The Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection (ITI) | Center for Human Systems Immunology (CHSI) with funding support by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pleased to solicit applications for pilot projects to advance global health.

Innovation Pilot Projects

LOI Submission Deadline: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Eligibility: Stanford faculty with PI eligibility and CE faculty, Instructors, Clinical Instructors, Academic staff-research (for example: senior research associates), postdoctoral fellows and advanced graduate students.  If the proposal is submitted by a non-faculty PI, it is required that a PI-eligible faculty mentor is named.  This is an internal Stanford funding opportunity so a PI waiver is not needed. At the request of the Gates Foundation, this RFA is exclusively available to researchers who have not previously received pilot project funding through CHSI.
Funding: Successful applicants will receive $50,000 - $100,000 (total direct) for one year with a possible second year of funding contingent upon review of scientific progress
Submission portal: Click here
Contact: Gerlinde Obermoser (gerlinde.obermoser@stanford.edu)

PURPOSE  

The primary goal of this RFA is to enhance our understanding and design of improved vaccines for infectious diseases that remain the world’s greatest killers.  The ideal projects would address knowledge gaps on how to optimize the durability, breadth, and affinity of antibody responses to vaccines, or identify robust biomarkers of vaccine durability measurable early after immunization.  In addition, we are calling for proposals in the field of mucosal and placental immunology.   

There are three general categories of funding that we are focusing on:

1. Application of Innovative Computational Tools: This category encompasses the application and development of advanced computational tools, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to enhance our understanding of aforementioned aspects of global health research.
    
2. Novel Technologies for Vaccine Platforms and Delivery Modalities: We are seeking to fund research applying groundbreaking technologies to contribute to the creation of new vaccine platforms and innovative delivery systems. These could include non-LNP formulations for RNA delivery or new therapeutic modalities to modulate gene expression.
    
3. Novel Mucosal and Placental Immunology: We are interested in funding research that explores the mechanisms driving mucosal immunity (including vaginal mucosal immunology), and how this knowledge can be applied to develop improved vaccines for respiratory or intestinal pathogens. In addition, we seek to support the development of new tools to monitor the maternal-fetal interface and placental health.
    

Through these funding categories, we seek to support research that advances global health initiatives. We also encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration, with special consideration given to proposals that involve partnerships between technologists and clinical collaborators or immunologists.

Program priorities 

• Application of Innovative Computational Tools
• Novel Technologies for Vaccine Platforms and Delivery Modalities
• Novel Mucosal and Placental Immunology
   

Requirements: 
GATES FOUNDATION TERMS WILL APPLY

Publication: Timely publication is expected in line with the Gates Foundation's Open Access Policy, requiring preprint sharing on relevant platforms. Grant funds cannot be used for publication fees.

Data Access: You agree to provide the Foundation access to cleaned data sets upon request and to make all data publicly available within six months after the project end date, unless otherwise agreed.

Humanitarian License and Global Access: The Foundation is granted a nonexclusive, royalty-free sub-licensable license for any intellectual property developed from this project, including related background IP. We recommend contacting Minxing Li (minxingl@Stanford.edu) from Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing for a more detailed discussion if needed.

How can the funds be used? 

No detailed budget requested for LOI submission. No NIH salary cap applies. Graduate student funding support allowable for salary and tuition, but not for stipends and health care insurance.

Timeline and Selection Process: 1-page proposal concept sheet due Tuesday, April 15th, 2025, EOB. Selection criteria will include scientific merit, strategic fit with global health needs, feasibility, and potential for impact. We expect a rapid review process by a joint Stanford-Gates Foundation committee with invitations to prepare a full proposal and budget by early June 2025. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES I CHECKLIST

Please upload the following on our submission portal by April 15, EOB:

File name: Last name_CHSI_Pilots2025.docx

Project Outline on (approx.) one page: 

• Header: Center for Human Systems Immunology Innovation Pilot Project Proposal
• Project Title
• Pl and Co-Pl name, title/rank, department, address, phone number, email address
• Briefly describe the proposal with key question(s) (see above) addressed, hypothesis, rationale and approach.
• If clinical samples are needed for your research, please include how you will obtain them, and which collaborations, biosafety and IRB approvals you already have in place or need to prepare.
• Timeline estimate for your project.
• Format: Arial font size 11, single spaced, 1/2-inch margin; submit in Word format (no PDF please)
• One paragraph budget summary at the bottom of your proposal: Please list the total direct amount of funding requested with details on amount for personnel (with % support), supplies and other support. No detailed budget requested for LOI submission. No NIH salary cap applies. Graduate student funding support allowable for salary and tuition, but not for stipends and health care insurance.
• Indirect rate is 10%. Total direct amount of funding is max. $100,000 ($110,000 with 10% IDC).
• Name and e-mail address of your task/finance manager (to be contacted for further details upon approval of your application).
• Please include other pertinent funding support and potential leveraging.
• Not required: Preliminary data, CV, budget justification.

Institutional representative: not applicable. This RFP is considered an internal Stanford funding opportunity. Therefore, you do not need to submit your proposals through your RPM/RMG or CGO/OSR for institutional approval. 

For inquiries, please contact Gerlinde Obermoser, Project Director, Center for Human Systems Immunology, Gerlinde.Obermoser@Stanford.edu.

Download the RFA flyer here.