Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems. Each initiative is an experiment in the use of challenges to focus innovation on making an impact. Individual challenges address some of the same problems, but from differing perspectives.

Challenges

Epidemic threats are increasing in their frequency, intensity, and severity – yet the world remains woefully exposed and unprepared. Grand Challenges Senegal is soliciting proposals from innovators working across Africa and African scientists in the diaspora on interventions to enhance epidemic intelligence, surveillance, and outbreak response.

For more information, please visit the <a href="https://grandchallenges.sn/en" target="_blank">Grand Challenges Senegal</a> website; to apply to this request for proposals, use the link to the right.

Grand Challenges Senegal

Interventions to Enhance Epidemic Intelligence, Surveillance, and Outbreak Response 

Epidemic threats are increasing in their frequency, intensity, and severity – yet the world remains woefully exposed and unprepared. Grand Challenges Senegal is soliciting proposals from innovators working across Africa and African scientists in the diaspora on interventions to enhance epidemic intelligence, surveillance, and outbreak response.
For more information, please visit the <a href="https://grandchallenges.sn/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Grand Challenges Senegal</a> website; to apply to this request for proposals, use the link to the right.

Epidemic threats are increasing in their frequency, intensity, and severity – yet the world remains woefully exposed and unprepared. Grand Challenges Senegal is soliciting proposals from innovators working across Africa and African scientists in the diaspora on interventions to enhance epidemic intelligence, surveillance, and outbreak response.

Interventions to Enhance Epidemic Intelligence Surveillance and Outbreak Response 

**NOTE: This opportunity was open only to participants who registered for and attended the 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.

<h2>THE OPPORTUNITY</h2>

The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting fosters innovation and international collaboration to address the biggest challenges in global health and development. It has been held in <a href="https://grandchallenges.org/annual-meeting" target="_blank">11 countries</a> over the past 17 years and in a virtual format for the past two years. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world the challenges and opportunities ahead with new clarity. The 2022 meeting continues the Annual Meeting's goal to support a global community of problem solvers who work together to set an innovation agenda and do the breakthrough science to deliver on it – to go further and faster together.

<h2>THE CHALLENGE</h2>

This Call-to-Action provides an opportunity for Grand Challenges Annual Meeting participants to take action based on ideas they developed and people they met at the meeting. As noted by past applicants in their submitted proposals, the meeting provides diverse ways to combine expertise and perspectives to speed the impact of what would otherwise be separate work by individual investigators. The <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grants/JTdCJTIyc29ydCUyMiUzQSUyMmRlc2NlbmRpbmclMjIlMkMlMjJzb3J0RmllbGQlMjIlM0ElMjJkYXRlJTIyJTJDJTIybnVtYmVyUGVyUGFnZSUyMiUzQTEwMCUyQyUyMnBhZ2VOdW1iZXIlMjIlM0EwJTdE/JTdCJTIyeWVhcnMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJjaGFsbGVuZ2VzJTIyJTNBJTVCJTIyMTI5JTIyJTVEJTJDJTIydGVybXMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJpbml0aWF0aXZlcyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCUyQyUyMmxvY2F0aW9ucyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCU3RA==" target="_blank">grants awarded</a> for past Call-to-Action opportunities show this, and we hope that this year’ meeting will also provide ways to catalyze collaborative projects that yield a tangible solution to a key problem by the end of the grant.

Please note that there are multiple grant opportunities being launched at the Annual Meeting:

&nbsp;•&nbsp;Two that are open to meeting participants

<ol>
	<li>This 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action</li>
	<li><a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenge/supporting-researchers-through-technologies-global-health-discovery-collaboratory" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Supporting Researchers Through the Technologies of the Global Health Discovery Collaboratory Platforms</a></li>
</ol>

&nbsp;•&nbsp;Additional <a href="https://grandchallenges.org/grant-opportunities" target="_blank">grant opportunities</a> that are publicly open, launched across the Grand Challenges family of initiatives

Funding

Each meeting participant will have one opportunity to apply as the primary applicant for a USD $100,000 grant or a collaborative USD $200,000 grant, both with an 18-month grant duration. Collaborative awards require the participation of at least two meeting participants from different institutions. While restricted to one application as the primary applicant, meeting participants may participate as collaborators in multiple collaborative applications. Priority will be given to new or newly expanded collaborations, rather than to existing collaborations seeking new funding.

We will give highest priority to proposed projects that:

<ul>
	<li>Contribute to a partnership network that empowers those with the local perspective required to direct the right approaches to the right parts of the problems to ensure success. We will prioritize projects led by investigators from low- and middle-income countries and a balanced representation of women principal investigators. Their collective action and directed energy will help solve today's key problems in global health, while building research networks ready to solve tomorrow’s</li>
	<li>Are likely to yield a tangible answer to a question or solution to a problem within the grant term</li>
	<li>Are explicitly aligned with the content within the meeting's scientific track sessions. Please note that individual proposals will be reviewed based on their alignment with one primary track and the specific content presented there (see <a href="https://custom.cvent.com/B6E596DEAC6A4A7FB1467497AE4FF54B/files/event/0123b10e74394b98afaf2b0c4088baeb/ba3d9702354245d1bad108dcc1e831c0.pdf" target="_blank">meeting agenda</a>), since we seek to provide an opportunity for participants to take action based on an idea that they developed and people they met during their participation in a scientific track. Eligible scientific tracks for this Call-to-Action are listed below, and they include the entire Keystone Symposia Global Health Series conference that overlaps with the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.</li>
</ul>

Scientific tracks eligible for the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action

<ul>
	<li>Advancing Drug Discovery for Global Health </li>
	<li>Applying a Translational Lens to Global Health</li>
	<li>Beyond the first 1000 days: Research and implementation innovations for women and girls' nutrition</li>
	<li>Global Health Discovery Collaboratory - Novel Technologies for Collaborative Scientific Solutions</li>
	<li>Global Partnerships &amp; Grand Challenges</li>
	<li>Harnessing the Power of Data in Health</li>
	<li>Innovations in Non-Hormonal Contraceptives Research &amp; Development</li>
	<li>Maximizing the Potential of Pathogen Genomic Sequencing for Global Health</li>
	<li>New Insights &amp; Innovations to Address Antimicrobial Resistance</li>
	<li>Vaccine and Biologics Innovations for Global Health</li>
	<li>Keystone Symposia - Covid and Beyond: Novel Approaches to Global Infectious Diseases</li>
</ul>

We will not consider funding approaches that:

<ul>
	<li>Are not explicitly aligned with the specific content within the meeting scientific tracks listed above that are eligible for this request for proposals</li>
	<li>Address the meeting scientific tracks that are not part of this request for proposals: Novel Approaches to Reduce the Impacts of Climate Change on Health (noting that there is an associated <a href="https://www.grandchallenges.ca/funding-opportunities/" target="_blank">Grand Challenges Canada</a> request for proposals) and Sourcing and Accelerating Humanitarian Innovations</li>
</ul>

Grand Challenges

2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action

**NOTE: This opportunity is only open to participants who registered for and attended the 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.
<h2>THE OPPORTUNITY</h2>
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting fosters innovation and international collaboration to address the biggest challenges in global health and development. It has been held in <a href="https://grandchallenges.org/annual-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">11 countries</a> over the past 17 years and in a virtual format for the past two years. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world the challenges and opportunities ahead with new clarity. The 2022 meeting continues the Annual Meeting's goal to support a global community of problem solvers who work together to set an innovation agenda and do the breakthrough science to deliver on it – to go further and faster together.
<h2>THE CHALLENGE</h2>
This Call-to-Action provides an opportunity for Grand Challenges Annual Meeting participants to take action based on ideas they developed and people they met at the meeting. As noted by past applicants in their submitted proposals, the meeting provides diverse ways to combine expertise and perspectives to speed the impact of what would otherwise be separate work by individual investigators. The <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grants/JTdCJTIyc29ydCUyMiUzQSUyMmRlc2NlbmRpbmclMjIlMkMlMjJzb3J0RmllbGQlMjIlM0ElMjJkYXRlJTIyJTJDJTIybnVtYmVyUGVyUGFnZSUyMiUzQTEwMCUyQyUyMnBhZ2VOdW1iZXIlMjIlM0EwJTdE/JTdCJTIyeWVhcnMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJjaGFsbGVuZ2VzJTIyJTNBJTVCJTIyMTI5JTIyJTVEJTJDJTIydGVybXMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJpbml0aWF0aXZlcyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCUyQyUyMmxvY2F0aW9ucyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCU3RA==" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">grants awarded</a> for past Call-to-Action opportunities show this, and we hope that this year’ meeting will also provide ways to catalyze collaborative projects that yield a tangible solution to a key problem by the end of the grant.
Please note that there are multiple grant opportunities being launched at the Annual Meeting:
 • Two that are open to meeting participants
<ol><li>This 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action</li>
<li><a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenge/supporting-researchers-through-technologies-global-health-discovery-collaboratory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Supporting Researchers Through the Technologies of the Global Health Discovery Collaboratory Platforms</a></li>
</ol> • Additional <a href="https://grandchallenges.org/grant-opportunities" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">grant opportunities</a> that are publicly open, launched across the Grand Challenges family of initiatives
Funding
Each meeting participant will have one opportunity to apply as the primary applicant for a USD $100,000 grant or a collaborative USD $200,000 grant, both with an 18-month grant duration. Collaborative awards require the participation of at least two meeting participants from different institutions. While restricted to one application as the primary applicant, meeting participants may participate as collaborators in multiple collaborative applications. Priority will be given to new or newly expanded collaborations, rather than to existing collaborations seeking new funding.
We will give highest priority to proposed projects that:
<ul><li>Contribute to a partnership network that empowers those with the local perspective required to direct the right approaches to the right parts of the problems to ensure success. We will prioritize projects led by investigators from low- and middle-income countries and a balanced representation of women principal investigators. Their collective action and directed energy will help solve today's key problems in global health, while building research networks ready to solve tomorrow’s</li>
<li>Are likely to yield a tangible answer to a question or solution to a problem within the grant term</li>
<li>Are explicitly aligned with the content within the meeting's scientific track sessions. Please note that individual proposals will be reviewed based on their alignment with one primary track and the specific content presented there (see <a href="https://custom.cvent.com/B6E596DEAC6A4A7FB1467497AE4FF54B/files/event/0123b10e74394b98afaf2b0c4088baeb/ba3d9702354245d1bad108dcc1e831c0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">meeting agenda</a>), since we seek to provide an opportunity for participants to take action based on an idea that they developed and people they met during their participation in a scientific track. Eligible scientific tracks for this Call-to-Action are listed below, and they include the entire Keystone Symposia Global Health Series conference that overlaps with the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.</li>
</ul>Scientific tracks eligible for the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action
<ul><li>Advancing Drug Discovery for Global Health </li>
<li>Applying a Translational Lens to Global Health</li>
<li>Beyond the first 1000 days: Research and implementation innovations for women and girls' nutrition</li>
<li>Global Health Discovery Collaboratory - Novel Technologies for Collaborative Scientific Solutions</li>
<li>Global Partnerships &amp; Grand Challenges</li>
<li>Harnessing the Power of Data in Health</li>
<li>Innovations in Non-Hormonal Contraceptives Research &amp; Development</li>
<li>Maximizing the Potential of Pathogen Genomic Sequencing for Global Health</li>
<li>New Insights &amp; Innovations to Address Antimicrobial Resistance</li>
<li>Vaccine and Biologics Innovations for Global Health</li>
<li>Keystone Symposia - Covid and Beyond: Novel Approaches to Global Infectious Diseases</li>
</ul>We will not consider funding approaches that:
<ul><li>Are not explicitly aligned with the specific content within the meeting scientific tracks listed above that are eligible for this request for proposals</li>
<li>Address the meeting scientific tracks that are not part of this request for proposals: Novel Approaches to Reduce the Impacts of Climate Change on Health (noting that there is an associated <a href="https://www.grandchallenges.ca/funding-opportunities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Grand Challenges Canada</a> request for proposals) and Sourcing and Accelerating Humanitarian Innovations</li>
</ul>

**NOTE: This opportunity is only open to participants who registered for and attended the 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.

