Request for Applications: Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR)

Deadline: 8-Dec-23

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from qualified entities to implement the Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR) project.

USAID supports disease-endemic countries to control and/or eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) with proven, cost-effective public health interventions to treat and measure treatment impact against 7 NTDs: lymphatic filariasis (LF), blinding trachoma (TRA), onchocerciasis (OV), schistosomiasis (SCH), plus three intestinal worms, collectively known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH).

ENDOR Goals and Objectives

• Under this five-year cooperative agreement, USAID intends to transfer federal Global Health (GH) assistance funds by awarding one cooperative agreement to an organization or to a consortium of organizations. WHO’s 2030 NTD Roadmap Gap Assessment, and recent WHO NTD Global Partners Meeting, highlight several gaps in disease-specific strategies for mapping, monitoring and evaluation, availability of accurate and field-friendly diagnostics, and sustainable public health and surveillance systems, to name some. Within USAID’s existing flagship implementation projects, led by RTI and led by FHI360, endemic countries and implementing partners frequently encounter these highlighted challenges in implementation. Increasingly, there are challenges in approaching post-elimination strategies, such as country-specific periodic surveillance and provision of NTD services after elimination/control has been reached (thereafter community-wide drug treatments have ended).
• By focusing on efficiency and effectiveness, ENDOR will support national governments, local research institutions, and local NGOs by addressing the following high level Focus Areas:
  • Fostering and convening a network of local and international research investigators, including young and mid-career researchers, and identifying and prioritizing NTD OR needs in a more diverse and equitable manner;
  • Defining and undertaking relevant coordinated research initiatives as prioritized by USAID and USAID NTD Program implementing partners to target the gaps and barriers highlighted by the WHO 2030 NTD Roadmap and the NTD community;
  • Improving the timeliness and quality of OR initiatives through issuance of subaward agreements under ENDOR directly to local and endemic country institutions in response to persistent and new challenges, and translating these into programmatic solutions to solve endemic country issues; and
  • Working collaboratively with the NTD donor community to ensure that support for research is equitable and appropriate to meet project needs.

Program Areas

• More specifically, the project will provide technical assistance and OR subject matter expertise that may include, but not be limited to, the following key Program Areas of USAID’s NTD program:
  • Convening-power and global technical leadership on a wide array of NTD elimination and control implementation and end-game challenges;
  • Informing the evidence-base for improving global disease-specific monitoring and evaluation strategies and sustainable surveillance approaches;
  • Advancing improvements for diagnostics through consensus-based prioritization, performance evaluation, and accelerated regulatory processes with a wide array of multilateral, institutional, donor, and research partners;
  • Strengthening the capacity of early and mid-career NTD researchers to conceive, design, implement, and manage OR projects in their home countries, leveraging the expertise of local research institutions, NGOs, and national NTD programs;
  • Evaluating and proposing strategies to mitigate operational and social barriers to NTD service provision; and
  • Evaluating and technical assistance provision for evidence-based clinical competencies for NTD services of affected populations and pursuing linkages to strategic integration within the national health system.
• To prioritize and operationalize an OR agenda for USAID’s funding, ENDOR will issue subawards, primarily through fixed amount awards (FAAs), to local NGOs, research institutions, government entities and parastatals. Through COR-NTD, this operational model has proven to encourage local ownership and increase capacity building as organizations and government entities are directly involved in the management and design of FAAs to ensure that research provides locally-driven solutions. A key objective of the project will be to strengthen host country programs’ technical and operational capacities to conceive, design, implement, and report on OR findings that address challenges in their endemic communities, and inform the global evidence base and best practices.

Funding Information

• USAID intends to award one (1) Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity. Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide up to $45M in total USAID funding. This Activity will be incrementally funded over the life of the Activity. Actual funding amounts are subject to availability of appropriated funds.
• The anticipated period of performance is five (5) years. The estimated start date will be March 1, 2024.

