The Gates Foundation is part of the Grand Challenges partnership network. Visit <a href="https://www.grandchallenges.org" target="_blank">www.grandchallenges.org</a> to view the map of awarded grants across this network and grant opportunities from partners.

Call-to-Action 2025 - RFP

Call-to-Action 2025 - Rules and Guidelines

Call-to-Action 2025 - Application Instructions

Call-to-Action 2025 - Budget Template

Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2025 Call-to-Action Challenge, Request for Proposals (RFP)

Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2025 Call-to-Action

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Call-to-Action 2025 - Frequently asked Questions (FAQs)

**NOTE: This opportunity is open only to participants who registered for the 2025 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.
Before applying, applicants should familiarize themselves with the supporting documents for this Grand Challenge, including the <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/sites/default/files/files/gcam_2025_cta_rules_and_guidelines.pdf" target="_blank" title="GCAM 2025 CtA - Rules and Guidelines" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rules and Guidelines</a>, <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/sites/default/files/files/gcam_2025_cta_application_instructions.pdf" target="_blank" title="GCAM 2025 CtA - Application Instructions" rel="noopener noreferrer">Application Instructions</a>, and <a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/2025-grand-challenges-annual-meeting-call-action-frequently-asked-questions-faqs" target="_blank" title="GCAM 2025 CtA - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)" rel="noopener noreferrer">Frequently Asked Questions</a>.
<h2>The Opportunity</h2>
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting fosters innovation and international collaboration to address the biggest challenges in global health and development. It has been held in&nbsp;<a href="https://grandchallenges.org/annual-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">13 countries</a> over the past 20 years and in a virtual format for three years, including this year's. The 2025 meeting continues the Annual Meeting's goal to support a global community of problem solvers who work together to set an innovation agenda and do the breakthrough science to deliver on it – to go further and faster together.
<h2>The Challenge</h2>
This Call-to-Action provides an opportunity for those registered for the 2025 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting to take action based on ideas they develop and people they engage with during the virtual meeting. For individuals who will not be able to attend the sessions in real time, recordings will be available post-meeting and we encourage all registered participants to watch them and engage with other participants before applying. As noted by past applicants in their submitted proposals, the meeting provides diverse ways to combine expertise and perspectives to speed up the impact of what would otherwise be separate work by individual investigators. The&nbsp;<a href="https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grants/JTdCJTIyc29ydCUyMiUzQSUyMmRlc2NlbmRpbmclMjIlMkMlMjJzb3J0RmllbGQlMjIlM0ElMjJkYXRlJTIyJTJDJTIybnVtYmVyUGVyUGFnZSUyMiUzQTEwMCUyQyUyMnBhZ2VOdW1iZXIlMjIlM0EwJTdE/JTdCJTIyeWVhcnMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJjaGFsbGVuZ2VzJTIyJTNBJTVCJTIyMTI5JTIyJTVEJTJDJTIydGVybXMlMjIlM0ElNUIlNUQlMkMlMjJpbml0aWF0aXZlcyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCUyQyUyMmxvY2F0aW9ucyUyMiUzQSU1QiU1RCU3RA==" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">grants awarded</a> for past Call-to-Action opportunities show this, and we hope that this year's meeting will also provide ways to catalyze collaborative projects that yield a tangible solution to a key problem by the end of the grant.
Funding
Each meeting participant will have one opportunity to apply as the primary applicant, on behalf of their institution, for a USD $100,000 grant or a collaborative USD $200,000 grant, both with an 18-month grant duration. Collaborative awards require the participation of one meeting participant and one or more collaborators from different institutions. While restricted to one application as the primary applicant, meeting participants may participate as collaborators in multiple collaborative applications. Priority will be given to new or newly expanded collaborations, rather than to existing collaborations seeking new funding.
Eligibility Criteria
<ul>
<li>Participants who registered for the 2025 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting are eligible to apply as a Primary Applicant on behalf of an organization with which they are affiliated and will receive further information via email.</li>
<li>Applications are permitted from both non-US and US organizations, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions.</li>
<li>Individuals and organizations classified as individuals for U.S. tax purposes are not eligible to receive an award from the foundation as part of this initiative.</li>
<li>Employees, officers, and directors of the Gates Foundation are not eligible to apply as Primary Applicants nor as collaborators for either type of proposal.</li>
<li>We encourage proposals led by scientists based in low- and middle-income countries and women or women-led institutions.</li>
</ul>
We will give highest priority to proposed projects that:
<ul>
<li>Contribute to a partnership network that empowers those with the local perspective required to direct the right approaches to the right parts of the problems to ensure success. This includes projects led by investigators from low- and middle-income countries and a balanced representation of women principal investigators. Their collective action and directed energy will help solve today's key problems in global health, while building research networks ready to solve tomorrow's.</li>
<li>Are explicitly aligned with the content within the meeting's scientific track sessions. Please note that proposals will be reviewed based on their alignment with one primary track and the specific content presented there (see <a href="https://web.cvent.com/hub/events/def88072-c4c4-4667-ab1a-df1c7d34912d/sessions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">meeting agenda</a>), since we seek to provide an opportunity for participants to take action based on an idea that they developed and people they engaged during their virtual participation in a scientific track. Eligible scientific tracks for this Call-to-Action are listed below.</li>
</ul>
Scientific tracks eligible for the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action
<ul>
<li>Vaccines &amp; Biologics - Innovation &amp; Platforms</li>
<li>Advancing Drug Discovery for Global Health</li>
<li>Strengthening Innovation Ecosystems to Solve Global Health Challenges</li>
<li>Advancing Women's Health Data, Science &amp; Technology</li>
<li>Strengthening the Women's Health R&amp;D Ecosystem</li>
</ul>
We will not consider funding approaches that:
<ul>
<li>Are not explicitly aligned with the specific content within the meeting scientific tracks listed above that are eligible for this request for proposals.</li>
<li>Address the meeting scientific track that is not part of this request for proposals: Strengthening Data Modelling for Global Health &amp; Development in Africa</li>
</ul>