This Challenge seeks innovative approaches to enhance climate adaptation for agriculture in Africa in ways that link directly with and strengthen the ecosystem of local actors and institutions. Specifically, the objective of the challenge will be to support innovations that strengthen agriculture-related risk management processes and adaptation prioritization, planning, and investment, through intra-Africa research collaboration on data, data science, and modeling.

For more information, please visit the <a href="https://scienceforafrica.foundation/funding" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Grand Challenges Africa</a> website; to apply to this request for proposals, use the link to the right.

Grand Challenges Africa

African Agriculture Climate Adaptation Research System

This Challenge seeks innovative approaches to enhance climate adaptation for agriculture in Africa in ways that link directly with and strengthen the ecosystem of local actors and institutions. Specifically, the objective of the challenge will be to support innovations that strengthen agriculture-related risk management processes and adaptation prioritization, planning, and investment, through intra-Africa research collaboration on data, data science, and modeling.
For more information, please visit the <a href="https://scienceforafrica.foundation/funding" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grand Challenges Africa</a> website; to apply to this request for proposals, use the link to the right.

This Challenge seeks innovative approaches to enhance climate adaptation for agriculture in Africa in ways that link directly with and strengthen the ecosystem of local actors and institutions. Specifically, the objective of the challenge will be to support innovations that strengthen agriculture-related risk management processes and adaptation prioritization, planning, and investment, through intra-Africa research collaboration on data, data science, and modeling.

<h2>Background</h2>

Pathogen Genomic Surveillance (PGS) can provide information about pathogen evolution and insight into the genetic basis of changes in virulence or resistance to interventions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, genomic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 was established by many countries, including countries in Asia. It may be possible to leverage this capacity for genomic surveillance of priority endemic or epidemic pathogens. Research studies in the region have used pathogen genomics to understand transmission of particular pathogens such as dengue, Salmonella Typhi, and V. cholerae. Public labs and institutes may now be able to incorporate routine genomic surveillance of priority pathogens into their surveillance systems. It may also be valuable to build on SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance systems to further develop in-country capacity for the rapid immunological evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

In response to this request for proposals, we seek projects from investigators in South and Southeast Asia that address one or both of the following two goals:

<ol>
	<li>Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI): Design and pilot a genomic surveillance program for a priority pathogen (other than SARS-CoV-2)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Global Immunology and Immune Sequencing for Epidemic Response (GIISER) – Asia: Develop capacity for immune characterization of SARS-CoV-2 variants to inform Epidemic Response</li>
</ol>

Across both goals, training of local scientists by collaborators willing and able to share knowledge and tools will create the necessary capabilities. A long-term goal is to establish a sustainable, local infrastructure that can be activated to respond to any new emerging pathogen locally and strengthen connections and collaborations between sites and with international decision-making bodies.

Funding Level: Up to 300,000 USD per year for each project, with a grant term of up to 2 years depending on the scope of the project. An additional 300,000 USD may be added to the second year budget if a proposed project includes monoclonal antibody discovery activities.

<ol>
	<li>Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI)</li>
</ol>

Proposals are invited from country National Public Health Institutions (NPHIs) or public laboratories with links to the public health system.<a class="footnote" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">1</a> NPHI or lab staff may propose to develop a plan for genomic surveillance of priority pathogens or syndromes and to execute a pilot surveillance program. They may identify a priority pathogen or disease/syndrome and undertake surveillance, and may propose staff training in the appropriate epidemiological methods, genomic technologies and bioinformatic tools to develop capability and expertise in viral, bacterial, parasite genomics, or metagenomics. In a two-year period, staff should have developed the ability to plan and conduct genomic surveillance for the chosen priority pathogen and have piloted a genomic surveillance system for the pathogen. Such a pilot system may inform surveillance scale-up or the design of molecular diagnostics for pathogens discovered using metagenomics.

Specifically, we seek proposals from NPHIs or public labs to dedicate staff to developing a pathogen genomic surveillance program by spending 2 years working on the identified objectives. This may include collaboration or placement with an expert for 1-3 months to gain training and expertise. It is the proposing organization’s responsibility to identify collaborators or training institutes as needed. Budgets may include NPHI staff salary, reagents and supplies (which may be donated in kind by manufacturers), and training costs at the institution where the staff member may gain expertise.

The objectives for Asia PGI are:

<ul>
	<li>To establish routine pathogen genomic surveillance to understand the epidemiology and transmission of a priority pathogen (other than SARS-CoV-2)</li>
	<li>To use pathogen genomics in the public health response - including field epidemiology response - to investigate potential evolution of a priority pathogen and its impact on the epidemiology of disease</li>
	<li>To use pathogen genomics to monitor the impact of vaccine introduction on the transmission dynamics or AMR characteristics of pathogen lineages causing disease.</li>
	<li>To use pathogen genomics to inform the development of diagnostics and/or therapeutics.</li>
</ul>

Proposals addressing diseases affecting underserved or socioeconomically disadvantaged populations are encouraged. Surveillance focused on regions suspected to be the source for outbreak pathogens are encouraged.

Selected sites will be networked via regular symposia and meetings to ensure that knowledge and learnings are shared in the region.

<ol start="2">
	<li>Global Immunology and Immune Sequencing for Epidemic Response (GIISER) - Asia</li>
</ol>

We invite proposals to increase the in-country capacity for rapid immunological evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 variants in South and Southeast Asia.&nbsp; We would also consider proposals that include other pathogens of global health importance, in addition to SARS-CoV-2. Selected sites would be linked to the existing GIISER program, which was initiated in October of 2021 with 8 sites, located in Uganda, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, India, and Brazil.&nbsp; Points of connection could include standard protocols, bioinformatics pipelines, data sharing meetings, and training opportunities. The goal of the GIISER program is to strengthen local immunological evaluation of pathogens of epidemic importance in order to inform and impact local and global equitable decision making around vaccines, herd immunity, diagnostic assays, and therapeutics.

A successful GIISER site will be able to systematically produce data quantifying immune escape and cross protection for variants of local concern/interest. This will require that sites are able to leverage existing pathogen sequencing surveillance infrastructure to rapidly identify emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, use existing clinical cohorts to obtain sera and blood cells from relevantly infected individuals with appropriate informed consent, and perform detailed immunological characterization of sera/plasma (binding and neutralization assays), as well as single cell analytics for monoclonal antibody discovery.&nbsp; This information will be produced and communicated rapidly enough to inform public health decisions and policy makers within the local and international community. Care should be taken in the proposal to describe how these activities that are often siloed would be brought together.

Specifically, we seek proposals from NPHIs or their academic partners to: (1) Identify SARS-CoV-2 pathogen variants and appropriate subjects; (2) Perform sample collection, virus isolation, and B cell sorting; (3) Assess natural-infection-induced and vaccine-induced polyclonal antibody immunity to novel variants; and (4) Discover monoclonal antibodies in appropriate subjects. By the end of the first year of a two-year investment, sites should be performing all necessary binding and neutralization assays in their lab and sharing those results.&nbsp; By the end of the second year, sites should be able to communicate binding and neutralization results within 1-2 months of identifying a variant of local interest or concern. Sites including monoclonal antibody discovery should, by the end of year two, be able to perform single cell sequencing from B cells, repertoire analysis for selection of heavy + light chain pairs for subsequent expression and in vitro screening assays, small scale production of selected high quality mAbs from cDNA sequence, and screening of mAbs for binding to a variety of spike proteins, including epitope mapping.

The objectives for GIISER-Asia are:

<ul>
	<li>Identify SARS-CoV-2 pathogen variants and appropriate subjects</li>
	<li>Sample Collection and Virus Isolation</li>
	<li>Assessment of natural-infection-induced and vaccine-induced polyclonal antibody immunity to novel variants</li>
	<li>Local monoclonal antibody discovery</li>
	<li>Local monoclonal antibody screening</li>
	<li>Develop capacity for immunological evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (and potentially other additional pathogens of global health importance) through project immersion and targeted training with partners</li>
	<li>Sustain and further develop expertise in virology, immunology, and communication with policy makers</li>
</ul>

What We Are Looking For

<ol>
	<li>Asia PGI requirements: A successful Asia PGI site will formalize a framework to identify a priority pathogen or syndrome for genomic surveillance, build on the experience of sourcing samples for SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance and on the genomic sequencing skills gained during the pandemic, and access the expertise of epidemiologists and clinicians with insight into the epidemiology of the chosen pathogen or syndrome. We will prioritize funding for public labs or institutes that provide surveillance data to the government to inform public health interventions. Proposals should mention other available funding for the proposed work. Pathogens that are not covered by other funding mechanisms including large international programs will be prioritized. We also encourage applicants to describe the impact of ongoing, related work at the organization/site.</li>
</ol>

All Asia PGI proposals must:

<ul>
	<li>Describe the framework used to prioritize the chosen pathogen or syndrome</li>
	<li>Describe in brief the SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance system in place</li>
	<li>Describe how staff can immediately put to use pathogen genomic sequencing technology at your site to respond to at least one of the Asia PGI objectives listed above.</li>
	<li>Describe how skills will be developed in sequencing of the priority pathogen chosen</li>
	<li>Describe the sampling approach for obtaining specimens for genomic sequencing and how the sampling approach will be optimized to answer at least one of the objectives outlined above. In addition, describe how metadata and clinical, epidemiological, or other data will be collected and combined with the sequencing data.</li>
	<li>Describe how the data generated from your project will be used to inform public health decision making in your area, country and/or region in a timely manner. How will you communicate your findings and engage with stakeholders to ensure uptake and use of your findings for these public health purposes? We expect that PGS data will be shared immediately with local government health officials as well as uploaded to a standard repository for genetic data such as GISAID, NCBI, or ENA.</li>
	<li>Articulate how the capacity built through the proposed project will strengthen your institute’s approach to using pathogen genomics for surveillance.</li>
</ul>

