Deadline: 4-Apr-22
The National Institutes of Health is inviting eligible United States small business concerns (SBCs) to submit Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant applications that propose to develop a product, process or service for commercialization with the aim of improving minority health and/or reducing and ultimately eliminating health disparities in one or more NIH-defined populations experiencing health disparities. Appropriate technologies should be effective, affordable, and culturally acceptable.
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to engage small business concerns (SBC) in developing technologies and products that engage, empower, and motivate individuals. and communities, including providers and healthcare institutions, in sustainable health promoting activities and interventions that lead to improved health, healthcare delivery, and the elimination of health disparities in one or more NIH-defined population groups who experience health disparities including racial and ethnic minorities (African Americans/Blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders), socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, individuals residing in underserved rural areas, and sexual/gender minorities.
Specific Areas of Research Interest
Technologies and products that might achieve the objectives of this initiative include, but are not limited to:
- Facilitate or enhance disease self-management, patient-healthcare provider or system communication, and/or care coordination between primary care providers, hospital emergency department staff, specialty physicians, dental health professionals, nurse practitioners, providers of mental health and behavioral health services, patient navigators, etc., in medically underserved communities and regions.
- Culturally attuned behavioral or evidenced-based interventions that empower and promote opportunities for individuals, families, social networks, and communities to engage in health-seeking behaviors and health-promoting activities (diet choice, exercise/physical activity, oral hygiene, medication adherence, child immunizations, etc.) and to avoid risky behaviors (smoking, vaping, alcohol/drug misuse, unsafe sex, etc.).
- Detecting, measuring, and assessing a broad array of unhealthy social and environmental exposures (discrimination, stress, pollutants, allergens, noise, crime, etc.), and for characterizing cumulative exposures across multiple individuals and communities and linking this information to physiological responses and health indicators at the individual and population levels. These technologies may include efforts to improve and standardize data collection and the integration of social determinants of health (SDOH) and other data across disparate data sources, including clinical patient data, electronic medical records, public health data, census data, housing data, employment data, and crime statistics.
- Engage, empower, and motivate individuals, families, and communities to enhance the quality of life and to sustain health gains.
- Culturally appropriate survey instruments, tools, modules and databases to promote community-based research engaging populations that experience health disparities.
- Culturally appropriate, evidence-based health empowering promotion and disease prevention educational media, such as software, informational videos, and printed materials.
- Innovative software, tools and technology for science and health education curriculum materials, interactive teaching aids, serious and applied games, models for classroom instruction for K-12 and undergraduate students, and the general public.
- Mobile health (mHealth) and telehealth/telemedicine technologies and apps for improving communication among health care providers and between patients, families, and physicians and healthcare providers, medication adherence, diagnosis, monitoring, evaluation, medical management, screening, tracking, and treatment in underserved community settings and rural and remote locations.
- Promote big data science or enhance data scientist training to address health inequities and/or minority health research, for example software or tools developed to link social determinants of health easily (e.g., years of education, race/ethnicity, etc.) with massive datasets such as electronic medical record (EMR), genomic information, census data, national surveys, and other state or community-level data sources. Such technology will be instrumental in understanding fundamental causes of health disparities and developing meaningful interventions.
- Linking family medical histories and family ancestries.
- Technologies for clinical trials and biobanking, such as the rapid identification in human specimens (e.g., blood, buccal swabs, etc.) of genes and/or genomic variants of known importance to minority health.
- Educating prospective social entrepreneurs, and minority and health disparity communities on how to transition technologies from the bench to the bedside.
- Promoting precision medicine and other precision-based strategies such as utilizing All of Us Research Program research tools.
- Leveraging electronic health records and communication technologies to deliver and evaluate interventions that reduce health disparities by removing accessibility and health literacy barriers, facilitating population tailoring and personalization, and decreasing cost.
- Understanding the causes of health disparities and associated variables such as SDOH for preventing one or more health disparities.
- Using systems modeling, artificial intelligence, or other techniques to predict relationships between health disparities and health determinants and to assess health disparities interventions outcomes.
- Creating and testing tailored algorithms that identify interventions tailored, target, and optimized for implementation in specific communities for reducing or eliminating disparities in one or more specific health condition, disease, or health outcome.
- Leveraging robotic and autonomous systems for improving health, and preventing, reducing, and eliminating health disparities.
- Preventing and minimizing adverse exposures and health risks (post-traumatic stress) or promoting health, well-being, resilience, and recovery resulting from disasters or the threat of a disaster. Disasters may include public health threats such COVID-19 or a similar pandemic. Examples may include new tools, apps, education, curricula, or other technologies to detect, screen, treat, or prevent or otherwise mitigate adverse health outcomes or leverage community and or population resilience and prevention efforts.
Funding Information
- Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: NIMHD intends to commit an estimated total of $1,000,000 to fund 3-4 awards.
- Award Budget: Total funding support (direct costs, indirect costs, fees) normally may not exceed $259,613 for Phase I awards and $1,730,751 for Phase II awards.
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Award Project Period
- According to statutory guidelines, award periods normally may not exceed 1 year for Phase I and 2 years for Phase II. Applicants are encouraged to propose a project duration period that is reasonable and appropriate for completion of the research project.
- Durations up to 1 year for Phase I and up to 2 years for Phase II may be requested.
Eligibility Criteria
Only United States small business concerns (SBCs) are eligible to submit applications for this opportunity. A small business concern is one that, at the time of award of Phase I and Phase II, meets all of the following criteria:
- Is organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States, which operates primarily within the United States or which makes a significant contribution to the United States economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor;
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Is in the legal form of an individual proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, association, trust or cooperative, except that where the form is a joint venture, there must be less than 50 percent participation by foreign business entities in the joint venture;
- Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR).
- Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-only.
- Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR).
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Has, including its affiliates, not more than 500 employees.
- Hedge fund has the meaning given that term in section 13(h)(2) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. The hedge fund must have a place of business located in the United States and be created or organized in the United States, or under the law of the United States or of any State.
- Portfolio company means any company that is owned in whole or part by a venture capital operating company, hedge fund, or private equity firm.
- Private equity firm has the meaning given the term “private equity fund” in section 13(h)(2) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. The private equity firm must have a place of business located in the United States and be created or organized in the United States, or under the law of the United States or of any State.
- Venture capital operating company means an entity. The venture capital operating company must have a place of business located in the United States and be created or organized in the United States, or under the law of the United States or of any State.
- ANC means Alaska Native Corporation.
- NHO means Native Hawaiian Organization.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=337225