Funding-Gates Foundation Invites Letters of Inquiry for Grand Challenges Point-of-Care Diagnostics Grants; February 16, 2010

Agency

Gates Foundation

Description

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative is focused on discovering and developing new ideas to fight major global health challenges as identified by experts worldwide.

As part of the initiative, the foundation is accepting Letters of Inquiry for Grand Challenges Point-of-Care Diagnostics grants to fund innovative ideas for diagnostics in the developing world. The program has a total of $30 million in funding available for the creation of technologies and components that can be used to assess patients at the point of care in a variety of settings.

The goal of this new initiative is to develop common features and standards that will result in diagnostic devices that are lower cost, easier to use, more thoroughly disseminated, and more appropriate for healthcare applications in resource-poor settings. The ability to assess multiple pathogens and health conditions at the point-of-care will result in a significant increase in access to needed healthcare and hence better outcomes for those in the developing world.

Assuming proposals of sufficient merit, this competition is expected to fund between ten and fourteen grants for an aggregate total cost of $30 million over three years.

Scientists worldwide are encouraged to submit their ideas.

Closing Date: February 16, 2010 (Letters of Inquiry)

Link to Full Announcement

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/global-health/Pages/grand-challenges-explorations.aspx