<ol start="2">
	<li>GIISER-Asia requirements: A successful GIISER site will have access to existing pathogen sequencing capacity and bioinformatics, access to existing cohorts or clinical infrastructure, access to existing BLS3 labs and trained virologists and immunologists with some expertise in protein reagent generation.&nbsp; Not every site will have everything in place, but enthusiastic, creative and collaborative groups who want to get things done are encouraged to include specific requests for the support they need to get there (training, connections, technology, etc.)</li>
</ol>

All GIISER-Asia proposals must:

<ul>
	<li>Describe the site's ability to link together pathogen sequencing, clinical epidemiology, and immunology to rapidly produce high-quality, interpretable and informative data on neutralization breadth and cross protection for locally identified SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
	<ul>
		<li>This includes, but is not limited to, outgrowth of variant SARS-CoV-2 virus in appropriate BLS3 containment labs for live virus neutralization assays. Examples of anticipated results: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03471-w" target="_blank">Cele et al Nature 2021, </a><a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2104192?query=main_nav_lg" target="_blank">Moyo-Gwete et al NEJM 2021, </a><a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2103740?query=main_nav_lg">Shen et al NEJM 2021 </a>and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01285-x" target="_blank">Wibmer et al</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01285-x" target="_blank">Nature Medicine 2021.</a></li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	<li>Describe how, within the first year of the grant, the GIISER site will bring all required binding and neutralization assays into their lab and communicate their results.</li>
	<li>Describe how, within the second year of the grant, the GIISER site will be communicating results within 1-2 months of identifying a variant of local concern.</li>
	<li>Describe how, within the second year of the grant, the GIISER site will bring in all required capabilities for monoclonal antibody discovery and screening. (Proposals without an antibody scope will still be eligible for funding under this call.)</li>
	<li>Describe how the site will leverage existing local expertise, collaborate, and share data effectively with other GIISER sites and international networks</li>
</ul>

Across both goals, we will not consider funding for: 

<ul>
	<li>Sequencing of extant samples or isolates will not be considered as responsive to this RFP. The proposal must include a plan for prospective genomic surveillance rather than simply genomic sequencing of existing samples.</li>
	<li>Funding of genomic surveillance in a setting with no experience with SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. The proposed studies must leverage equipment and/or human resource capacity that was instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic.</li>
	<li>GIISER-Asia sites that do not have funded pathogen genomics surveillance and existing clinical cohorts to build on for the immune characterization studies.</li>
	<li>Studies focused on T cell immunity and characterizing the overall immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are out of scope.</li>
</ul>

<a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title="">1</a> Government-funded institutes and labs that are mandated to provide surveillance data to health ministries for public health action are eligible to apply. This may include public health labs at the state or provincial level.

Grand Challenges Global Call-to-Action

Pathogen Genomic Surveillance and Immunology in Asia

<h2>Background</h2>
Pathogen Genomic Surveillance (PGS) can provide information about pathogen evolution and insight into the genetic basis of changes in virulence or resistance to interventions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, genomic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 was established by many countries, including countries in Asia. It may be possible to leverage this capacity for genomic surveillance of priority endemic or epidemic pathogens. Research studies in the region have used pathogen genomics to understand transmission of particular pathogens such as dengue, Salmonella Typhi, and V. cholerae. Public labs and institutes may now be able to incorporate routine genomic surveillance of priority pathogens into their surveillance systems. It may also be valuable to build on SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance systems to further develop in-country capacity for the rapid immunological evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
<h2>The Challenge</h2>
In response to this request for proposals, we seek projects from investigators in South and Southeast Asia that address one or both of the following two goals:
<ol><li>Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI): Design and pilot a genomic surveillance program for a priority pathogen (other than SARS-CoV-2) </li>
<li>Global Immunology and Immune Sequencing for Epidemic Response (GIISER) – Asia: Develop capacity for immune characterization of SARS-CoV-2 variants to inform Epidemic Response</li>
</ol>Across both goals, training of local scientists by collaborators willing and able to share knowledge and tools will create the necessary capabilities. A long-term goal is to establish a sustainable, local infrastructure that can be activated to respond to any new emerging pathogen locally and strengthen connections and collaborations between sites and with international decision-making bodies.
Funding Level: Up to 300,000 USD per year for each project, with a grant term of up to 2 years depending on the scope of the project. An additional 300,000 USD may be added to the second year budget if a proposed project includes monoclonal antibody discovery activities.
<ol><li>Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI)</li>
</ol>Proposals are invited from country National Public Health Institutions (NPHIs) or public laboratories with links to the public health system.<a class="footnote" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="" id="_ftnref1">1</a> NPHI or lab staff may propose to develop a plan for genomic surveillance of priority pathogens or syndromes and to execute a pilot surveillance program. They may identify a priority pathogen or disease/syndrome and undertake surveillance, and may propose staff training in the appropriate epidemiological methods, genomic technologies and bioinformatic tools to develop capability and expertise in viral, bacterial, parasite genomics, or metagenomics. In a two-year period, staff should have developed the ability to plan and conduct genomic surveillance for the chosen priority pathogen and have piloted a genomic surveillance system for the pathogen. Such a pilot system may inform surveillance scale-up or the design of molecular diagnostics for pathogens discovered using metagenomics.
Specifically, we seek proposals from NPHIs or public labs to dedicate staff to developing a pathogen genomic surveillance program by spending 2 years working on the identified objectives. This may include collaboration or placement with an expert for 1-3 months to gain training and expertise. It is the proposing organization’s responsibility to identify collaborators or training institutes as needed. Budgets may include NPHI staff salary, reagents and supplies (which may be donated in kind by manufacturers), and training costs at the institution where the staff member may gain expertise.
The objectives for Asia PGI are:
<ul><li>To establish routine pathogen genomic surveillance to understand the epidemiology and transmission of a priority pathogen (other than SARS-CoV-2)</li>
<li>To use pathogen genomics in the public health response - including field epidemiology response - to investigate potential evolution of a priority pathogen and its impact on the epidemiology of disease</li>
<li>To use pathogen genomics to monitor the impact of vaccine introduction on the transmission dynamics or AMR characteristics of pathogen lineages causing disease.</li>
<li>To use pathogen genomics to inform the development of diagnostics and/or therapeutics.</li>
</ul>Proposals addressing diseases affecting underserved or socioeconomically disadvantaged populations are encouraged. Surveillance focused on regions suspected to be the source for outbreak pathogens are encouraged.
Selected sites will be networked via regular symposia and meetings to ensure that knowledge and learnings are shared in the region.
<ol start="2"><li>Global Immunology and Immune Sequencing for Epidemic Response (GIISER) - Asia</li>
</ol>We invite proposals to increase the in-country capacity for rapid immunological evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 variants in South and Southeast Asia.  We would also consider proposals that include other pathogens of global health importance, in addition to SARS-CoV-2. Selected sites would be linked to the existing GIISER program, which was initiated in October of 2021 with 8 sites, located in Uganda, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, India, and Brazil.  Points of connection could include standard protocols, bioinformatics pipelines, data sharing meetings, and training opportunities. The goal of the GIISER program is to strengthen local immunological evaluation of pathogens of epidemic importance in order to inform and impact local and global equitable decision making around vaccines, herd immunity, diagnostic assays, and therapeutics.
A successful GIISER site will be able to systematically produce data quantifying immune escape and cross protection for variants of local concern/interest. This will require that sites are able to leverage existing pathogen sequencing surveillance infrastructure to rapidly identify emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, use existing clinical cohorts to obtain sera and blood cells from relevantly infected individuals with appropriate informed consent, and perform detailed immunological characterization of sera/plasma (binding and neutralization assays), as well as single cell analytics for monoclonal antibody discovery.  This information will be produced and communicated rapidly enough to inform public health decisions and policy makers within the local and international community. Care should be taken in the proposal to describe how these activities that are often siloed would be brought together.
Specifically, we seek proposals from NPHIs or their academic partners to: (1) Identify SARS-CoV-2 pathogen variants and appropriate subjects; (2) Perform sample collection, virus isolation, and B cell sorting; (3) Assess natural-infection-induced and vaccine-induced polyclonal antibody immunity to novel variants; and (4) Discover monoclonal antibodies in appropriate subjects. By the end of the first year of a two-year investment, sites should be performing all necessary binding and neutralization assays in their lab and sharing those results.  By the end of the second year, sites should be able to communicate binding and neutralization results within 1-2 months of identifying a variant of local interest or concern. Sites including monoclonal antibody discovery should, by the end of year two, be able to perform single cell sequencing from B cells, repertoire analysis for selection of heavy + light chain pairs for subsequent expression and in vitro screening assays, small scale production of selected high quality mAbs from cDNA sequence, and screening of mAbs for binding to a variety of spike proteins, including epitope mapping.
The objectives for GIISER-Asia are:
<ul><li>Identify SARS-CoV-2 pathogen variants and appropriate subjects</li>
<li>Sample Collection and Virus Isolation</li>
<li>Assessment of natural-infection-induced and vaccine-induced polyclonal antibody immunity to novel variants</li>
<li>Local monoclonal antibody discovery</li>
<li>Local monoclonal antibody screening</li>
<li>Develop capacity for immunological evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (and potentially other additional pathogens of global health importance) through project immersion and targeted training with partners</li>
<li>Sustain and further develop expertise in virology, immunology, and communication with policy makers</li>
</ul>What We Are Looking For
<ol><li>Asia PGI requirements: A successful Asia PGI site will formalize a framework to identify a priority pathogen or syndrome for genomic surveillance, build on the experience of sourcing samples for SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance and on the genomic sequencing skills gained during the pandemic, and access the expertise of epidemiologists and clinicians with insight into the epidemiology of the chosen pathogen or syndrome. We will prioritize funding for public labs or institutes that provide surveillance data to the government to inform public health interventions. Proposals should mention other available funding for the proposed work. Pathogens that are not covered by other funding mechanisms including large international programs will be prioritized. We also encourage applicants to describe the impact of ongoing, related work at the organization/site.</li>
</ol>All Asia PGI proposals must:
<ul><li>Describe the framework used to prioritize the chosen pathogen or syndrome</li>
<li>Describe in brief the SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance system in place</li>
<li>Describe how staff can immediately put to use pathogen genomic sequencing technology at your site to respond to at least one of the Asia PGI objectives listed above.</li>
<li>Describe how skills will be developed in sequencing of the priority pathogen chosen</li>
<li>Describe the sampling approach for obtaining specimens for genomic sequencing and how the sampling approach will be optimized to answer at least one of the objectives outlined above. In addition, describe how metadata and clinical, epidemiological, or other data will be collected and combined with the sequencing data.</li>
<li>Describe how the data generated from your project will be used to inform public health decision making in your area, country and/or region in a timely manner. How will you communicate your findings and engage with stakeholders to ensure uptake and use of your findings for these public health purposes? We expect that PGS data will be shared immediately with local government health officials as well as uploaded to a standard repository for genetic data such as GISAID, NCBI, or ENA.</li>
<li>Articulate how the capacity built through the proposed project will strengthen your institute’s approach to using pathogen genomics for surveillance.</li>
</ul><ol start="2"><li>GIISER-Asia requirements: A successful GIISER site will have access to existing pathogen sequencing capacity and bioinformatics, access to existing cohorts or clinical infrastructure, access to existing BLS3 labs and trained virologists and immunologists with some expertise in protein reagent generation.  Not every site will have everything in place, but enthusiastic, creative and collaborative groups who want to get things done are encouraged to include specific requests for the support they need to get there (training, connections, technology, etc.)</li>
</ol>All GIISER-Asia proposals must:
<ul><li>Describe the site's ability to link together pathogen sequencing, clinical epidemiology, and immunology to rapidly produce high-quality, interpretable and informative data on neutralization breadth and cross protection for locally identified SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
<ul><li>This includes, but is not limited to, outgrowth of variant SARS-CoV-2 virus in appropriate BLS3 containment labs for live virus neutralization assays. Examples of anticipated results: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03471-w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cele et al Nature 2021, </a><a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2104192?query=main_nav_lg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Moyo-Gwete et al NEJM 2021, </a><a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2103740?query=main_nav_lg">Shen et al NEJM 2021 </a>and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01285-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wibmer et al</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01285-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nature Medicine 2021.</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Describe how, within the first year of the grant, the GIISER site will bring all required binding and neutralization assays into their lab and communicate their results.</li>
<li>Describe how, within the second year of the grant, the GIISER site will be communicating results within 1-2 months of identifying a variant of local concern.</li>
<li>Describe how, within the second year of the grant, the GIISER site will bring in all required capabilities for monoclonal antibody discovery and screening. (Proposals without an antibody scope will still be eligible for funding under this call.)</li>
<li>Describe how the site will leverage existing local expertise, collaborate, and share data effectively with other GIISER sites and international networks</li>
</ul>Across both goals, we will not consider funding for: 
<ul><li>Sequencing of extant samples or isolates will not be considered as responsive to this RFP. The proposal must include a plan for prospective genomic surveillance rather than simply genomic sequencing of existing samples.</li>
<li>Funding of genomic surveillance in a setting with no experience with SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. The proposed studies must leverage equipment and/or human resource capacity that was instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic.</li>
<li>GIISER-Asia sites that do not have funded pathogen genomics surveillance and existing clinical cohorts to build on for the immune characterization studies.</li>
<li>Studies focused on T cell immunity and characterizing the overall immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are out of scope.</li>
</ul><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title="" id="_ftn1">1</a> Government-funded institutes and labs that are mandated to provide surveillance data to health ministries for public health action are eligible to apply. This may include public health labs at the state or provincial level.

