Key Dates

NOT-RM-21-022 - Notice of Intent to Publish a Research Opportunity Announcement for the Data Generation Projects of the NIH Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) Program (OT2)

Office of Strategic Coordination (Common Fund)

This Notice is to alert the community that the NIH plans to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) as part of the Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) Program to solicit applications for Integration, Dissemination and Evaluation (BRIDGE) Center cores to integrate, disseminate and evaluate datasets and cross-cutting products across Bridge2AI Data Generation Projects (see related Notice), and to develop best-practices for the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) methods to address key grand challenges in biomedical and behavioral research. The BRIDGE Center cores will encompass expertise in administration of a consortium, teaming, ethics, standards, tools, and skills and workforce development. It is expected that the BRIDGE Center will work collaboratively with funded Data Generation Projects to achieve the goals of the Bridge2AI program.

The BRIDGE Center (U54) FOA is expected to be published in June 2021 with the first expected application due date in August 2021. Potential applicants are expected to participate in NIH-facilitated teaming activities in Summer of 2021 to form interdisciplinary teams to create responsive applications. Earliest award dates will be in March 2022.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop responsive applications and to plan participation in the teaming activities. The Bridge2AI website, commonfund.nih.gov/bridge2ai, will provide details and instructions for potential applicants to participate in the teaming activities. Bridge2AI encourages the involvement of comparatively under-resourced institutions as partners in the BRIDGE Center.

The Bridge2AI Program seeks to bridge the biomedical and behavioral research communities with the rapidly growing community of experts developing AI/ML models by producing flagship datasets that adhere to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible) and critically integrate ethical considerations in preparing data for computation. The program will use biomedical and behavioral research grand challenges to drive the development of ethics, standards, tools,datasets, and skills and workforce development strategies for linking scientific workflows, protocols, and other information about the data collection process into computable knowledge. Datasets may be linked to existing clinical, environmental and surveillance data as required by the chosen grand challenges. The overall goal of the Bridge2AI Program is to generate flagship datasets and best practices for the collection and preparation of AI/ML-ready data to address biomedical and behavioral research grand challenges. The Bridge2AI program will require multiple scientific domains to come together with data science, data management and analytic experts to unlock the potential of AI/ML for the scientific community.

Planned objectives of the Bridge2AI program include: 1) Creation of new biomedical and behavioral datasets, that are ethically sourced, trustworthy, well-defined and accessible; 2) Software to standardize data attributes across multiple data sources and across data types (establishing new standards as needed); 3) Automated tools to assist the creation of FAIR and ethically sourced datasets (e.g.: through the intelligent workflows, sensorized instruments, etc.); 4) Resources to disseminate data, ethical principles, tools and best practices; and, 5) Cross-training materials and activities for workforce development that bridges the AI/ML and biomedical/behavioral research communities. Completion of these objectives will establish a culture for rigorously generating credible, ethical and generalizable data which will enable AI/ML methods to address key biomedical and behavioral grand challenge problems.

The Bridge2AI program is designed to support interdisciplinary Data Generation Projects (see related Notice) and a complementary cross-cutting Integration, Dissemination, and Evaluation (BRIDGE) Center (this Notice). Teams funded through these two opportunities will be expected to interact and collaborate regularly to complete cross-cutting Bridge2AI program goals.

Integration, Dissemination and Evaluation (BRIDGE) Center (U54)

The Integration, Dissemination and Evaluation (BRIDGE) Center will be responsible for integrating activities and knowledge across Data Generation Projects, disseminating products, best-practices, and skills and workforce development materials/activities, and evaluating all aspects of the Bridge2AI program with input from external stakeholder communities. The BRIDGE Center will include cores of expertise in administration, team science, ethics, data and modeling standards, tools optimization and dissemination, and skills and workforce development. The BRIDGE Center cores must be positioned to be well-informed of the changing landscape of data standards, ethical principles, AI/ML model requirements, automated software tools, and skills and workforce development methods. Each core will work across relevant components of the Data Generation Projects to facilitate interdisciplinary team science and to create cross-cutting products, such as workflow and practice analyses, standards harmonization, ethical AI best-practices, and skills and workforce development opportunities for the Bridge2AI Program as well as broader communities.

The Bridge2AI program expects center expertise to come from diverse social, cultural, economic, academic and industrial backgrounds and communities. NIH is particularly interested in having Bridge2AI data generation projects that have the potential to reflect the diversity of society and health problems and to have teams that include members from underrepresented researchers, research cohorts and institutions which are less represented at the NIH (see NIH’s Interest in Diversity and information about IDeA states).

Center Organization

The BRIDGE Center will include an Administrative Core and five Scientific Cores that will work across funded Data Generation Projects to develop cross-cutting best-practices to enhance use of AI/ML methods to address key biomedical and behavioral grand challenges:

• Teaming Core
• Ethics Core
• Standards Core
• Tool Optimization and Dissemination Core
• Skills and Workforce Development Core

Applicants must include an Administrative Core and at least one of the Scientific Cores listed above. Applicants may propose all five Scientific Cores. Regardless of the structure of the proposals and how many cores are proposed, each core will be individually reviewed. Post review, Cores from different applications may be selected and funded to work collaboratively as a single BRIDGE center.

Applications are not being solicited at this time.

Please direct all inquiries to:

Shurjo Sen, Ph.D.
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
301 827-7028
bridge2ai@od.nih.gov