August 11, 2022
Anticipated Publication Date of Challenge Announcement: August 11, 2022
Anticipated (Registration) Submission Start Date: September 1, 2022
Anticipated (Registration closes) Submission Due Date: September 22, 2022
Anticipated Award Date: January 1, 2023
Anticipated Start Date: January 1, 2023
Related Announcements
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
As part of the NIH’s Implementing a Maternal Health Vision for Everyone initiative (IMPROVE initiative), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) intends to publish an announcement to invite entries for a prize competition: Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge.
The Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge aims to encourage and reward non-profit community-based or advocacy organizations to develop research capabilities and infrastructure to pursue research projects in the area of maternal health. By incentiviing the development of research capabilities, infrastructure, and experience, this challenge will empower registered 501(c)3 (non-profit) organizations in the United States (such as advocacy, local community, faith-based, and other similar groups) to acquire skills and abilities in their organizations and more effectively become partners in and contribute to future NIH-funded maternal health research activities in areas that specifically impact their communities.
This Notice is being provided to inform potential organziations of the upcoming opportunity to compete in the Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge. Publication of the Challenge announcement and launch of the submission portal are planned for August 11, 2022. The estimated submission deadline is September 22, 2022.
NICHD intends to award a total prize purse of $3,038,000 which will be awarded across the three phases of this competition. Additional information about the planned prize competition is included below.
Background
On average, 700 people die each year of pregnancy-related causes in the United States. The racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in these maternal deaths are stark. For example, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black women are two to three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause compared to White women. Identifying core risk factors and improving outcomes for women who are under-represented in biomedical research - including African American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic/Latina - necessitates engaging these communities in the research process to ensure their needs and expertise are captured.
Even allowing for factors such as age, pre-existing health conditions, and lifestyle factors, there are still large differences in maternal mortality and morbidity rates by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Developing new treatments, prevention methods, and diagnostic capabilities to help reduce maternal mortality and morbidity rates for those groups at greater risk will benefit from enhanced community engagement in the research process, to address community-identified needs.
Community-based and advocacy organizations that work routinely with women and people who can become pregnant, especially those from communities of color, regularly see and address core risk factors for these groups. Although many of these organizations are on the frontlines of maternal health, they may not have the resources and infrastructure needed to support “traditional biomedical” which may limit their ability to apply for and receive federal research support. Community-based and advocacy organizations that do engage in federally-funded maternal health research often do so as a secondary or sub-awardee, in which the primary grant recipient is a university, academic medical center, or other traditional research institution. This situation may hinder the ability of these groups to directly shape the maternal health research agenda by obtaining the resources necessary to conduct larger-scale traditional research studies in their communities.
Another objective of this challenge is to address some of the barriers faced by community-based and advocacy organizations in entering the traditional health research realm and receiving federal funding to support such research. This multi-phase challenge offers resources for organizations to build and sustain research infrastructure and capacity and incentives to conduct independent, traditional research projects. The challenge aspires to enhance organizations’ skills and abilities in the conduct and support of traditional health research, while encouraging them to consider partnering in and contributing to future NIH-funded maternal health research activities in areas that specifically impact their communities.
Eligibility
Participation in the Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge is open to organizations that qualify for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, have a primary place of business in the United States, are not institutions of higher learning, and (at the time of submission) are not listed as the primary awardee on a NIH grant, cooperative agreement, or contract. Examples of eligible organizations include, but are not limited to: adovcacy, local community, faith-based, and other similar groups with a demonstrated interest in conducting maternal health research. Eligible organizations may choose to partner with other groups, but the lead organization submitting to this challenge must meet the criteria stated above.
Prize Competition Details
The Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge is offering a total prize purse of $3,038,000 which will be distributed across multiple phases of the competition and awarded to organizations who successfully complete the objectives and requirements of each phase.
- Gathering Phase: Contract partners, FedTech will provide online training and other forms of educational guidance with up to (50) interested participating organizations on an equitable basis to help them create a complete and competitive submission. FedTech will provide introductory training and support materials in the beginning of the Gathering Phase to orient them to the research process and to the Challenge process. Up to 15 organizations will be selected to advance to the Proposal Phase of the challenge based upon the Judging Criteria. Each of the 15 advancing organizations will receive a $10,000 award.
- Proposal Phase: Each of the 15 participating organizations selected to advance from the Gathering Phase will develop a comprehensive research proposal over the course of 10 weeks. Each organization will be custom matched with a FedTech mentor and will be invited to participate in regular workshops and webinars on relevant topics. The $10,000 prizes awarded in the Gathering Phase could be used to help support their continued participation in this phase. Up to 10 organizations will be selected to advance to the Research Phase based on the Judging Criteria and will receive a $150,000 award that could be used to stand up their research infrastructures and pursue their proposed research activities.
- Research Phase: In this final phase, the 10 organizations selected to advance from the Proposal Phase will have approximately a year to implement their project plans, conduct the proposed research, and report results. During this phase, each organization will continue to meet regularly with their respective FedTech mentors for specific advice and guidance, and all finalists will also be invited to participate in workshops and webinars to hear from different subject matter experts on topics related to maternal health and more broadly towards sustaining their research activities. At the end of this phase, each organization will submit a report that summarizes their activities, research findings, and conclusions. This report will also include a project plan outlining next steps resulting from the initial findings and a proposed supporting budget. Organizations who are judged to have met the minimum criteria and satisfactorily provided the required information in their final research report will be eligible to receive one of up to eight 3rd Place prizes of $100,000 each. Those organizations who are judged to have exceeded the minimum criteria and demonstrated successful completion of their proposed research projects will be considered for the 1st Place prize of $300,000 and the 2nd Place prize of $200,000. Any prize purse funds that remain un-awarded following the completion of the Research Phase may be added to each of the prize amounts awarded to the winners of the Research Phase.
Maurice Davis, DHA, MPA-MHSA
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Telephone: 301-435-6887
Email: [email protected]
and Human Services (HHS)