Genomic surveillance of pathogens can provide information about pathogen evolution and insight into the genetic basis of changes in virulence or resistance to interventions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, genomic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 was established by many countries, including countries in Asia. In response to this request for proposals, we seek projects from investigators in South and Southeast Asia that address one - or both - of the following goals: 1) Design and pilot a genomic surveillance program for a priority pathogen (other than SARS-CoV-2) and 2) Develop capacity for Immunology and Immune Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 to inform Epidemic Response.

<h2>Background</h2>

Mathematical modeling and analytics are valuable tools to inform policy and programmatic decisions, and there have been many successful examples in global health using disease burden estimation, modeling, and forecasting. It has become increasingly clear that these approaches will need to incorporate a gender lens, either because women and girls comprise a greater fraction of the remaining burden, or because they hold the keys to a more efficient solution.

There are few modelers in low-and-middle-income (LMIC<a class="footnote" href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" name="_ftnref1" title="">1</a>) settings focused on health issues that disproportionally affect women, especially adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), as well as a lack of access to gender-disaggregated data sources. Currently, many units contributing to efforts in these topic areas are based primarily in academic institutions in the Global North. We believe modeling is most impactful when conducted by local partners, with local data where possible, and co-created with relevant decision makers. Deploying "one-size-fits-all" analysis tools and governance processes across different regions from where they were created may produce poor analysis results. Solutions that are not fit-for-purpose could also lead to misleading interpretations and conclusions when scientists analyze data without insight from the context in which it was collected. As such, modeling infrastructure and capacity needs to be proximally focused in the areas where the data emerges to produce solutions that enable strong evidence-based practices to guide interventions.

Therefore, there is significant opportunity to: facilitate collaboration among women's health modelers in low- and middle-income countries, address gender biases in existing methodologies, extend uses of tools and platforms to better account for gendered effects, generate solid evidence to facilitate policy changes, and provide a global public good for Gender Equality that can improve how we allocate internal resources and engage partners to use data to make better decisions.

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

This RFP seeks innovative approaches to modeling of women's health issues or of broader health topics that incorporate a gender lens. We are looking for projects with a 1-to-3-year timeline that will achieve at least one of the objectives below:

<ul>
	<li>Increase the number of trained modelers, especially women with gender expertise based in low-income and middle-income countries</li>
	<li>Achieve a better understanding of issues that disproportionately affect women through modeling</li>
	<li>Improve engagement with modeling approaches to support strategic planning and/or evaluation work</li>
</ul>

Ideally, proposals should also:

<ul>
	<li>Bring together discrete modeling units across low-income and middle-income countries to share expertise</li>
	<li>Enable South-South data-centered collaborations, knowledge transfer, and build on &amp; strengthen existing initiatives and ecosystems</li>
	<li>Foster innovation with data in the interest of their respective local communities and achieving equality in access to health care</li>
	<li>Improve data collection, sharing, governance, regulatory compliance, and analysis processes to enable data-centered and gender aware public health research and interventions</li>
	<li>Explore and improve how to build and strengthen the interface of modeling with policy engagement leading to increased adoption of insights to yield impact</li>
</ul>

Priority will be given to proposals that 1) advance broad access to data to support gender intentional modelling to improve women's health and 2) enable strong evidence-based practices to guide policy decisions.

The desired outcome of this request for proposals is to build a modeling and analytics ecosystem focusing on applying a gender intentional lens to achieve gender equality in women's health and to facilitate South- South collaborations. Grantees should be able to, over time, answer questions on how their proposal to increase empowerment of modelers, in particular women modelers, at a local level would reduce the impact of issues that disproportionately impact women’s health over the next 10 years in each geography.

Funding level: 

The funding level for the Building Data Modeling Capacity for Gender Equality Project is a grant of up to $500,000 USD, provided to the organization, with a term of up to 1-to-3-years. Application budgets should be commensurate with the scope of work proposed. Any indirect costs should be included in the USD $500,000 (subject to the <a href="https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/Documents/Indirect_Cost_Policy.pdf" target="_blank">Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation's indirect cost policy</a>).

Selected proposals will become part of a coordinated program aiming at Strengthening Data Science Capacity and the Ecosystem to Enable Data-Centered and Gender Aware Public Health Interventions. We seek to build a network of researchers working together in close collaboration with the existing <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grants/JTdCJTIyc29ydCUyMiUzQSUyMmRlc2NlbmRpbmclMjIlMkMlMjJzb3J0RmllbGQlMjIlM0ElMjJkYXRlJTIyJTJDJTIybnVtYmVyUGVyUGFnZSUyMiUzQTEwMCUyQyUyMnBhZ2VOdW1iZXIlMjIlM0EwJTdE/JTdCJTIyeWVhcnMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJjaGFsbGVuZ2VzJTIyJTNBJTVCJTIyMTE3JTIyJTVEJTJDJTIydGVybXMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJpbml0aWF0aXZlcyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCUyQyUyMmxvY2F0aW9ucyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCU3RA==" target="_blank">Data Science Grand Challenges network</a> and its partners to build on lessons learned in different regions and further develop processes, tools and governance that maximize the impact of data-focused research studies, as well as identify and address the global data-related challenges.

What We Are Looking For: 

<ul>
	<li>Collaborative proposals that are led by investigators in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) - we particularly encourage applications from women-led organizations and applications involving projects led by women</li>
	<li>Proposals that have the potential to have impact on addressing women's health issues within the proposed budget and timeframe of 1-to-3-years</li>
	<li>Proposals that are gender intentional or transformative:
	<ul>
		<li>Gender intentional investments will, through novel modeling and analytical approaches, increase understanding of impact that gender gaps/barriers have across relevant global health fields</li>
		<li>Gender transformative investments will, through novel modeling and analytical approaches, increase the understanding of empowerment on reduction of gender gaps/barriers across relevant global health fields</li>
		<li>Should demonstrate that their approach will increase knowledge and understanding of gender barriers in modeling OR Should display how their methodologies would show impact alleviating a known gender gap/issue would have across relevant global health fields</li>
		<li>Proposals should also highlight existing expertise around gender and modeling and how it will contribute to both novel methods and expanding the ecosystem</li>
		<li>Proposals that demonstrate enhancement of the data value chain for gender intentional modelling</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	<li>Proposals that have timely access to necessary data. Focus on improving gender modeling capacity in women's health in LMICs</li>
	<li>Proposals that articulate how the project will lead to impact in the near-term and how those benefits will be sustained past the lifetime of the project</li>
	<li>Proposals that demonstrate engagement with local and/or regional decision makers</li>
	<li>Proposals that are driven by a shared commitment to open science, data sharing, and building collaboration and analysis infrastructure to enable discoveries that will benefit people everywhere</li>
</ul>

Note: Global partners may be included. However, priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate at least 80% of the funding is going to LMIC institutions and where the PI is a part of an LMIC institution.

We will not consider funding for proposals that: 

<ul>
	<li>Aim to collect and generate new data through this funding</li>
	<li>Are not gender intentional</li>
	<li>Are not collaborative</li>
	<li>Do not focus on women's health or incorporate a gender lens into broader health topics</li>
	<li>Do not engage local and/or regional decision-makers or do not have a plan to do so</li>
	<li>Do not demonstrate that the work proposed will be led and undertaken by investigators and scientists at institutions based in LMIC</li>
	<li>Do not have timely access to necessary data</li>
	<li>Do not demonstrate a pathway to decision making that results in sustainable impact on gender equity and women's health issues</li>
	<li>Do not demonstrate a clear commitment to open science and making their findings, processes and/or tools developed accessible and reusable</li>
</ul>

<a class="footnote" href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" name="_ftn1" title="">1</a> See <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/country/XO" rel="noopener" target="_blank">World Bank - Low Income Countries for definitions</a>). Subject to the eligibility requirements in the <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/sites/default/files/files/strengthening-modeling-and-analytics-capacity-rules-and-guidelines.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Rules &amp; Guidelines</a>, investigators in low- and middle-income countries are invited (in connection with the organization with which they are affiliated) to apply through the Bill &amp; Melinda 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, especially where the opportunity exists to build on existing collaborations.