Activities

• USAID’s Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) program targets seven of the most prevalent NTDs: lymphatic filariasis (LF), schistosomiasis (SCH), onchocerciasis, trachoma, and three soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH). Since its launch in 2006, USAID’s NTD program has focused on supporting efforts to introduce and scale up the delivery of preventive drug treatments which are aimed at controlling, and in some cases eliminating, these diseases.
• USAID has three key objectives in designing this Activity:
  • Support the development of strategies to overcome obstacles to scale-up, such as difficult populations and ancillary programs to strengthen implementation of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) and accelerate progress.
  • Support the development and implementation of tools for determining elimination and control such as sampling strategies for populations, simplified diagnostic tools, and monitoring tools.
  • Support activities that will advance program sustainability, such as the research and testing of long-term drug effectiveness and responsible exit strategies.
  • Given the scope of work, many of the activities that will be supported by ENDOR will involve field work and laboratory work. ENDOR has three activities with potential environmental aspects or impact:
    • Activity 1: NTD Technical Assistance (TA), Capacity Building, and Training programs: ENDOR will support capacity building activities to strengthen countries’ abilities to conduct laboratory tests and generate quality-assured laboratory data, design proposals and manage operational research (OR) grants, and manage and use data for decision making.
      • Sub-activity: 1.1: Conduct technical assistance, training, and capacity-building activities: ENDOR will support laboratory capacity building with the objectives to develop a network of high-quality labs to support NTD programs and engage lab network partners in the testing and validation of new diagnostic tools. Additionally, ENDOR will provide funding opportunities for local African researchers and institutions to design and manage small-scale NTD research projects. Through this intervention, ENDOR will aim to strengthen the research capacity among African NTD researchers and institutions.
      • Sub-activity: 1.2: Provide funding for researchers and institutions: ENDOR will provide funding opportunities for local African researchers and institutions to design and manage small-scale NTD research projects. Through this intervention, ENDOR will aim to strengthen the research capacity among African NTD researchers and institutions.
    • Activity 2: Research and Development (Field and Laboratory Diagnostic Testing): To measure impact and document progress toward disease elimination targets, the ENDOR Activity will support the development, improvement, and implementation of diagnostic tools. After diagnostic tools have passed the initial phases of development, field validation studies are typically conducted to assess quality, evaluate performance, and determine suitability for use in the field.
      • Sub-activity 2.1: Conduct field testing: ENDOR will support the procurement, transportation, storage and field evaluation of diagnostics and ancillary supplies to properly perform tests and detect NTDs in endemic communities. Some of the supplies may include consumables, glassware, sharps, filter paper, stains, and related reagents to run point-of care diagnostic evaluations.
      • Sub-activity 2.2: Conduct diagnostic laboratory testing to detect the presence of NTDs: To perform field tests, samples of bodily fluids may be collected as a comparator to those analyzed in the field setting for comparing the performance in the controlled laboratory environment. The specimens collected are from humans, which may include 8 blood, stool, or urine.
    • Activity 3: Healthcare Commodities Inventory Management, Sourcing, Procurement, Storage, Distribution, Quality Control Management, Treatment and/or Disposal.
      • Sub-activity 3.1: Conduct forecasting and supply planning activity: Under ENDOR will entail conducting diagnostic and commodities forecasting and supply planning prior to initiation of any research activity.
      • Sub-activity 3.2: Conduct contracting and procurement of commodities: This activity entails the procurement, transport, and storage of laboratory commodities and diagnostics. ENDOR will procure diagnostic tools and ancillary supplies necessary to perform the tests to detect the presence of NTDs. This process will require shipping and additional transport prior to arriving at the laboratory. The commodities and diagnostics may be stored at the laboratory for a period of time before use.
      • Sub-activity 3.3: Storage of healthcare commodities through a warehouse, at the site, etc: The commodities and diagnostics required for research may be stored at the laboratory for a period of time before use.
      • Sub-activity 3.4: Distribution of healthcare commodities: Supplying research with diagnostics and commodities will require shipping and additional transport prior to arriving at the laboratory.
      • Sub-activity 3.5: Collection, transport, treatment, and/or disposal of healthcare commodities or hazardous waste/products: To detect the presence of NTDs, laboratory analysis on samples of bodily fluids may be performed. Additionally, to conduct these analyses, sometimes hazardous chemicals such as formalin or ethidium bromide may be used.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility for this NOFO is not restricted. U.S. and non-US organizations may participate under this NOFO. USAID welcomes applications from organizations which have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.
• Faith-based organizations are eligible to apply for federal financial assistance on the same basis as any other organization and are subject to the protections and requirements of Federal law.
• U.S. federal government agencies and entities are not eligible for this award.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.