The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is currently accepting proposals for the Round 26 of the Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) on the topic of "New Approaches to Integrating Molecular Surveillance into Malaria Control Programs".

The purpose of this call is therefore to identify new and innovative approaches to integrating malaria molecular surveillance into malaria surveillance and programmatic decision-making in malaria endemic countries.

Funding Information

Awards of $100,000 USD are made in Phase I. Phase I awardees may have one opportunity to apply for a follow-on Phase II award of up to $1,000,000 USD.

What they are looking for:

The foundation is looking for innovative proposals that will use MMS data to enable NMCPs to inform their national and sub-national surveillance efforts, national strategic planning, and/or intervention implementation. These may include proposals that: create or expand laboratory, bioinformatics, and data interpretation capacity within NMCPs or at institutions closely affiliated with an NMCP; create or implement tools for communicating and sharing parasite and/or vector molecular surveillance data; and/or build relationships between groups with MMS capacity and NMCP partners. Proposals should target the use cases identified above that are ready or near-to-ready for programmatic deployment. They do not want respondents to be generating MMS data for research purposes; rather, the intent of this call is to support the application of MMS approaches to routine malaria surveillance and planning within NMCPs, Ministries of Health, or similar organizations.

While, they welcome respondents from around the world, they are particularly interested in proposals from respondents working in high-burden malaria settings. All proposals must include a principal investigator or co-investigator from a malaria-endemic country.

Winning proposals should:

• Explain the rationale for and potential benefits of using MMS data in their setting
• Address one or more of the use cases outlined in the Challenge section above
• Include representation from the NMCP, Ministry of Health (MOH) representation, government agency or healthcare provider responsible for malaria control in the country / region
• Describe how MMS information arising from the project will be shared with the NMCP, MOH and other key stakeholders

A few examples of work that would be considered for funding:

• Implementing or scaling-up a laboratory assay for hrp2/3 deletion and / or antimalarial drug resistance marker surveillance in partnership with an NMCP
• Developing a web interface or reporting tool for communicating molecular data to stakeholders who do not have genomics / bioinformatics experience
• Creating a bioinformatics workflow for MMS data that goes from fastq file to a readable report summarizing the analysis results in a user-friendly way
• Developing and implementing a training program to familiarize NMCP staff with the use and interpretation of MMS data.

Winning proposals should:

• Explain the rationale for and potential benefits of using MMS data in their setting
• Address one or more of the use cases outlined in the Challenge section above
• Include representation from the NMCP, Ministry of Health (MOH) representation, government agency or healthcare provider responsible for malaria control in the country / region
• Describe how MMS information arising from the project will be shared with the NMCP, MOH and other key stakeholders

A few examples of work that would be considered for funding:

• Implementing or scaling-up a laboratory assay for hrp2/3 deletion and / or antimalarial drug resistance marker surveillance in partnership with an NMCP
• Developing a web interface or reporting tool for communicating molecular data to stakeholders who do not have genomics / bioinformatics experience
• Creating a bioinformatics workflow for MMS data that goes from fastq file to a readable report summarizing the analysis results in a user-friendly way
• Developing and implementing a training program to familiarize NMCP staff with the use and interpretation of MMS data

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.

For more information, visit Grand ChallengesExplorations .