Strengthening Modeling and Analytics Capacity and Ecosystem for Women’s Health

<h2>Background</h2>
Mathematical modeling and analytics are valuable tools to inform policy and programmatic decisions, and there have been many successful examples in global health using disease burden estimation, modeling, and forecasting. It has become increasingly clear that these approaches will need to incorporate a gender lens, either because women and girls comprise a greater fraction of the remaining burden, or because they hold the keys to a more efficient solution.
There are few modelers in low-and-middle-income (LMIC<a class="footnote" href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" name="_ftnref1" title="">1</a>) settings focused on health issues that disproportionally affect women, especially adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), as well as a lack of access to gender-disaggregated data sources. Currently, many units contributing to efforts in these topic areas are based primarily in academic institutions in the Global North. We believe modeling is most impactful when conducted by local partners, with local data where possible, and co-created with relevant decision makers. Deploying "one-size-fits-all" analysis tools and governance processes across different regions from where they were created may produce poor analysis results. Solutions that are not fit-for-purpose could also lead to misleading interpretations and conclusions when scientists analyze data without insight from the context in which it was collected. As such, modeling infrastructure and capacity needs to be proximally focused in the areas where the data emerges to produce solutions that enable strong evidence-based practices to guide interventions.
Therefore, there is significant opportunity to: facilitate collaboration among women's health modelers in low- and middle-income countries, address gender biases in existing methodologies, extend uses of tools and platforms to better account for gendered effects, generate solid evidence to facilitate policy changes, and provide a global public good for Gender Equality that can improve how we allocate internal resources and engage partners to use data to make better decisions.
<h2>The Challenge</h2>
This RFP seeks innovative approaches to modeling of women's health issues or of broader health topics that incorporate a gender lens. We are looking for projects with a 1-to-3-year timeline that will achieve at least one of the objectives below:
<ul><li>Increase the number of trained modelers, especially women with gender expertise based in low-income and middle-income countries</li>
<li>Achieve a better understanding of issues that disproportionately affect women through modeling</li>
<li>Improve engagement with modeling approaches to support strategic planning and/or evaluation work</li>
</ul>Ideally, proposals should also:
<ul><li>Bring together discrete modeling units across low-income and middle-income countries to share expertise</li>
<li>Enable South-South data-centered collaborations, knowledge transfer, and build on &amp; strengthen existing initiatives and ecosystems</li>
<li>Foster innovation with data in the interest of their respective local communities and achieving equality in access to health care</li>
<li>Improve data collection, sharing, governance, regulatory compliance, and analysis processes to enable data-centered and gender aware public health research and interventions</li>
<li>Explore and improve how to build and strengthen the interface of modeling with policy engagement leading to increased adoption of insights to yield impact</li>
</ul>Priority will be given to proposals that 1) advance broad access to data to support gender intentional modelling to improve women's health and 2) enable strong evidence-based practices to guide policy decisions.
The desired outcome of this request for proposals is to build a modeling and analytics ecosystem focusing on applying a gender intentional lens to achieve gender equality in women's health and to facilitate South- South collaborations. Grantees should be able to, over time, answer questions on how their proposal to increase empowerment of modelers, in particular women modelers, at a local level would reduce the impact of issues that disproportionately impact women’s health over the next 10 years in each geography.
Funding level: 
The funding level for the Building Data Modeling Capacity for Gender Equality Project is a grant of up to $500,000 USD, provided to the organization, with a term of up to 1-to-3-years. Application budgets should be commensurate with the scope of work proposed. Any indirect costs should be included in the USD $500,000 (subject to the <a href="https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/Documents/Indirect_Cost_Policy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation's indirect cost policy</a>).
Selected proposals will become part of a coordinated program aiming at Strengthening Data Science Capacity and the Ecosystem to Enable Data-Centered and Gender Aware Public Health Interventions. We seek to build a network of researchers working together in close collaboration with the existing <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grants/JTdCJTIyc29ydCUyMiUzQSUyMmRlc2NlbmRpbmclMjIlMkMlMjJzb3J0RmllbGQlMjIlM0ElMjJkYXRlJTIyJTJDJTIybnVtYmVyUGVyUGFnZSUyMiUzQTEwMCUyQyUyMnBhZ2VOdW1iZXIlMjIlM0EwJTdE/JTdCJTIyeWVhcnMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJjaGFsbGVuZ2VzJTIyJTNBJTVCJTIyMTE3JTIyJTVEJTJDJTIydGVybXMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJpbml0aWF0aXZlcyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCUyQyUyMmxvY2F0aW9ucyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCU3RA==" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Data Science Grand Challenges network</a> and its partners to build on lessons learned in different regions and further develop processes, tools and governance that maximize the impact of data-focused research studies, as well as identify and address the global data-related challenges.
What We Are Looking For: 
<ul><li>Collaborative proposals that are led by investigators in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) - we particularly encourage applications from women-led organizations and applications involving projects led by women</li>
<li>Proposals that have the potential to have impact on addressing women's health issues within the proposed budget and timeframe of 1-to-3-years</li>
<li>Proposals that are gender intentional or transformative:
<ul><li>Gender intentional investments will, through novel modeling and analytical approaches, increase understanding of impact that gender gaps/barriers have across relevant global health fields</li>
<li>Gender transformative investments will, through novel modeling and analytical approaches, increase the understanding of empowerment on reduction of gender gaps/barriers across relevant global health fields</li>
<li>Should demonstrate that their approach will increase knowledge and understanding of gender barriers in modeling OR Should display how their methodologies would show impact alleviating a known gender gap/issue would have across relevant global health fields</li>
<li>Proposals should also highlight existing expertise around gender and modeling and how it will contribute to both novel methods and expanding the ecosystem</li>
<li>Proposals that demonstrate enhancement of the data value chain for gender intentional modelling</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Proposals that have timely access to necessary data. Focus on improving gender modeling capacity in women's health in LMICs</li>
<li>Proposals that articulate how the project will lead to impact in the near-term and how those benefits will be sustained past the lifetime of the project</li>
<li>Proposals that demonstrate engagement with local and/or regional decision makers</li>
<li>Proposals that are driven by a shared commitment to open science, data sharing, and building collaboration and analysis infrastructure to enable discoveries that will benefit people everywhere</li>
</ul>Note: Global partners may be included. However, priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate at least 80% of the funding is going to LMIC institutions and where the PI is a part of an LMIC institution.
We will not consider funding for proposals that: 
<ul><li>Aim to collect and generate new data through this funding</li>
<li>Are not gender intentional</li>
<li>Are not collaborative</li>
<li>Do not focus on women's health or incorporate a gender lens into broader health topics</li>
<li>Do not engage local and/or regional decision-makers or do not have a plan to do so</li>
<li>Do not demonstrate that the work proposed will be led and undertaken by investigators and scientists at institutions based in LMIC</li>
<li>Do not have timely access to necessary data</li>
<li>Do not demonstrate a pathway to decision making that results in sustainable impact on gender equity and women's health issues</li>
<li>Do not demonstrate a clear commitment to open science and making their findings, processes and/or tools developed accessible and reusable</li>
</ul><a class="footnote" href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" name="_ftn1" title="">1</a> See <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/country/XO" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Bank - Low Income Countries for definitions</a>). Subject to the eligibility requirements in the <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/sites/default/files/files/strengthening-modeling-and-analytics-capacity-rules-and-guidelines.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rules &amp; Guidelines</a>, investigators in low- and middle-income countries are invited (in connection with the organization with which they are affiliated) to apply through the Bill &amp; Melinda 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, especially where the opportunity exists to build on existing collaborations.

Mathematical modeling and analytics are valuable tools to inform policy and programmatic decisions, and there have been many successful examples in global health using disease burden estimation, modeling, and forecasting. It has become increasingly clear that these approaches will need to incorporate a gender lens, either because women and girls comprise a greater fraction of the remaining burden, or because they hold the keys to a more efficient solution. This RFP seeks innovative approaches to modeling of women's health issues or of broader health topics that incorporate a gender lens.

This Challenge seeks innovations that contribute to the development of safe and effective non-hormonal contraceptives that meet the needs and interests of women and that address key barriers in accessing and using currently available methods. We are seeking non-hormonal contraceptives that are easy to access, discreet, convenient, and non-invasive. Additionally, it is important that these methods have tolerable side effects and do not impact the menstrual cycle.

For more information, please visit the <a href="https://scienceforafrica.foundation/funding" target="_blank">Grand Challenges Africa</a> website; to apply to this request for proposals, use the link to the right.

Strengthening the Contraceptive Research and Development Ecosystem in Africa: Accelerating Innovations in Non-Hormonal Contraception for Women

This Challenge seeks innovations that contribute to the development of safe and effective non-hormonal contraceptives that meet the needs and interests of women and that address key barriers in accessing and using currently available methods. We are seeking non-hormonal contraceptives that are easy to access, discreet, convenient, and non-invasive. Additionally, it is important that these methods have tolerable side effects and do not impact the menstrual cycle.
For more information, please visit the <a href="https://scienceforafrica.foundation/funding" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Grand Challenges Africa</a> website; to apply to this request for proposals, use the link to the right.

This Challenge seeks innovations that contribute to the development of safe and effective non-hormonal contraceptives that meet the needs and interests of women and that address key barriers in accessing and using currently available methods. We are seeking non-hormonal contraceptives that are easy to access, discreet, convenient, and non-invasive. Additionally, it is important that these methods have tolerable side effects and do not impact the menstrual cycle.

Strengthening the Contraceptive Research and Development Ecosystem in Africa Accelerating Innovations in Non-Hormonal Contraception for Women

**NOTE: This opportunity was open only to participants who registered for and attended the 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.

<h2>Background</h2>

The Global Health Discovery Collaboratory (GHDC) Platforms program at the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation - or <a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms" target="_blanks">"Collaboratory Platforms"</a> - enables access to specialized research platforms to accelerate the discovery and translation of transformative solutions to global health inequity. These Platforms enable access to cutting-edge technologies and unique expertise to guide the design, execution, data analysis and interpretation to support a wide variety of initiatives, including discovery for vaccines and biologics, human immune monitoring, biomarker discovery, characterization of host-pathogen interactions, and more. Scientists in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have the local knowledge and perspective crucial to finding the right solution and directing it to the right problem, and the Gates Foundation is committed to ensuring that scientists based in LMICs have opportunities to advance their work through partnership with the Collaboratory Platforms.

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

We seek creative projects that are led by investigators in LMICs<a class="footnote" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">1</a> and whose path to global health impact would be accelerated through partnership with the Collaboratory Platforms. Proposed ideas should be in alignment with the GHDC focus areas listed below. They should also align with the Gates Foundation's <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work" target="_blank">strategic priorities</a>, including but not limited to tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, pneumonia (e.g., influenza, RSV, coronavirus), enteric diseases (e.g., Shigella, rotavirus), HPV, and neglected tropical diseases. The details and scope of the involvement of the Collaboratory Platform will be co-developed once finalists are identified.

