Increasing Organ Donation Awareness Program

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Increasing Organ Donation Awareness Program. The overall purpose of the program is to reduce the gap between the demand for organ transplants and the supply of donated organs. The specific objectives for the FY 2020 award cycle include: 1) Identify successful strategies for increasing registration for deceased donation through traditional portals such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and online registries. 2) Identify non-traditional donor registration portals and ascertain their effectiveness for increasing donor registration as compared to traditional portals. 3) Increase awareness and education about opportunities for, as well as the risks and benefits associated with, living organ donation. 4) Increase awareness and education about vascularized composite allografts (VCA) and willingness of individuals to become VCA deceased donors or to provide authorization for deceased relatives to become VCA donors. Accordingly, HRSA will support research studies to test the effectiveness of strategies that target any of the specified program objectives with the potential to have a broad impact and to be readily adaptable within the donation and transplantation community. For purposes of this program, model interventions are defined as those that are: (1) effective in producing a verifiable and demonstrable impact on the program objectives identified above; (2) replicable; (3) transferable; and (4) feasible in practice. All projects must include methodology and quantitative evaluation components capable of ascertaining the effectiveness of the intervention(s). While quantitative research would most strongly demonstrate effectiveness, qualitative components may also add useful information. The description, budget, and timeline should reflect a strong research methodology. Applicants may propose studies that are pilot projects or extension projects. A pilot project implements and tests an intervention that has not been tested before for its utility and effectiveness in the donation field. An extension project builds on results of a pilot project or an existing strategy by adjusting or adding some new dimension to the original intervention to strengthen it. Studies that propose the use of multiple strategies are required to measure the independent effects of each strategy as well as the interactive effect of the various strategies. Applicants are required to demonstrate that their proposed intervention meets the requirements indicated in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Applicants are encouraged to propose new ideas and novel approaches that are cost-effective in achieving these program objectives and demonstrate utility for the donation and transplantation community. Applicants may also implement strategies that have been proven to be successful in other public health fields and evaluate their effectiveness for use in the donation field. Applicants have flexibility in proposing interventions, including: The focus and nature of the intervention, intervention site(s), geographic location(s), target population(s), etc., insofar as they are consistent with the program objectives specified for this NOFO. Substantial attention is given to project impact. Study designs will be reviewed for their potential to be replicated after the period of performance with similar or other target populations or in similar or other parts of the country. Including more than one target population, oversampling specific population(s), or implementing in more than one geographic location are methods that may be employed to strengthen study findings, impact, and replication potential. HRSA will consider for funding under this notice, interventions designed to promote or encourage living organ donation or increasing target populations’ willingness or readiness to become a living donor. Applications that focus on living organ donation must clearly describe an intervention designed to increase the target population’s knowledge about, opportunities for, and the risks and benefits associated with living organ donation. Outcome measures must evaluate changes in awareness of and knowledge about the opportunities for and risks and benefits of living organ donation, or changes in the target populations’ willingness to consider living organ donation or become a living donor as appropriate. Applications that focus on VCA donation can include strategies to increase awareness of, knowledge about, and/or willingness to become a VCA donor at the time of one’s death or to authorize VCA donation for a deceased relative or significant other. These interventions must be designed to foster greater public awareness of the availability, need for, and success of these types of transplants and/or increase the public’s willingness to donate one’s own or a relative’s hands or face for transplantation.

Eligible applicants include domestic public or non-profit private entities. Faith-based and community-based organizations are eligible to apply for these funds. Tribes and tribal organizations are eligible to apply. If your organization is an Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) member and/or if you are working with a consortium that includes OPTN members, you and all other OPTN members involved in the project are expected to be in compliance with the HHS final rule governing the operation of the OPTN (42 CFR part 121). You can find more information about the OPTN and the final rule at https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/governance/about-the-optn/final-rule/. Foreign entities are not eligible for these awards.

Venus Walker

(301)443-7578