Grants & Funding

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Published Date: December 09, 2009

Program Information

Program Name:

Grand Challenges Diagnostics

Program URL:

http://www.grandchallenges.org/Diagnostics/Science

Type of Scientists Funded:

Junior Faculty, Senior Scientist/Faculty

Program Description:

We are continuing the mission set forth in the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative by continuing to invest in solutions to further Grand Challenge 14: Develop Technologies that Allow Assessment of Multiple Conditions and Pathogens at Point-of-Care. Specifically, we seek to create a new class of point-of-care (POC) diagnostics that will be easy to use, low cost and otherwise appropriate so that these new tools achieve significant impact and rapid uptake in resource-poor settings.

In the developing world, tools are not available to easily and accurately assess an individual's health status, including their risk of various illnesses and treatment options. In addition, little information about the burden of disease is available to guide population based health decisions. This critically impacts the care that people receive. A solution, according to studies conducted by the Diagnostics Forum, is to move toward a common POC diagnostic platform for global health. POC diagnostics are not intended only to be used in a laboratory or clinic by a trained user. They also need to be operated by minimally trained community health workers in limited infrastructure settings. The platform we envision will have the ability to assess multiple pathogens and health conditions using a set of common technical, logistical, and medical decision-making approaches. The combination of (1) a point-of-decision test, and (2) a common platform, will ultimately result in better health outcomes.

The challenge for these POC diagnostic platforms for global health is to define and achieve the needed performance characteristics of rapid, accurate assessment of individuals' health status, including robust, simple-to-use technologies for achieving parallel, multipathogen, reliable and valid clinical measures in developing world settings. High throughput approaches to genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and the measurement of other analytes, coupled with novel technologies of miniaturization and multiplexing create the possibility of radically new ways to detect and diagnose health and disease states in individuals, even in remote or impoverished settings with limited infrastructure. The coupling of new and existing validated biomarker signatures with microfluidic platforms could place effective diagnostics within reach of unskilled users in the developing world.

Public Contact Information

Program Award Term and Application Process

• Award Term Fixed or Variable?    Variable
• Minimum Term    0  Months
• Maximum Term    36  Months
• Award Renewable?    No
• Does an individual or institution apply to the program?    Institution
• Is there a training component to this grant?   
• Is there an application deadline?    Yes
• Application deadline(s):
  02/16/2010
• Deadline Comments   
  Letters of inquiry will be accepted December 1, 2009 through February 16, 2010.
  
  April 2010: Invitation for submission of full proposals
  June 2010: Application deadline for full proposals

Program FUNDS

• Stipend Information:
  
  
• Annual stipend type:    Not Applicable
• Stipend Details:   
  Refer to the RFP : http://www.grandchallenges.org/Diagnostics/Science
• 
  Research Allowance Information:
  
  
• Annual research allowance type:    Not Applicable
• 
  Indirect Costs (Institutional Funds) Information:
  
  
• Indirect costs type:    Not Applicable
• 
  Other Costs Information:
  
  
• Other Costs type:    Not Applicable

Program Eligibility Requirements

Research Areas:

Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Bioinformatics, Biology, Biophysics, Chemistry, Immunology, Instrumentation, Materials Science, Microbiology, Nanotechnology

Application by invitation or nomination only?

No

Are awards limited to specific groups?

None provided

Must applicants be U.S. citizens and/or permanent residents?

No

U.S. geographic limits?

No

International geographic limits?

Institutional limits?

Yes

Details

Applicant organizations must be individual non-profit organizations, for-profit companies or other recognized institutions that can successfully execute the activities in their respective technical area.

Non-research activity allowed for postdoctoral and junior faculty awards?

If yes, specify at least one of the following: percentage time and activities allowed

• Other eligibility requirements:   
  Grantees awarded projects will be required to actively collaborate with the STAG in Phase I and eventually collaborate and engage in technology transfer with System Integrators in Phase II.

Program competition information

• Number of Applicants in Most Recent Competition Year:   
• Number of Awards in Most Recent Competition Year:   
• Institutional Award Rates   

  Category	# Applicants	# Awards
  Institutional Awards

• Awardee's subsequent careers/accomplishments tracked after end of term?   
  
• Total dollars awarded in the most recent competition year