GHDC focus areas:

<ul>
	<li>Development of vaccines and biologics</li>
	<li>Drug discovery</li>
	<li>Biomarker discovery</li>
	<li>Maternal, neonatal, child health</li>
	<li>Reproductive health technologies</li>
	<li>Translational sciences</li>
</ul>

Funding level: up to USD $250,000 for each project, with a grant term of up to two years depending on the scope of the project.

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for proposals from investigators based in LMICs* that are aligned with our <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work" target="_blank">strategic priorities</a>. Proposed activities involving data and sample collection and experiments performed at the LMIC institution will be funded via new direct grants, while work performed by the Collaboratory Platform partners will be funded directly by the Gates Foundation through a separate funding mechanism. Proposed ideas may be entirely new projects or ideas that will enable further in-depth analysis to complement an existing project. Pilot studies to generate initial data that may lead to potential larger follow-on studies (via separate funding) or proposals aimed at generating hypotheses are acceptable, as are studies designed to test specific hypotheses. In addition to collaborating with Gates Foundation-funded investigators, some Platforms can train interested collaborators in wet lab or analytical techniques in the context of a specific project.

Your proposal should include:

<ol>
	<li>A description of your idea and how you intend to test it</li>
	<li>A description of what you will do at your institution with the funds provided</li>
	<li>The name of the Collaboratory Platform you wish to work with during your project and why this platform will enable you to more effectively test your idea(s). We do not expect proposals to contain detailed descriptions of work done by the Platforms, as we expect workplans will be jointly developed after finalists are selected. You do not need to provide a budget for the Platform in your proposal.</li>
</ol>

Please visit the Global Health Discovery Collaboratory <a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/" target="_blank">website</a> to learn more about the GHDC and the individual Collaboratory Platforms. Representatives from each Collaboratory Platform are attending the 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting and will be presenting posters at the poster session. We encourage interested parties to visit the poster session and also to attend the GHDC scientific track sessions at the meeting to learn more.

Collaboratory Platforms focus areas:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/adjuvants-and-formulations" target="_blank">Adjuvants &amp; Formulations</a>: Access high quality adjuvants, formulation expertise, and small-animal immunogenicity studies.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/antibody-dynamics" target="_blank">Antibody Dynamics:</a> Providing qualified/validated GCLP compliant antibody measurements for specificity, isotype/subclass, avidity, affinity, and function; immune systems computational expertise to define immune correlates of protection.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/antigen-arrays" target="_blank">Antigen Arrays</a>: High throughput microarray technology enables measurement of antibody responses to thousands of proteins in a single assay.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/human-immunoglobulin-repertoire-mice" target="_blank">Human immunoglobulin repertoire mice</a>: Interrogate immunogens against a human immune repertoire. Discover and isolate mAbs to support your research or advance product development.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/protein-sciences" target="_blank">Protein Sciences</a>: Provides in-depth structural characterization of immunogens using a variety of structural and biophysical techniques.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/metabolomic-biomarker-discovery" target="_blank">Metabolomic Biomarker Discovery</a>: Offers untargeted mass spectrometry-based molecular profiling to measure thousands of distinct small molecules in biosamples to accelerate discovery of biomarkers of health and disease.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/proteomic-biomarker-discovery" target="_blank">Proteomic Biomarker Discovery</a>: Quantify thousands of proteins using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to obtain signatures reflective of health or disease status.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/sars-cov-2-immunoassays" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 Immunoassays</a>: Access validated / qualified assays to evaluate vaccines or mAbs for SARS-CoV-2 (Opportunities to develop assays for other global health diseases.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/single-cell-analytics" target="_blank">Single Cell Analytics</a>: Provides experimental and computational single-cell genomic profiling for in-depth molecular characterization of biological specimens.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/systems-immunology" target="_blank">Systems Immunology</a>: Offers comprehensive and standardized immune monitoring, cutting-edge technologies and novel analytics.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/systems-serology" target="_blank">Systems Serology</a>: High-throughput biophysical profiling and functional assays linked with systems biology/machine learning algorithms to characterize protective humoral immune responses.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/vaccine-immunology-statistical-center" target="_blank">Vaccine Immunology Statistical Center</a>: Access expert biostatistical support for study design, data management, high-dimensional data analysis, statistical and machine learning methods to advance global health research.</li>
</ul>

We Will Not Consider Funding for:

<ul>
	<li>Clinical trials</li>
	<li>In-vivo studies in non-human primates</li>
	<li>Investigators whose primary appointment is in a high-income country</li>
	<li>Proposals that do not include the use of the Collaboratory Platforms</li>
	<li>Proposals that do not align with the scope/remit of the Collaboratory Platforms</li>
	<li>Purchase of capital equipment</li>
	<li>Institutions that are unable to sign the <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/6y3xo20je9pr/4XPndugSRBymEFNUzfDvad/3c3e77f62e16987bcfd08542ed9d66a7/Gates-Foundation_Collaboratory-Guiding-Principles-2021.pdf" target="_blank">Collaboratory Guiding Principles</a> by the time of grant execution.</li>
</ul>

<a class="footnote" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title="">1</a> See <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/country/XO" target="_blank">World Bank - Low &amp; Middle Income</a> Countries for definitions. Subject to the eligibility requirements in the Rules &amp; Guidelines, investigators in low- and middle-income countries are invited (in connection with the organization with which they are affiliated) to apply through the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation's application portal. We reserve the right to determine eligibility for this call based on these characteristics.

Supporting Researchers Through the Technologies of the Global Health Discovery Collaboratory Platforms

<h2>Background</h2>
The Global Health Discovery Collaboratory (GHDC) Platforms program at the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation - or <a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms" target="_blanks">"Collaboratory Platforms"</a> - enables access to specialized research platforms to accelerate the discovery and translation of transformative solutions to global health inequity. These Platforms enable access to cutting-edge technologies and unique expertise to guide the design, execution, data analysis and interpretation to support a wide variety of initiatives, including discovery for vaccines and biologics, human immune monitoring, biomarker discovery, characterization of host-pathogen interactions, and more. Scientists in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have the local knowledge and perspective crucial to finding the right solution and directing it to the right problem, and the Gates Foundation is committed to ensuring that scientists based in LMICs have opportunities to advance their work through partnership with the Collaboratory Platforms.
<h2>The Challenge</h2>
We seek creative projects that are led by investigators in LMICs<a class="footnote" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="" id="_ftnref1">1</a> and whose path to global health impact would be accelerated through partnership with the Collaboratory Platforms. Proposed ideas should be in alignment with the GHDC focus areas listed below. They should also align with the Gates Foundation's <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">strategic priorities</a>, including but not limited to tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, pneumonia (e.g., influenza, RSV, coronavirus), enteric diseases (e.g., Shigella, rotavirus), HPV, and neglected tropical diseases. The details and scope of the involvement of the Collaboratory Platform will be co-developed once finalists are identified.
GHDC focus areas:
<ul><li>Development of vaccines and biologics</li>
<li>Drug discovery</li>
<li>Biomarker discovery</li>
<li>Maternal, neonatal, child health</li>
<li>Reproductive health technologies</li>
<li>Translational sciences</li>
</ul>Funding level: up to USD $250,000 for each project, with a grant term of up to two years depending on the scope of the project.
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for proposals from investigators based in LMICs* that are aligned with our <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">strategic priorities</a>. Proposed activities involving data and sample collection and experiments performed at the LMIC institution will be funded via new direct grants, while work performed by the Collaboratory Platform partners will be funded directly by the Gates Foundation through a separate funding mechanism. Proposed ideas may be entirely new projects or ideas that will enable further in-depth analysis to complement an existing project. Pilot studies to generate initial data that may lead to potential larger follow-on studies (via separate funding) or proposals aimed at generating hypotheses are acceptable, as are studies designed to test specific hypotheses. In addition to collaborating with Gates Foundation-funded investigators, some Platforms can train interested collaborators in wet lab or analytical techniques in the context of a specific project.
Your proposal should include:
<ol><li>A description of your idea and how you intend to test it</li>
<li>A description of what you will do at your institution with the funds provided</li>
<li>The name of the Collaboratory Platform you wish to work with during your project and why this platform will enable you to more effectively test your idea(s). We do not expect proposals to contain detailed descriptions of work done by the Platforms, as we expect workplans will be jointly developed after finalists are selected. You do not need to provide a budget for the Platform in your proposal.</li>
</ol>Please visit the Global Health Discovery Collaboratory <a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">website</a> to learn more about the GHDC and the individual Collaboratory Platforms. Representatives from each Collaboratory Platform are attending the 2022 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting and will be presenting posters at the poster session. We encourage interested parties to visit the poster session and also to attend the GHDC scientific track sessions at the meeting to learn more.
Collaboratory Platforms focus areas:
<ul><li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/adjuvants-and-formulations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Adjuvants &amp; Formulations</a>: Access high quality adjuvants, formulation expertise, and small-animal immunogenicity studies.</li>
</ul><ul><li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/antibody-dynamics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Antibody Dynamics:</a> Providing qualified/validated GCLP compliant antibody measurements for specificity, isotype/subclass, avidity, affinity, and function; immune systems computational expertise to define immune correlates of protection.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/antigen-arrays" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Antigen Arrays</a>: High throughput microarray technology enables measurement of antibody responses to thousands of proteins in a single assay.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/human-immunoglobulin-repertoire-mice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Human immunoglobulin repertoire mice</a>: Interrogate immunogens against a human immune repertoire. Discover and isolate mAbs to support your research or advance product development.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/protein-sciences" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Protein Sciences</a>: Provides in-depth structural characterization of immunogens using a variety of structural and biophysical techniques.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/metabolomic-biomarker-discovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Metabolomic Biomarker Discovery</a>: Offers untargeted mass spectrometry-based molecular profiling to measure thousands of distinct small molecules in biosamples to accelerate discovery of biomarkers of health and disease.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/proteomic-biomarker-discovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Proteomic Biomarker Discovery</a>: Quantify thousands of proteins using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to obtain signatures reflective of health or disease status.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/sars-cov-2-immunoassays" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SARS-CoV-2 Immunoassays</a>: Access validated / qualified assays to evaluate vaccines or mAbs for SARS-CoV-2 (Opportunities to develop assays for other global health diseases.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/single-cell-analytics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Single Cell Analytics</a>: Provides experimental and computational single-cell genomic profiling for in-depth molecular characterization of biological specimens.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/systems-immunology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Systems Immunology</a>: Offers comprehensive and standardized immune monitoring, cutting-edge technologies and novel analytics.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/systems-serology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Systems Serology</a>: High-throughput biophysical profiling and functional assays linked with systems biology/machine learning algorithms to characterize protective humoral immune responses.</li>
<li><a href="https://ghdiscoverycollaboratory.org/platforms/vaccine-immunology-statistical-center" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vaccine Immunology Statistical Center</a>: Access expert biostatistical support for study design, data management, high-dimensional data analysis, statistical and machine learning methods to advance global health research.</li>
</ul>We Will Not Consider Funding for:
<ul><li>Clinical trials</li>
<li>In-vivo studies in non-human primates</li>
<li>Investigators whose primary appointment is in a high-income country</li>
<li>Proposals that do not include the use of the Collaboratory Platforms</li>
<li>Proposals that do not align with the scope/remit of the Collaboratory Platforms</li>
<li>Purchase of capital equipment</li>
<li>Institutions that are unable to sign the <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/6y3xo20je9pr/4XPndugSRBymEFNUzfDvad/3c3e77f62e16987bcfd08542ed9d66a7/Gates-Foundation_Collaboratory-Guiding-Principles-2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Collaboratory Guiding Principles</a> by the time of grant execution.</li>
</ul><a class="footnote" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title="" id="_ftn1">1</a> See <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/country/XO" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Bank - Low &amp; Middle Income</a> Countries for definitions. Subject to the eligibility requirements in the Rules &amp; Guidelines, investigators in low- and middle-income countries are invited (in connection with the organization with which they are affiliated) to apply through the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation's application portal. We reserve the right to determine eligibility for this call based on these characteristics.

