Strengthening Analytic Capacity for Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases in Low-and-Middle Income Settings

**NOTE: This opportunity was open only to institutions who had been invited directly by email.

Before applying, applicants should familiarize themselves with the supporting documents for this Grand Challenge, including the Rules and Guidelines, Application Instructions, and Frequently Asked Questions.

Background

Enteric and diarrheal diseases remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly among children under five. Over the past two decades, substantial investments have been made in large-scale epidemiological studies generating rich datasets on enteric pathogens, risk factors, and outcomes across diverse LMIC settings. Despite the volume and potential of this data, much of it remains underutilized, with limited secondary analysis conducted by in-country researchers. Empowering LMIC-based investigators to lead secondary analyses not only enhances the contextual relevance of findings but also strengthens local research capacity and ownership of health solutions. Therefore, there is a significant opportunity to catalyze novel insights into enteric and diarrheal disease etiology, sequelae, interventions, and policy, while promoting equitable research partnerships and advancing global health equity.

The Challenge

This RFP seeks to develop the capacity for leading data analysis related to enteric and diarrheal diseases in low-and-middle income settings.

Specifically, the objectives of the challenge will be:

• Develop novel insights from existing data
• Promote LMIC leadership and independence in global health research
• Strengthen analytical capacity in LMICs
• Inform policy and program decision-making
• Advance open science and data stewardship

Funding Level

We will consider proposals for awards of up to $100,000 USD in direct costs for each project, with a grant term of up to 1 year. Application budgets should be commensurate with the scope of work proposed. Indirect costs will be considered, and should be included in the budget for up to $15,000 USD award (subject to the Gates Foundation's indirect cost policy).

Eligibility Criteria

This initiative is open to nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies and academic institutions that 1) are based in a LMIC country¹; and 2) have received funding from the Gates Foundation as a direct awardee or sub-grantee on enteric and diarrheal disease-related investments. We particularly encourage applications involving projects led by women or from women-led organizations. Applicants should align within their institutions before submitting a proposal as no more than one award will be given to a single institution.

We are looking for proposals that:

• Are led by junior or mid-level researchers that: 1) have experience in the field of enterics and want to lead more analytics work, 2) have analytical skills who want to gain experience in applications in enterics or 3) have experience in both enterics and data analysis and would like to expand their analytic skillset in specific ways.
• Focus on enteric and diarrheal diseases (including but not limited to diarrhea and diarrheal etiologies, typhoid/enteric fever and invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella, Hepatitis E and A) including but not limited to disease epidemiology, genomics, vaccine performance, disease dynamics, treatment effects, diagnostic performance, cost-effectiveness, and/or mathematical models.
• Prioritize policy-relevant analytic questions.
• Demonstrate institutional support and partnerships necessary for growth in analytic skills and successful completion of the objectives.
• Conduct analyses beyond what was funded by the parent study and/or published.
• Result in at least one pre-print manuscript and one policy brief.
• Include support for investigators through a mentor, mentoring team, and/or training plan (e.g., coursework) to develop the analytic skills needed to successfully complete the proposed research. These resources may be provided by the applicant's home institution or a partner institution (located anywhere in the world) supported by a subgrant.
• Contribute to sustainable capacity building for data analysis to be conducted at the home institution in future research projects.

We will not fund proposals that:

• Aim to collect or generate new data through this funding.
• Propose descriptive analyses alone.
• Propose analyses that overlap with results already funded and/or published.
• Are not led by an LMIC investigator.
• Do not demonstrate how this award would strengthen local capacity to conduct and lead analysis of future datasets.
• Do not have timely access to necessary data.
• Do not focus on enteric and diarrheal diseases.
• Do not demonstrate a clear commitment to open science and making their findings, processes and/or tools developed accessible and reusable.

¹ See World Bank - Low Income Countries for definitions). Subject to the eligibility requirements in the Rules & Guidelines, investigators in low- and middle-income countries are invited (in connection with the organization with which they are affiliated) to apply through the Gates Foundation’s application portal. We reserve the right to determine eligibility for this call based on these characteristics. Grants will go to investigators in low- and middle-income countries, but we encourage partnerships with investigators in other countries regardless of location, especially where the opportunity exists to build on existing collaborations.