Who funds health equity research?

We count 93 funded health equity projects, active between 2021 and 2031, from 7 funders. The most came from NIH · NIMHD (31 projects), Wellcome (12 projects) and NIH · NCATS (8 projects). The median award is $4M, across the 91 of 93 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

93

Funders

7

Median award

$4M

Open calls now

9

Top funders of health equity research

Projects whose title or summary mentions health equity. Median award: of the projects that list an amount, in US dollars; “—” when fewer than 3 do.

Open health equity funding calls

9 open calls mention health equity today.

• Interventions to expand cancer screening and preventive services to ADVANCE health in populations that experience health disparities (R01, Clinical Trial Required)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: January 7, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment or Prevention (SBIRT/P) for alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) use and misuse in adult populations that experience health disparities (R01, Clinical Trial Required)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: May 7, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Interventions to Reduce Sleep Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: September 7, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Basic Research in Cancer Health Disparities (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: November 16, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 9 funded (11% · NIH R21 (exploratory/developmental), all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Advancing Healthcare for Older Adults from Populations that Experience Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: January 7, 2028 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Basic Research in Cancer Health Disparities (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: January 7, 2028 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• The Role of Work in Health Disparities in the U.S. (R01 Clinical Trials Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: January 7, 2028 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Risk and Protective Factors of Family Health and Family Level Interventions (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: March 6, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)
• Interventions to Address Disparities in Liver Diseases and Liver Cancer (R01 - Clinical Trials Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedDeadline: January 7, 2028 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 8 funded (13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025)

Real odds

• About 1 in 8 funded · 13% · NIH R01-equivalent grants, all NIH institutes, FY2025 · NIH Data Book, report 29
• About 1 in 9 funded · 11% · NIH R21 (exploratory/developmental), all NIH institutes, FY2025 · NIH Data Book, report 202

Published success rates for the programs behind the open calls above: the share of applications the funder funded, program-wide, not for this topic.

Forecast: announced, not open yet

1 forecast call on health equity. Funders publish forecasts before a call opens; you can't apply to these yet, and dates can change.

• ForecastInnovative Research to Improve Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Health Outcomes (R34 - Clinical Trial Optional)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open December 16, 2026

Funded health equity projects

A sample, latest start first, at most three per program.

• Expanding Translational Science in Arkansas
  NIH · NCATS · $3,877,947 · ends 2031
• CTSA UM1 Program at Wake Forest
  NIH · NCATS · $4,030,000 · ends 2031
• Rural Health Disparities in AD/RD: The Health & Aging Brain Study - Health Disparities Rural
  NIH · NIA · $3,677,375 · ends 2031
• CTSA UM1 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
  NIH · NCATS · $9,869,052 · ends 2031
• A Latin American pangenome for mapping structural variation of medical relevance in underrepresented indigenous ancestries
  Wellcome · £2,222,081 · ends 2031
• Advancing Chronic Disease Health Disparities Research: The RCMI at UH
  NIH · NIMHD · $3,242,195 · ends 2030
• Multilevel Interventions for Maternal Health and Disparities (MIRACLE) Center
  NIH · NICHD · $3,326,546 · ends 2030
• Clean Land, Equitable Air, and Resilience (CLEAR): Advancing Health Equity by Addressing Waste-Driven Climate Risks
  Wellcome · £346,029 · ends 2030
• “Breaking the inverse laws”: Accelerating the health equity impact of prevention and control interventions for infectious diseases in Africa
  Wellcome · £3,599,912 · ends 2030
• UTEP Border Biomedical Research Center
  NIH · NIMHD · $4,908,986 · ends 2030

How we count

Funded projects come from public award records (NIH RePORTER, NSF, EU CORDIS, UKRI Gateway to Research, Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, DOE, NASA and USDA NIFA) whose title or summary matches “health equity or health disparities”. NIH lists each budget year separately; one project counts once. Amounts are as the funder lists them; medians use only projects that list one, in US dollars. Open calls and forecasts are from our listings of October 28, 2026. A project can mention a topic without being mainly about it, so treat the counts as a guide to who funds the area.