We seek creative projects that are led by investigators in LMICs and whose path to global health impact would be accelerated through partnership with the Collaboratory Platforms. Proposed ideas should be in alignment with the Gates Foundation’s strategic priorities, including but not limited to tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, pneumonia (e.g., influenza, RSV, coronavirus), enteric diseases (e.g., Shigella, rotavirus), HPV, and neglected tropical diseases.

<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2>

Lymphatic Filariasis is a major public health issue in India. Even though the National Filaria Control Programme was established in 1955, it is estimated that there are over 30 million micro-filaremics, over 23 million cases of symptomatic filariasis and almost half-a-billion individuals that are potentially at risk of infection. The last 10 years have seen positive advances in the diagnostics, treatment and control of filariasis.

Circulating microfilariae can be detected by examining thick smears (20–60 μl) of finger-prick blood. The blood must be collected at a specific time – either at night or during the day – depending on the periodicity of the microfilariae. This method is inexpensive and feasible at individual and community levels for mapping the endemicity of lymphatic filariasis and monitoring mass drug administration (MDA).

The Filariasis Test Strip (FTS) is a rapid diagnostic test used to detect the Wuchereria bancrofti&nbsp;antigen in human blood samples.

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

This call-for-proposals aims to:

<ul>
	<li>Explore alternative tests that meet or exceed the current Filarial Test Strip (FTS) or microfilaria detection tools.</li>
	<li>Seek novel methods for identifying viable adult filarial worms in the human body, i.e. the absence of signal must indicate the worms are either not present, dead or permanently sterilized (as would be needed for making decisions).</li>
	<li>Explore the identification of new methods specific for early exposure or pre-patent infection of Lymphatic Filariasis-causative species (as would be needed for surveillance).</li>
</ul>

Grand Challenges India

Diagnostics for Neglected Tropical Diseases - Lymphatic Filariasis

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) launched a joint Grand Challenges program to call for international cooperation to develop innovative solutions for malaria vector control, focusing on outdoor vector control strategies, tools and products, with the goal of accelerating progress toward malaria eradication.

The program is part of the Grand Challenges China initiative co-established by NSFC and the BMGF in 2015 to fund research projects that contribute to safe, effective, affordable and scalable solutions to major global health and development challenges.

Malaria is a deadly yet preventable and treatable mosquito-borne disease affecting hundreds of millions of people annually. Despite progress made over the past two decades, malaria persists in over 85 low- and middle-income countries and communities. According to the 2021 World Malaria Report, there were an estimated 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 deaths globally in 2020, with Africa bearing about 95 percent of the disease burden.

Vector control is an essential component of malaria prevention, with the scale-up of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), and expansion of indoor residual spraying (IRS) as key contributing factors. While the majority of malaria transmission occurs indoors, there are increasing concerns around the magnitude of outdoor transmission, where more investment in scientific and technological breakthroughs is much needed. With the joint call announced today, NSFC and the BMGF aim to promote international cooperation to identify and cultivate innovative strategies, techniques, products and tools that address specific challenges in outdoor malaria transmission.

China has abundant experience and expertise in eliminating malaria, and was declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization earlier this year. Through this funding program, NSFC encourages Chinese scientists to conduct research collaboratively with international organizations, and to contribute to the fight against malaria in countries that are still under its threat.

Malaria eradication is a top priority of the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation. While continuing to expand the use of existing tools, the foundation is also committed to continuously developing and accelerating introduction of new tools and solutions that are essential to staying ahead of the malaria parasite and mosquito that transmits it and achieving the eradication goal.

As long-term, strategic partners, NSFC and the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation co-launched this new program to harness the power of global collaboration to catalyze innovations for the benefit of those who continue to be most threatened by this preventable and treatable disease.

The joint program will fund up to six proposals on malaria vector control. Eligible projects must involve international collaborations between investigators in China-based and international institutions. Proposals will be assessed upon the potential for practical, affordable and scalable application in malaria endemic countries and regions. Each proposal, if selected, will be funded up to RMB3,000,000.

Grand Challenges China

Outdoor Malaria Vector Control

<h2>Background</h2>

The scale and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic have reiterated the need for access to and analysis of timely accurate health data to support the implementation of control measures and to guide health interventions and evidence-based practices. The supporting infrastructures and capacities through which researchers access and analyze these data, however, vary greatly. For several reasons, researchers in the Global South often are skeptical of broad calls for data sharing when they are left out of the analysis and results interpretation. Additionally, deploying “one-size-fits-all” analysis tools and governance processes across different regions from where they were created may produce poor analysis results and could even lead to misleading interpretations and conclusions when scientists analyze data without insight from the context in which it was collected.

As such, data science infrastructure and capacity needs to be proximally focused in the areas where the data emerge, to produce solutions that enable strong evidence-based practices to guide health interventions.

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

Collecting, sharing, analyzing and interpreting health-related data are essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice as well as enabling advanced knowledge for heath emergency preparedness. Many data resources are not reusable if they have not been sufficiently documented and contextualized, or appropriately collected and licensed for use, particularly in cases where secondary analyses are planned that were not originally anticipated when the data were originally generated.

The desired outcome of this request for proposals is development of tools and processes that are "fit-for-purpose" to facilitate collaboration among researchers in low- and middle-income countries. This effort is focused on filling data science gaps and challenges whose solutions will address global health problems while fostering multi-disciplinary collaborations among researchers. We are specifically interested in funding proposals led by early and mid-career researchers. We expect each primary applicant to have a senior scientific advisor who would commit to provide scientific and technical guidance and mentorship to the team and facilitate connections with international networks as needed.

Specifically, the objectives of the challenge will be to:

<ul>
	<li>Develop and improve foundational tools, standards and protocols that enable data-centered health research, interventions, and health surveillance</li>
	<li>Improve access to curated and linked datasets for research and training purposes</li>
	<li>Enable South-South data-centered collaborations and build on and strengthen existing initiatives and ecosystems</li>
	<li>Enhance Data Science infrastructure, analysis capabilities and local leadership to address public health problems</li>
	<li>Foster innovation with health data in the interest of their respective local communities</li>
	<li>Bridge the gap between data-centered research and policy through collaborations and design of appropriate data science communication tools and channels</li>
	<li>Increase health data reliability and enable reuse by developing tools and processes to curate, standardize and aggregate data</li>
	<li>Improve data collection, sharing, governance, regulatory compliance, and analysis processes to enable data-centered public health research</li>
</ul>

What We Are Looking For

We will be developing a coordinated program in order to support these objectives. This will include cross-cutting cores which will provide specific functions to the program as well as individual research projects focusing on one of more specific disease areas.

Applications are invited from researchers working in healthcare, academia, industry, or research foundations, and will be welcomed from researchers based in any of the following regions: Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Brazil. Each proposal should be submitted by one primary applicant, but the awards require the participation of at least two research institutions from the regions listed above and not both in the same country.

Program structure

<img alt="Strengthening Data Science Capacity and the Ecosystem Diagram" height="329" src="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/sites/default/files/images/picture1.png" width="540" />

Data governance and standards core

We seek to fund one data governance and standards core. This core would:

<ul>
	<li>Support the research projects funded through this initiative including the capacity strengthening core</li>
	<li>Leverage the funded research projects as use cases for development and refinement of data sharing processes and governance</li>
	<li>Seek to strengthen global communities and multi-disciplinary collaboration from researchers in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) by developing processes to enable South-South collaborative analysis</li>
	<li>Develop adapted standards or Standard Operating Procedures that address data sharing issues including anonymization and perturbation protocols</li>
	<li>Develop re-usable tools, protocols, and standards to collect, clean, harmonize, and commonly structure individual data and meta-data related to one or many disease areas to increase health data reliability and enable reuse. New tools and process development should leverage and build on existing work</li>
	<li>Develop data informed processes to overcome barriers to the collection of complete and accurate information; and challenges related to data and information governance and data reuse</li>
</ul>

Capacity strengthening core

We seek to fund one capacity strengthening core to:

<ul>
	<li>Support the research projects and the data infrastructure and governing core funded through this initiative</li>
	<li>Bridge the gap between data scientists, modelers, regulators and policy makers, through trainings and best practices development</li>
	<li>Develop re-usable training materials and handbooks</li>
	<li>Lead and coordinate collaborative analysis efforts through different formats (workshops, hackathons, jamborees, etc.)</li>
	<li>Lead capacity-building efforts targeting existing gaps in data science trainings in LMICs and building on existing initiatives (reusing available resources when available to avoid duplication of efforts)</li>
	<li>Develop data-informed processes to overcome barriers to the collection of complete and accurate information, and challenges related to data and information governance and data reuse</li>
</ul>

Data re-use research projects

We seek to fund two data re-use projects where research will focus on one of more specific disease areas:

<ul>
	<li>Build data-driven public health platforms, tools and dashboards that guide policy making and public health interventions</li>
	<li>Identify, use, curate and link clearly defined datasets (administrative, clinical, environmental, etc.) to address policy gaps or deliver insights and conceptual and/or technological leaps on Global Health research priorities including:
	<ul>
		<li>Maternal, Newborn and Child Health</li>
		<li>Infectious diseases</li>
		<li>COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Proposals could focus on a specific disease area but need to demonstrate commitment to providing access to all research products including tools and processes developed</li>
</ul>

Funding level 

Successful proposals will receive an award of up to USD $250,000 with an 18- to 24-month grant duration. While proposals require the collaborative participation of at least two investigators at institutions in different countries based in any of the regions listed above, proposals should be submitted by one primary applicant/institution. While restricted to one application per institution as the primary applicant, researchers may participate as collaborators in multiple collaborative applications.

