Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Systems for Action Research program

Applications are invited for research studies to produce new, actionable evidence to help medical, social, and public health systems work together to address structural barriers to health and health equity, including racism and the social conditions that impact health. Applicants must propose to study a systems alignment approach that engages stakeholders in all three types of systems implicated in the S4A research agenda—medical care, public health, and social services.

Two distinct categories of research award are offered. Applicants must read the following descriptions to determine which category of award they are eligible for and apply only to that category:

• Developmental Studies: Grants of up to $100,000 over 12 months will be awarded to support pilot testing of the proposed system’s alignment approach to examine its feasibility and acceptability for stakeholders in the relevant medical, social, and public health systems and its potential to dismantle forms of structural racism and inequity embedded within these systems. This award category is for applicants who have not previously completed a pilot study of their proposed systems alignment approach and do not yet have preliminary evidence about the feasibility of implementing the approach and related research strategies.
• Impact Studies: Grants of up to $500,000 over 36 months will be awarded to support studies that examine the impact of the proposed system alignment strategy on relevant measures of health and health equity, with a focus on understanding the strategy’s success or failure in dismantling forms of structural racism and inequity embedded within systems. This award category is open only to applicants who have completed a pilot study of their proposed system alignment approach.

Letters of Intent are due by September 6, 2022 and full proposals to be due October 5, 2022.