Deadline: 13 January 2015
Funded by Strategic Health Innovation Partnership (SHIP) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the All Children thriving Grand Challenge is open for applications. Researchers from South Africa who can work on the interventions of interest can apply for either seed grants (up to $500,000) or full grants (up to $2.5 million).
The challenge aims to determine what packages of interventions should be delivered to which group of individuals at what point in their life cycle so that the burden of fetal growth impairment and preterm birth, stunted postnatal growth, and impaired cognitive development can be reduced. The grants will go to South African researchers.
Grant Categories
- Seed Grants – Up to US$500,000 for two-year project. An opportunity to test particularly bold ideas, including applying approaches from outside the field of maternal and child health. The proposal do not require extensive preliminary data.
- Full Grants – Up to US$2.5 million for four-year project. An opportunity to develop, refine, and rigorously test combinations of activities, including sets of interventions for which some or all have previously shown promise in controlled or limited settings. The projects require to show substantial preliminary data.
Interventions of Interest (but not limited to)
- Preconception and maternal nutrition (adequate micronutrient intake)
- Exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months of age
- Complementary feeding from 6-24 months of age
- Food security and dietary diversity (accommodating seasonality)
- Farm productivity and women farmer’ income generation
- Infection control (vaccines, drugs, clean water access, sanitation, food hygiene, hand washing)
- Reduced toxin exposure (indoor air pollution, aflatoxin, pesticides)
- Reducing the burden of unhealthy pregnancy, including fetal growth delays (maternal stress, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes)
- Reducing the burden of preterm birth
- Birth assistance and strategies to reduce infant mortality associated with preterm birth and the prenatal period
- Fostering newborn care (immediate initiation of breastfeeding, kangaroo care)
- Family planning and birth spacing
- Infant nurturing and early child stimulation
- Addressing violence and abuse
- Addressing the role of socioeconomic status and gender norms
Eligibility Criteria
- South African investigators should apply through South Africa’s Strategic Health Innovation Partnership (SHIP).
- Projects can target impact in South Africa with the expectation that this impact will ultimately extend beyond South Africa, or it can include a component to specifically test solutions developed for South Africa for their impact in other countries.
- Partnerships with researchers in other African countries and elsewhere, especially where the opportunity exists to build on existing collaborations is encouraged.
- Projects must propose innovation in – measurement tools, intervention packages, analytical tools.
- Proposals must demonstrate potential to lead to prevention and treatment solutions with substantial impact. Innovation, scientific and technical excellence, unique project resources and value in terms of appropriateness of the budget and timeline are the major components to be clearly demonstrated in the proposal.
For more information, please visit All Children Thriving.