Selected proposals will become part of a coordinated program aiming at Strengthening Data Science Capacity and the Ecosystem to Enable Data-Centered Public Health Interventions. We seek to build a network of researchers working together in close collaboration with the existing <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grants/JTdCJTIyc29ydCUyMiUzQSUyMmRlc2NlbmRpbmclMjIlMkMlMjJzb3J0RmllbGQlMjIlM0ElMjJkYXRlJTIyJTJDJTIybnVtYmVyUGVyUGFnZSUyMiUzQTEwMCUyQyUyMnBhZ2VOdW1iZXIlMjIlM0EwJTdE/JTdCJTIyeWVhcnMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJjaGFsbGVuZ2VzJTIyJTNBJTVCJTIyMTE3JTIyJTVEJTJDJTIydGVybXMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJpbml0aWF0aXZlcyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCUyQyUyMmxvY2F0aW9ucyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCU3RA==">Data Science Grand Challenges network</a> and its partners to build on lessons learned in different regions and further develop processes, tools and governance that maximize the impact of data-focused research studies, as well as to identify and address the global data-related challenges.

Successful proposals to be considered should: 

<ul>
	<li>Be driven by a shared commitment to open science, data sharing, and building collaboration and analysis infrastructure to enable discoveries that will benefit people everywhere</li>
	<li>Seek to strengthen global communities and multi-disciplinary collaboration from researchers in LMICs, and involve patients and the wider public</li>
	<li>Involve substantial collaboration between at least two research institutions in different countries encompassing Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Brazil. The suggested collaboration should be key to advancing the project goals and yield insights that are unlikely in the absence of the co-produced approaches. In addition, however, applications could include collaborations with institutions in other geographical areas</li>
	<li>Have the potential to have impact on addressing public health issues within the proposed budget and timeframe of 18 -24 months</li>
	<li>Data re-use proposals should use well-defined datasets that directly address the core research questions and have a clear governance plan and demonstrate how the data could benefit the broader community at a later stage.</li>
	<li>Demonstrate a commitment to impact policies and the general public</li>
</ul>

We will not consider funding for: 

<ul>
	<li>Studies that aim to collect and generate new data through this funding</li>
	<li>Proposals led by institutions not based in any of these regions: Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Brazil</li>
	<li>Proposals that will involve a single research institution or solely involve collaborators from multiple institutions from the same country</li>
	<li>Proposals that do not demonstrate a clear commitment to open science and making their findings, processes and/or tools developed accessible and reusable</li>
	<li>Proposals that do not demonstrate how they would leverage existing work and networks</li>
	<li>Proposals that do not demonstrate how they can benefit from and support other projects funded through this coordinated program</li>
	<li>Proposals that are not accomplishable within the grant term</li>
</ul>

Strengthening Data Science Capacity and the Ecosystem: Enabling Data-Centered Public Health Interventions

<h2>Background</h2>
The scale and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic have reiterated the need for access to and analysis of timely accurate health data to support the implementation of control measures and to guide health interventions and evidence-based practices. The supporting infrastructures and capacities through which researchers access and analyze these data, however, vary greatly. For several reasons, researchers in the Global South often are skeptical of broad calls for data sharing when they are left out of the analysis and results interpretation. Additionally, deploying “one-size-fits-all” analysis tools and governance processes across different regions from where they were created may produce poor analysis results and could even lead to misleading interpretations and conclusions when scientists analyze data without insight from the context in which it was collected.
As such, data science infrastructure and capacity needs to be proximally focused in the areas where the data emerge, to produce solutions that enable strong evidence-based practices to guide health interventions.
<h2>The Challenge</h2>
Collecting, sharing, analyzing and interpreting health-related data are essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice as well as enabling advanced knowledge for heath emergency preparedness. Many data resources are not reusable if they have not been sufficiently documented and contextualized, or appropriately collected and licensed for use, particularly in cases where secondary analyses are planned that were not originally anticipated when the data were originally generated.
The desired outcome of this request for proposals is development of tools and processes that are "fit-for-purpose" to facilitate collaboration among researchers in low- and middle-income countries. This effort is focused on filling data science gaps and challenges whose solutions will address global health problems while fostering multi-disciplinary collaborations among researchers. We are specifically interested in funding proposals led by early and mid-career researchers. We expect each primary applicant to have a senior scientific advisor who would commit to provide scientific and technical guidance and mentorship to the team and facilitate connections with international networks as needed.
Specifically, the objectives of the challenge will be to:
<ul><li>Develop and improve foundational tools, standards and protocols that enable data-centered health research, interventions, and health surveillance</li>
<li>Improve access to curated and linked datasets for research and training purposes</li>
<li>Enable South-South data-centered collaborations and build on and strengthen existing initiatives and ecosystems</li>
<li>Enhance Data Science infrastructure, analysis capabilities and local leadership to address public health problems</li>
<li>Foster innovation with health data in the interest of their respective local communities</li>
<li>Bridge the gap between data-centered research and policy through collaborations and design of appropriate data science communication tools and channels</li>
<li>Increase health data reliability and enable reuse by developing tools and processes to curate, standardize and aggregate data</li>
<li>Improve data collection, sharing, governance, regulatory compliance, and analysis processes to enable data-centered public health research</li>
</ul>What We Are Looking For
We will be developing a coordinated program in order to support these objectives. This will include cross-cutting cores which will provide specific functions to the program as well as individual research projects focusing on one of more specific disease areas.
Applications are invited from researchers working in healthcare, academia, industry, or research foundations, and will be welcomed from researchers based in any of the following regions: Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Brazil. Each proposal should be submitted by one primary applicant, but the awards require the participation of at least two research institutions from the regions listed above and not both in the same country.
Program structure
<img alt="Strengthening Data Science Capacity and the Ecosystem Diagram" height="329" src="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/sites/default/files/images/picture1.png" width="540" />
Data governance and standards core
We seek to fund one data governance and standards core. This core would:
<ul><li>Support the research projects funded through this initiative including the capacity strengthening core</li>
<li>Leverage the funded research projects as use cases for development and refinement of data sharing processes and governance</li>
<li>Seek to strengthen global communities and multi-disciplinary collaboration from researchers in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) by developing processes to enable South-South collaborative analysis</li>
<li>Develop adapted standards or Standard Operating Procedures that address data sharing issues including anonymization and perturbation protocols</li>
<li>Develop re-usable tools, protocols, and standards to collect, clean, harmonize, and commonly structure individual data and meta-data related to one or many disease areas to increase health data reliability and enable reuse. New tools and process development should leverage and build on existing work</li>
<li>Develop data informed processes to overcome barriers to the collection of complete and accurate information; and challenges related to data and information governance and data reuse</li>
</ul>Capacity strengthening core
We seek to fund one capacity strengthening core to:
<ul><li>Support the research projects and the data infrastructure and governing core funded through this initiative</li>
<li>Bridge the gap between data scientists, modelers, regulators and policy makers, through trainings and best practices development</li>
<li>Develop re-usable training materials and handbooks</li>
<li>Lead and coordinate collaborative analysis efforts through different formats (workshops, hackathons, jamborees, etc.)</li>
<li>Lead capacity-building efforts targeting existing gaps in data science trainings in LMICs and building on existing initiatives (reusing available resources when available to avoid duplication of efforts)</li>
<li>Develop data-informed processes to overcome barriers to the collection of complete and accurate information, and challenges related to data and information governance and data reuse</li>
</ul>Data re-use research projects
We seek to fund two data re-use projects where research will focus on one of more specific disease areas:
<ul><li>Build data-driven public health platforms, tools and dashboards that guide policy making and public health interventions</li>
<li>Identify, use, curate and link clearly defined datasets (administrative, clinical, environmental, etc.) to address policy gaps or deliver insights and conceptual and/or technological leaps on Global Health research priorities including:
<ul><li>Maternal, Newborn and Child Health</li>
<li>Infectious diseases</li>
<li>COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness</li>
</ul></li>
</ul><ul><li>Proposals could focus on a specific disease area but need to demonstrate commitment to providing access to all research products including tools and processes developed</li>
</ul>Funding level 
Successful proposals will receive an award of up to USD $250,000 with an 18- to 24-month grant duration. While proposals require the collaborative participation of at least two investigators at institutions in different countries based in any of the regions listed above, proposals should be submitted by one primary applicant/institution. While restricted to one application per institution as the primary applicant, researchers may participate as collaborators in multiple collaborative applications.
Selected proposals will become part of a coordinated program aiming at Strengthening Data Science Capacity and the Ecosystem to Enable Data-Centered Public Health Interventions. We seek to build a network of researchers working together in close collaboration with the existing <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grants/JTdCJTIyc29ydCUyMiUzQSUyMmRlc2NlbmRpbmclMjIlMkMlMjJzb3J0RmllbGQlMjIlM0ElMjJkYXRlJTIyJTJDJTIybnVtYmVyUGVyUGFnZSUyMiUzQTEwMCUyQyUyMnBhZ2VOdW1iZXIlMjIlM0EwJTdE/JTdCJTIyeWVhcnMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJjaGFsbGVuZ2VzJTIyJTNBJTVCJTIyMTE3JTIyJTVEJTJDJTIydGVybXMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJpbml0aWF0aXZlcyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCUyQyUyMmxvY2F0aW9ucyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCU3RA==">Data Science Grand Challenges network</a> and its partners to build on lessons learned in different regions and further develop processes, tools and governance that maximize the impact of data-focused research studies, as well as to identify and address the global data-related challenges.
Successful proposals to be considered should: 
<ul><li>Be driven by a shared commitment to open science, data sharing, and building collaboration and analysis infrastructure to enable discoveries that will benefit people everywhere</li>
<li>Seek to strengthen global communities and multi-disciplinary collaboration from researchers in LMICs, and involve patients and the wider public</li>
<li>Involve substantial collaboration between at least two research institutions in different countries encompassing Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Brazil. The suggested collaboration should be key to advancing the project goals and yield insights that are unlikely in the absence of the co-produced approaches. In addition, however, applications could include collaborations with institutions in other geographical areas</li>
<li>Have the potential to have impact on addressing public health issues within the proposed budget and timeframe of 18 -24 months</li>
<li>Data re-use proposals should use well-defined datasets that directly address the core research questions and have a clear governance plan and demonstrate how the data could benefit the broader community at a later stage.</li>
<li>Demonstrate a commitment to impact policies and the general public</li>
</ul>We will not consider funding for: 
<ul><li>Studies that aim to collect and generate new data through this funding</li>
<li>Proposals led by institutions not based in any of these regions: Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Brazil</li>
<li>Proposals that will involve a single research institution or solely involve collaborators from multiple institutions from the same country</li>
<li>Proposals that do not demonstrate a clear commitment to open science and making their findings, processes and/or tools developed accessible and reusable</li>
<li>Proposals that do not demonstrate how they would leverage existing work and networks</li>
<li>Proposals that do not demonstrate how they can benefit from and support other projects funded through this coordinated program</li>
<li>Proposals that are not accomplishable within the grant term</li>
</ul>

The scale and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic have reiterated the need for access to and analysis of timely accurate health data to support the implementation of control measures and to guide health interventions and evidence-based practices. The supporting infrastructures and capacities through which researchers access and analyze these data, however, vary greatly. For several reasons, researchers in the Global South often are skeptical of broad calls for data sharing when they are left out of the analysis and results interpretation.