This Director’s Message was written in collaboration with the NIH Common Fund Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program.

Have you heard about NIH’s innovative research program designed to create lasting change by addressing the underlying structural factors that shape health? Through the Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program, NIH is directly funding research projects led by community organizations. 

Instead of tackling health disparities one disease at a time, the ComPASS program addresses structural factors that contribute to multiple diseases and health conditions. The projects study interventions that focus on factors that can promote health, such as improving economic stability, employment opportunities, access to healthy food, safe spaces, transportation, and quality healthcare. Communities and researchers work together as equal partners throughout the research process — from developing and launching structural interventions to sustaining and disseminating findings.

To receive ComPASS program announcements and information about funding opportunities, join the ComPASS listserv. 

How ComPASS is advancing prevention research

ODP has enthusiastically partnered with ComPASS to support and shape this innovative program. ODP helped develop and promote ComPASS funding opportunities and provided technical assistance to applicants and awardees. Our office remains actively involved in promoting ComPASS and the success of community-led research programs to advance prevention research and health equity.

ComPASS embodies several priorities and cross-cutting themes from ODP’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2024–2028: Creating a Healthier Future for All, including promoting collaborative research, addressing health disparities and social determinants of health (SDOH), developing and testing interventions, and building research capacity. We are excited to highlight a few ways in which ComPASS is integrating the principles of prevention and transforming research into sustainable solutions that promote health equity and create lasting change in communities nationwide.

• Unlike traditional research studies, ComPASS projects are led by community organizations that collaborate with academic researchers and other community partners. 
• ComPASS researchers study ways to reduce health disparities and improve health by addressing structural factors within communities.
• ComPASS funds community organizations to plan, develop, implement, and assess community-led, health equity structural interventions (CHESIs). Some funded CHESI projects related to prevention include:
  • Indigenous healthy homes and healthy communities: A community-led initiative to improve health and support Indigenous Resilience in the US Southwest 
  • Reducing Health Disparities through Enhanced Mobility Support and Access
  • Cancer in Your Community: Strategies to Reduce Cancer and Chronic Disease in the Arkansas Delta

Synergies between ComPASS and ODP initiatives

ComPASS is one of many recent NIH initiatives to address SDOH and foster health equity. ODP is contributing to this area by leading additional funding opportunities emphasizing multilevel preventive intervention research. 

The Developing and Testing Multi-level Physical Activity Interventions to Improve Health and Well-Being Notice of Special Interest (NOSI), which is open until November 14, 2027, focuses on social and structural interventions and includes 10 other NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs). The NOSI seeks research applications on new ideas that work at two or more levels of influence (e.g., changing the physical environment and public policy or impacting individual behavior and community resources) to help people increase their physical activity levels. 

Our Multi-Sectoral Preventive Interventions Research Network funding opportunity will support projects to test preventive interventions involving multiple service sectors (like education, housing, and transportation) and community-based organizations that address SDOH in populations that experience health disparities. ODP issued this funding opportunity with 13 participating NIH ICOs as part of the ADVANCE: Advancing Prevention Research for Health Equity initiative, an NIH-wide effort to develop and evaluate preventive interventions that address health disparities. We expect to announce the awarded projects next spring. 

To cultivate a diverse workforce of scientists who can appropriately design and evaluate preventive interventions, the ODP-coordinated ADVANCE initiative published a Predoctoral T32 Training Program funding opportunity. The awarded training grants will train graduate students across three linked areas: (1) health disparities and health equity research, (2) development and implementation of multilevel preventive interventions, and (3) methods for the design and analysis of studies to evaluate multilevel preventive interventions. Programs are also strongly encouraged to collaborate with and involve community partners in their training activities.

With the help of ComPASS and ODP’s aligned initiatives, we look forward to progressing toward a healthier and more equitable future. Subscribe to ODP’s listserv to get updates on all these funding opportunities and upcoming awards!