Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge: Research Capacity Building in Maternity Care Deserts

philipsyb@nih.gov

This opportunity is a multi-phased challenge designed to encourage and reward nonprofit community-based organizations, advocacy organizations, and state or federally recognized tribes to develop research capabilities and infrastructure to pursue research projects in maternal health, particularly of maternal morbidity and mortality.

Program phases:

1. Recruitment phase - Six weeks long and open to all community-based or advocacy organizations and tribes that meet the eligibility requirements. Informational webinars during this period will introduce the challenge sponsors, provide general guidance on proposal submission, and share the opportunities that participation in the challenge will provide.
2. Training phase - Up to 50 training phase participants will be selected to receive deeper and more customized training for Six weeks. Training services will include online training and other forms of educational guidance to help organizations create a complete and competitive training phase final submission that organizations must complete to be considered for participation in the proposal phase of the competition. Training phase participants will have access to training webinars, join weekly workshops, and receive feedback on one draft of their final submission.
3. Proposal phase - 20 participating organizations will be selected to advance from the training phase. Participants will develop a comprehensive research proposal over the course of 10 weeks. Each organization will be matched with a mentor and will be invited to participate in regular workshops and webinars on relevant topics. Interactions during this phase will help each organization develop a fully realized research proposal.
4. Research phase - 10 organizations will be selected to advance from the proposal phase, and they will have approximately 18 months to implement project plans, conduct the proposed research, and report results. During this phase, each organization will continue to meet regularly with their respective 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. Services of an institutional review board will be provided if needed.

The challenge is open to non-academic, 501(c)(3) organizations and state or federally recognized tribes based in the United States, including advocacy, community, and faith-based organizations.

Additional eligibility information and challenge rules are listed on the program website.

Training phase prizes: $10,000 each for up to 20 selected participants

Proposal phase prizes: $150,000 each for up to 10 selected participants

Research phase prizes: Up to 10 selected participants will share $1,400,000

Challenge prizes:

• First place prize - $350,000
• Second place prize - $250,000
• 8 third place prizes - $100,000 each

Follow the instructions on the how to enter tab.

Submissions are accepted through the online challenge portal.

Webinar information