Apply For This Opportunity

2025 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action

Lisa Rohan of the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S., with Thesla Palanee-Phillips of the Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Ltd in South Africa, will develop a vaginal film technology for the sustained release of the hormone levonorgestrel as a product that provides contraception and reduces heavy menstrual bleeding. Levonorgestrel is a progestin, a synthetic hormone that mimics the effects of progesterone. They will create and compare vaginal films with differences in mechanical properties, mucoadhesion, and drug release profiles to design a product that is low-cost, self-administered, and active for one month. They will also conduct a pilot trial of two prototype placebo films without levonorgestrel, evaluating them for safety, acceptability, and mucoadhesion in 20 women in South Africa, half with heavy menstrual bleeding.

Lisa Rohan of the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S., with Thesla Palanee-Phillips of the Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Ltd in South Africa, will develop a vaginal film technology for the sustained release of the hormone levonorgestrel as a product that provides contraception and reduces heavy menstrual bleeding. Levonorgestrel is a progestin, a synthetic hormone that mimics the effects of progesterone. They will create and compare vaginal films with differences in mechanical properties, mucoadhesion, and drug release profiles to design a product that is low-cost, self-administered, and active for one month. They will also conduct a pilot trial of two prototype placebo films without levonorgestrel, evaluating them for safety, acceptability, and mucoadhesion in 20 women in South Africa, half with heavy menstrual bleeding.

Levonorgestrel Vaginal Film for Heavy Menstrual Bleeding and Contraception

Cliveland Ogallo of the Center for Public Health and Development (CPHD) with Anne-Beatrice Kihara of the University of Nairobi, both in Kenya, will assess the impact of heavy menstrual bleeding on the health and well-being of adolescent girls in an underserved community in Kenya. Girls in the Kibera urban informal settlement will be surveyed, along with guardians and health workers, to assess the prevalence of self-reported heavy menstrual bleeding; menstrual health literacy and associated cultural narratives; hygiene practices; access to healthcare products and services; and impacts including anemia, school absenteeism, and psychosocial well-being. Small-scale interventions will also be piloted, such as introducing menstrual kits with educational packets and dedicated physical spaces for menstrual hygiene.

Cliveland Ogallo of the Center for Public Health and Development (CPHD) with Anne-Beatrice Kihara of the University of Nairobi, both in Kenya, will assess the impact of heavy menstrual bleeding on the health and well-being of adolescent girls in an underserved community in Kenya. Girls in the Kibera urban informal settlement will be surveyed, along with guardians and health workers, to assess the prevalence of self-reported heavy menstrual bleeding; menstrual health literacy and associated cultural narratives; hygiene practices; access to healthcare products and services; and impacts including anemia, school absenteeism, and psychosocial well-being. Small-scale interventions will also be piloted, such as introducing menstrual kits with educational packets and dedicated physical spaces for menstrual hygiene.

