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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Universal Influenza Vaccine Development Grand Challenge
Sponsor: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 		Closing Date: 22-Jun-2018
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has launched a Grand Challenge for Universal Influenza Vaccine Development, with the goal of identifying novel, transformative concepts that would lead to development of a truly universal flu vaccine. The Foundation is seeking unconventional approaches that effectively drive or harness immune responses in desired ways and develop universal influenza vaccines that are ready to start clinical trials by 2021.

The Foundation is looking for proposals that engage scientists across a variety of disciplines, including those new to the influenza field. Examples of researchers and disciplines the Foundation would like to see further integrated and supported include computational and systems biologists, virologists, immunologists, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, deep learning, machine learning, the HIV/AIDS and cancer immunotherapy research communities, etc.

Funding is available for pilot awards of up to USD $2 million over 2 years, with the anticipation that one or more pilot projects, on demonstration of promising proof-of-concept data (e.g., from animal models), may be invited to apply for a full award up to USD $10 million. Full awards would be intended to fund IND-enabling and clinical studies.

Key Dates
• Letter of Inquiry (3 pages) due to UQR&I (via internationalgrants@research.uq.edu.au): 11 June 2018
• Letter of Inquiry due to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: 22 June 2018
• Invitations for full proposals issued: August 2018

Please refer to the Supporting Materials on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website for full details of this funding opportunity, noting that:
• Although team collaborations are welcome, applicants need to elect a single Principal Investigator, and each Principal Investigator may lead only one project.
• All proposals must be aligned with the Gates Foundation’s intervention Target Product Profile (iTPP).
• Pilot awards do not include a requirement for an industry or translation partner but such partnerships would still be welcome.
• Please discuss any prospective application with your Research Partnership Manager (RPM) (including Global Access requirements and Indemnified Activities).
• UQ budgets should include 15% overheads.

Queries regarding this scheme may be directed to UQR&I at internationalgrants@research.uq.edu.au.
Website: https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenges

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