Founded in 1997, the Gates Foundation (GF) is a charitable organisation that fights poverty, disease and inequity around the world. The GF Grand Challenges (GC) initiative has issued five new requests for proposals (RFPs) in the fields of antibiotic discovery, women’s health and HIV/TB diagnosis. GC aims to foster innovation to solve key global health and development problems. The five new RFPs are:

• Accelerating Innovations to Address Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Women in Low-Resource Settings
  • This RFP seeks to improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in women in low-resource settings, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Pakistan. Research priorities in HMB include understanding the underlying biological mechanisms, particularly related to endometrial dysfunction-related HMB, developing and introducing cost-effective and easy to scale-up diagnostics to identify causes of HMB and guide treatment, and identifying ways to increase acceptability and access to treatments such as the hormonal intrauterine device for women in low-resource settings.
  • Projects can request a maximum of $150,000. The grant term is up to two years.
  • A webinar for this RFP will take place on 25 February 2025 (7:00 to 8:00 PT) and advance registration is required to attend.
• Enhancing HIV and TB Diagnosis: Adjunct Technologies for Sample Collection and Processing
  • Funding through this initiative seeks to improve the early and accurate detection of TB and HIV for utilisation in resource-limited settings. Early and accurate detection is critical for timely treatment initiation, reducing transmission and improving patient outcomes. However, despite advancements in molecular and lateral flow assay diagnostics, major gaps remain in accessibility, affordability and implementation, particularly in resource-limited settings. Addressing these barriers requires innovative approaches to point-of-care diagnostics and supporting technologies that streamline sample collection and sample processing in low-resource environments.
  • Projects can request awards of $100,000 to $250,000 for up to two years.
  • A webinar for this RFP will take place on 26 February 2025 (6:00 to 7:00 PT) and advance registration is required to attend.
• Innovations for Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery
  • This RFP wishes to drive innovation in early drug discovery for Gram-negative pathogens. GF, the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF) and Wellcome are jointly launching a new initiative, the Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery Innovator (Gr-ADI), to drive innovation in early drug discovery for Gram-negative pathogens. The consortium will be formed through this GC RFP, with a focus on the discovery of direct-acting small molecule antibiotics with broad-spectrum activity against Enterobacteriaceae, using Klebsiella spp. as the pathogen to initiate a discovery programme. GF, NNF and Wellcome will collaborate to achieve the overall objectives of the Gr-ADI. Successful projects will receive awards either through GF, NNF or Wellcome, and will be bound by the specific terms and conditions of the individual funder.
  • Projects can request a maximum of $5 million for up to three years. Exploratory projects with shorter durations or lower budgets that focus on high-risk, innovative areas are strongly encouraged and will be given priority.
  • A webinar for this RFP will take place on 27 February 2025 (6:00 to 7:00 PT) and advance registration is required to attend.
• Innovative Data and Modeling Approaches to Measure Women’s Health
  • Funding is available for innovative modelling approaches that rethink how women’s health is measured to provide a more holistic understanding of women’s health outcomes. The aim is to advance innovative ways to measure women’s health by either developing new measurement models or adapting existing ones to better capture the full scope of women’s health burdens and progress. Solutions are prioritised that leverage data sources that are existing or under development rather than relying on new, large-scale data collection efforts.
  • Projects can request a maximum of $150,000, with a grant term of 18-24 months.
  • There is no advertised webinar for this RFP.
• Reducing the Burden of Preeclampsia
  • The early detection, prevention and treatment of preeclampsia, particularly in low and middle-income countries, is the focus of this RFP. Despite the growing understanding of preeclampsia biology, questions remain about heterogeneity of the disease across patients and the degree to which there are distinct subtypes and etiologies. New approaches are needed to more quickly and comprehensively reduce the burden of preeclampsia, especially those suitable for the health care infrastructure in the countries with the highest burden.
  • Projects can request a maximum of $500,000 for up to two years.
  • A webinar for this RFP will take place on 27 February 2025 (7:30 to 8:30 PT) and advance registration is required to attend.

Funding is open to organisations such as academic institutions, government agencies, international organisations, non-profit organisations and for-profit companies. Applicants can be based in any country. Proposals are particularly encouraged that are led by women/women-led organisations and from institutions based in low and middle-income countries.

For the Innovations for Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery RFP, proposals are particularly encouraged from groups that are historically under-represented in the drug discovery field and can be from multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary teams.