Exploring Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Among Adolescent Girls in Informal Settlements in Nairobi Kenya

James Beeson of the Burnet Institute with Stephen Scally of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, both in Australia, will develop candidate malaria mRNA vaccines designed to confer multiple types of immunity over multiple lifecycle stages of the malaria parasite. They will start with lead candidates that target &lt;em&gt;Plasmodium&lt;/em&gt; merozoites, screening them with a human organoid model of the germinal center for their ability to activate B cell responses. Based on these tests, they will add antigens and test the resulting multi-antigen vaccines in animal models to create candidates that confer anti-merozoite, anti-sporozoite, and transmission-blocking immunity.

James Beeson of the Burnet Institute with Stephen Scally of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, both in Australia, will develop candidate malaria mRNA vaccines designed to confer multiple types of immunity over multiple lifecycle stages of the malaria parasite. They will start with lead candidates that target &lt;em&gt;Plasmodium&lt;/em&gt; merozoites, screening them with a human organoid model of the germinal center for their ability to activate B cell responses. Based on these tests, they will add antigens and test the resulting multi-antigen vaccines in animal models to create candidates that confer anti-merozoite, anti-sporozoite, and transmission-blocking immunity.

Multi-Functional and Multi-Stage Immunity to Transform Malaria Vaccine Efficacy

Brian Sullivan of Arcturus Therapeutics, with Sean Murphy of the University of Washington Foundation, both in the U.S., will pilot test a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine technology as a platform for developing malaria vaccines. They will use a mouse model of malaria, establishing infections in parallel with two different &lt;em&gt;Plasmodium&lt;/em&gt; parasite species. They will test preventive treatments in this model, comparing self-amplifying mRNA vaccine technology to conventional mRNA and comparing intramuscular versus intravenous administration. They will assess the ability of each test vaccine to protect against liver-stage infection, determining the number of liver-stage parasites and how well the vaccine elicits potent, malaria-specific T-cell responses in the liver. The prolonged antigen expression characteristic of self-amplifying mRNA vaccines could be particularly valuable in inducing long-term protection against malaria.

Brian Sullivan of Arcturus Therapeutics, with Sean Murphy of the University of Washington Foundation, both in the U.S., will pilot test a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine technology as a platform for developing malaria vaccines. They will use a mouse model of malaria, establishing infections in parallel with two different &lt;em&gt;Plasmodium&lt;/em&gt; parasite species. They will test preventive treatments in this model, comparing self-amplifying mRNA vaccine technology to conventional mRNA and comparing intramuscular versus intravenous administration. They will assess the ability of each test vaccine to protect against liver-stage infection, determining the number of liver-stage parasites and how well the vaccine elicits potent, malaria-specific T-cell responses in the liver. The prolonged antigen expression characteristic of self-amplifying mRNA vaccines could be particularly valuable in inducing long-term protection against malaria.

Inducing Liver-Specific Immunity for Malaria Using Arcturus Self-Amplifying mRNA

Sarah Leeber of the University of Antwerp in Belgium, with Marie Josiane Kenfack of the Center for Research on Emerging and Reemerging Diseases (CREMER) in Cameroon, will add DNA sequencing analysis of the vaginal microbiota as a component for a set of clinical trials of menstrual hygiene products in Belgium, Switzerland, Cameroon, and Peru. The longitudinal trials compare use of different menstrual products, with participants using either the same product over time or different products in sequence, including pads, tampons, cups, and underwear. Surveys and group discussions will be used to gather data on user perceptions of the products and how acquiring knowledge of the microbiome may influence attitudes and practices. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing from self-collected samples will reveal changes in the vaginal microbiota associated with different products. Together, this data will provide a more comprehensive understanding of both the biological and behavioral dimensions of menstrual product use.

Sarah Leeber of the University of Antwerp in Belgium, with Marie Josiane Kenfack of the Center for Research on Emerging and Reemerging Diseases (CREMER) in Cameroon, will add DNA sequencing analysis of the vaginal microbiota as a component for a set of clinical trials of menstrual hygiene products in Belgium, Switzerland, Cameroon, and Peru. The longitudinal trials compare use of different menstrual products, with participants using either the same product over time or different products in sequence, including pads, tampons, cups, and underwear. Surveys and group discussions will be used to gather data on user perceptions of the products and how acquiring knowledge of the microbiome may influence attitudes and practices. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing from self-collected samples will reveal changes in the vaginal microbiota associated with different products. Together, this data will provide a more comprehensive understanding of both the biological and behavioral dimensions of menstrual product use.