Deadline: 3 May 2017
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is currently accepting proposals for the latest round of Grand Challenges Exploration on the topic “Innovations for Integrated Diagnostics Systems (Round 19)” in order to guide patient treatment and care for a variety of health conditions.
Challenges
The challenge is to make technological and process improvements in all the areas, while at the same time paying attention to balance the cost trade-offs.
- Optimize transportation networks, and leverage distribution capabilities from other local services to improve sample transport logistics, timelines, and cost.
- Adapt selective centralized laboratory instrument platforms and assays that improve ease of use or robustness in developing world settings.
- Seek novel ways to implement interconnected laboratory networks that will efficiently track patients, specimens and data to and from various types of settings, ensuring quality diagnostic services are provided and can inform treatment and care decisions.
Grant Information
- Phase I projects have a term of 18 months beginning on the project start date. The amount awarded is up to $100,000 USD.
- Phase I awardees have one opportunity to apply for Phase II funding of up to $1,000,000 USD with a grant term of up to two (2) years.
Eligibility Criteria
- GCE is open to both foreign and domestic organizations, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions.
- Technical innovations that have a measurable improvement in an integrated laboratory network, starting from sample collection, transportation, laboratory testing (local or centralized) to return of the results. Innovations should have the potential to improve turn-around time (from specimen collection to return of result), laboratory instrument capacity utilization rate, percentage of quality results generated, percentage of quality results returned or cost per quality result returned. Early stage feasibility studies are encouraged.
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted online via given website.
For more information, please visit Grand Challenges Explorations.