Opportunity: Increasing Interoperability of Social Good Data

Deadline- May 7, 2013

Applicants are invited for Grand Challenges Explorations Round 11 for which the topic will be Increasing Interoperability of Social Good Data. The objective of this program is to solicit new and innovative approaches to increase the interoperability of data that can be used for social good. We are looking for approaches that deal with both the technological and policy barriers to achieving interoperability, and encourage projects that embrace the complexity of these issues.

Mission-

    Improving the availability and use of program impact data by bringing together data from multiple organizations operating in the same field and geographical area
    Enabling combinations of data through application programming interface (APIs), taxonomy crosswalks, classification systems, middle ware, natural language processing, and/or data sharing agreements
    Reducing inefficiency for users entering similar information into multiple systems through common web forms, profiles, apps, interfaces, etc.
    Creating new value for users trying to pull data from multiple sources
    Providing new ways to access and understand more than one data set, for example, through new data visualizations, including mashing up government and other data;
    Identifying needs and barriers by experimenting with increased interoperability of multiple data sets;
    Providing ways for people to access information that isn’t normally accessible (for using natural language processing to pull and process stories from numerous sources) and combing that information with open data sets.

Eligibility-

Submissions from partnerships and collaborations, particularly those that create interdisciplinary teams or groups are invited.
For more information, visit this link

The “One Health” Concept: Bringing Together Human and Animal Health for New Solutions

Deadline- May 7, 2013

Applications are invited for The “One Health” Concept: Bringing Together Human and Animal Health for New Solutions program. This is an opportunity which would  emerge across the discovery-development-delivery spectrum for knowledge and practices in one field to accelerate progress in the other.  For example, advances in drug and vaccine discoveries for human diseases can provide tools and approaches for animal diseases that still plague developing countries.

Issues-

    Specific human and livestock diseases, as listed below
    Human nutrition
    Health service delivery
    Measurement of impact

Eligibility & Criteria-

    People: Solutions for problems faced by poor people, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia;
    Collaboration: Ideas that combine both animal and human health approaches or take approaches from one and apply to the other to create a transformative solution;
    Knowledge: Increases knowledge/understanding on interdependencies between the foundation’s priority areas (e.g. Human Health, Animal Health, Environmental Health, Nutrition, and Sustainability).
For more information, visit this link

New Approaches for Detection, Treatment, and Control of Selected Neglected Tropical Diseases

Deadline- May 7, 2013

Funding opportunity has been announced for New Approaches for Detection, Treatment, and Control of Selected Neglected Tropical Diseases under the Grand Challenges Explorations Round 11. Applicants are invited from within and outside the NTD (Neglected Tropical Diseases) community who have ideas for new approaches for detection, treatment and control of selected neglected tropical diseases. The objective of this program  to generate novel approaches to treatment and control of onchocerciasis, LF, STH, and schistosomiasis. New technologies and innovations are encouraged  to improve detection of viable adult worms, to develop drug treatments that are safe, effective, and affordable, and interventions that interrupt transmission, with the ultimate goal of ridding the world of these infectious diseases.

Some of the key challenges facing the development of drugs and diagnostics for these specific diseases are as follows-

    Need for strategies that address multiple diseases: Many individuals are infected with more than one pathogen causing the NTDs described above. New strategies are needed to integrate mapping, treatment, monitoring, and surveillance of some combination of these diseases (onchocerciasis, LF, Loa loa, STH, and schistosomiasis) simultaneously.
    Drug development is hampered by lack of robust and facile model systems: For the discovery of a macrofilaricide, greater access to the adult worms that cause onchocerciasis and LF, or a validated surrogate model, is needed. Current efficacy models are very time-consuming and require large quantities of drug candidate.
    Need for development of new drugs to treat these NTDs: Effective, safe, inexpensive and tolerable medicines are needed to treat populations affected by onchocerciasis and LF. Since entire communities are frequently treated using an MDA schedule, new drugs must be safe and effective for children, pregnant women, and other populations at high risk for complications.
    Need for diagnostics for mapping, treatment, monitoring and/or surveillance of these NTDs: For onchocerciasis and LF, diagnostics are needed to determine when adult worms have been killed and MDA can be discontinued. For areas where Loa loa is co-endemic with onchocerciasis, a diagnostic is needed to detect individuals who harbor high levels of Loa loa microfilariae. New point-of-care diagnostics are also needed for STH and schistosomiasis. For diagnostics to have the greatest impact, one test or diagnostic platform should simultaneously diagnose multiple diseases, samples must be easy to collect and transport, and tests must be either point-of-care or have the ability to be batched for high-throughput analysis at regional laboratory centers.

Proposals must-

    have a testable hypothesis,
    include an associated plan for how the idea would be tested or validated, and
    yield interpretable and unambiguous data in Phase I, in order to be considered for Phase II funding
For more information, visit this link

Develop the Next Generation of Condom

Deadline- 7th May, 2013

Grand Challenges in global health has announced funding opportunity to develop the next generation of condom under Grand Challenges Explorations Round 11. The purpose of this program is to improve the product attributes of one of the most ubiquitous and potentially underutilized products on earth. New concept designs with new materials can be prototyped and tested quickly. Large-scale human clinical trials are not required. Manufacturing capacity, marketing, and distribution channels are already in place.

Proposals must-

    have a testable hypothesis
    include an associated plan for how the idea would be tested or validated
    yield interpretable and unambiguous data in Phase I, in order to be considered for Phase II funding

Funding is offered to

    Application of safe new materials that may preserve or enhance sensation
    Development and testing of new condom shapes/designs that may provide an improved user experience
    Application of knowledge from other fields (e.g. neurobiology, vascular biology) to new strategies for improving condom desirability
For more information, visit this link