrical Stimulation

  Mark Daniel Bowren · University of Iowa, IA · NINDS · $170K · Sep 17, 2026

  This K23 application is designed to support the career development of Mark Bowren, Ph.D., as he builds a research program to predict cognitive deficits after brain surgery using electrical stimulation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Brain electrical stimulation is an essential tool for mapping…

• Developing a personalized behavioral intervention for Latino dementia caregivers

  Maria M Quinones Cordero · University of Rochester, NY · NIA · $124K · Sep 17, 2026

  Family caregivers of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) experience substantial stress, burden, and depressive symptoms, but these outcomes are not evenly distributed across caregivers. Disparities in caregiver outcomes may be driven by low health literacy, including limited ADRD…

• Left Ventricular Dysfunction, Cognition, and Brain Aging in a Multi-Ethnic Cohort

  Chinwe Ibeh · Columbia University Health Sciences, NY · NIA · $194K · Sep 17, 2026

  Disparities exist in the prevalence and outcomes of heart failure (HF) across race and ethnic groups, including disparities in disease progression, rates of secondary renal and liver dysfunction, and mortality. These differences have been largely attributed to population differences in cardiovascular risk factors.…

• Trauma Medical Home 2.0

  Damaris Ortiz · Indiana University Indianapolis, IN · NIA · $150K · Sep 17, 2026

  BACKGROUND: The Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma recommend that health systems provide age-friendly care for older adults. However, postinjury care is fragmented and complex. Our study team completed a recent randomized clinical trial studying the Trauma…

• Understanding the Effect of Perinatal Cash Transfers on Birth Outcomes and Infant Health

  Sumit Agarwal · University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, MI · NICHD · $167K · Sep 17, 2026

  Candidate: Sumit Agarwal, MD, MPH, PhD is a primary care physician, health economist, and early career faculty with a longstanding interest in economic security as a key driver of health. His long-term career objective is to become an independent researcher investigating how interventions addressing economic…

• Development and testing of patient initiated, mobile application-based, patient reported outcome monitoring in autoimmune skin disease

  Zachary H Hopkins · Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah, UT · NIAMS · $180K · Sep 17, 2026

  Research: Autoimmune skin diseases cause tremendous suffering. Since these are caused by immune dysfunction, treatment often entails immunomodulatory medications. Disease progression, flare, or treatment complications can cause significant morbidity. Unfortunately, these complications frequently occur between visits,…

• Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators, ADRD Biomarkers, and Sleep: A Multilevel Investigation of Cognitive Health in the Einstein Aging Study

  Monique Stephanie Balthazar · Pennsylvania State University, the, PA · NIA · $206K · Sep 16, 2026

  This K23 proposal aims to establish Dr. Monique S. Balthazar as an independent leader in clinical and translational research focused on sleep and brain health among community-dwelling older adults. Supported by a multidisciplinary team of mentors and guided by the NIA Research Framework and NCATS Translational Science…

• Cognitive Outcomes of Sodium Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors Among Individuals with Chronic Kidney Disease

  Rachel Shulman · University of Pennsylvania, PA · NIA · $197K · Sep 16, 2026

  PROJECT are increased hypertension) “benign” not towards SUMMARY Cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (AD/ADRD) highly morbid diseases. Older adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at significantly risk of cognitive impairment and AD/ADRD, driven by both traditional (e.g. and…

• Characterizing the cognitive and neuroimaging features of comorbid LATE-NC

  Leslie Susan Gaynor · Vanderbilt University Medical Center, TN · NIA · $187K · Sep 16, 2026

  The objective of this K23 career development award is to support Dr. Leslie Gaynor in acquiring the expertise to become an independent clinical researcher focused on clarifying the cognitive and neuroimaging features of comorbid Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy neuropathologic change (LATE-NC), a…

1. 1University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh, PA15
2. 2University of California, San Francisco, CA14
3. 3University of Colorado Denver, CO14
4. 4Massachusetts General Hospital, MA9
5. 5University of Washington, WA8
6. 6Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY7
7. 7Baylor College of Medicine, TX7
8. 8Brigham and Women'S Hospital, MA7
9. 9Indiana University Indianapolis, IN7
10. 10New York University School of Medicine, NY7

• How to Write an NIH Grant Application: Specific Aims, Research Strategy and the 2026 Rules