AI Grants for Healthcare Research: Every Federal, Foundation, and Corporate Program

The federal government has poured hundreds of millions into AI-driven biomedical research over the past four years, and the pipeline is expanding rather than contracting. At the same time, philanthropy and corporate programs have built parallel tracks that operate on shorter timelines and lower barriers than traditional NIH mechanisms. For researchers and organizations at the intersection of AI and health, mapping the full landscape — federal, foundation, and corporate — is no longer optional. Missing one program can mean a 12-month gap in funding.

Here is that map, current as of February 2026.

The NIH Ecosystem: Three Programs Worth Knowing Cold

Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) is the flagship. NIH's Common Fund committed $130 million over four years to build AI-ready biomedical datasets and the ethical frameworks to use them. In January 2026, the NIH Council of Councils approved Bridge2AI's move into Stage 2, which shifts focus from dataset creation to delivering those resources as trusted, deployable tools for specific health challenges. Stage 2 funding details are not yet published, but institutions that built infrastructure under Stage 1 are well-positioned to compete for continuations. Watch commonfund.nih.gov/bridge2ai/funding closely.

Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of AI and Advanced Data Science (SCH) is the NIH/NSF joint program for high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary projects. Solicitation NSF 25-542 offers up to $1.2 million per project over four years ($300,000 annually), with 10 to 16 awards per cycle and roughly $15–20 million total per year. Full proposals are due October 3, annually. Projects must cross disciplinary boundaries — teams pairing computer scientists with clinicians or public health researchers are the explicit target.

AHRQ AI Healthcare Safety (PA-24-261) takes a different angle. Where SCH funds development, this R18 mechanism funds evaluation: what actually happens to patient safety when AI is deployed in live clinical systems. Awards run up to $1 million over two years, and for-profit organizations cannot lead — they can participate only as subcontractors or consortium members. AHRQ also runs the R21/R33 Digital Healthcare Solutions program, which provides up to $275,000 for the R21 exploratory phase and up to $1 million for R33 expansion, with due dates through August 1, 2026. This two-phase structure is worth noting: not all R21 awardees advance to R33, and applications must be designed with that contingency in mind.

BARDA: Non-Dilutive Funding on BARDA's Timeline, Not Yours

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority runs a network of accelerators that function differently from NIH mechanisms. Awards are non-dilutive (no equity taken), range from $50,000 to $200,000, and are milestone-based over six-month project windows. Three programs are directly relevant to AI health applications right now.

The Paratus Digital Health Accelerator accepts preliminary applications through MATTER Health and focuses on digital solutions aligned with BARDA's health security mission. Full proposals follow by invitation, and the current cohort cycle targeted preliminary applications by January 15, 2026.

I-CREATE targets diagnostics and medical devices. Applications for the 2026 cohort closed in September 2025, with awards expected to begin in January 2026 — meaning those funded now are already underway. Position your organization for the 2027 cohort by engaging with the BARDA Accelerator Network early.

The BioTools Innovator VANGUARD program covers enabling technologies including AI infrastructure for biomedical applications, with first awards for the current cohort anticipated in April 2026. All three programs are accessible through drive.hhs.gov. The dollar amounts are modest compared to NIH R01s, but BARDA funding is faster, the milestone structure creates accountability, and a successful project creates a credible pathway toward BARDA's larger contracts.

The FDA Dimension: Regulatory Science Research

The FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) conducts internal regulatory science research on AI/ML-based medical devices, but the agency also issues external grants for research that informs its regulatory frameworks. In January 2025, FDA published draft guidance on lifecycle management for AI-enabled device software — a signal that the regulatory environment is actively moving. Organizations developing AI medical devices should monitor grants.gov for FDA-issued opportunities and treat CDRH's published guidance documents as a map to the agency's funding priorities.

Foundation Funding: Global Scale and Health Equity Angles

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made AI in primary healthcare a priority for 2026 in a way that has no historical precedent. Two initiatives are now live. The Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH) initiative — a $60 million joint commitment with the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Wellcome — has an open call for proposals focused on evaluating mature AI tools in primary and community health settings in low- and middle-income countries. Separately, the Gates Foundation and OpenAI are deploying $50 million through Horizon 1000, targeting 1,000 primary healthcare clinics in Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria by 2028. Both initiatives prioritize locally led research and implementation — organizations with existing LMIC health system relationships have a structural advantage.

For U.S.-focused health equity work, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is in a transition period. Several signature programs including Evidence for Action wind down at the end of 2026 to make room for a new initiative focused on how knowledge is created, shared, and used in health systems — with equity as the central frame. AI tools that address systemic information gaps fit that framing. Monitor rwjf.org/en/grants/active-funding-opportunities.html as the new program details emerge later this year.

Corporate Programs: Move Fast, Think Strategically

Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Science is the most significant open corporate grant program for health researchers right now. The $30 million global initiative, announced February 2026, awards between $500,000 and $3 million per organization to nonprofits, social enterprises, and academic institutions applying AI to health and life sciences. Applications are open through April 17, 2026, at google.org/impact-challenges/ai-science/. Beyond cash, selected organizations enter a Google.org Accelerator providing pro bono technical support from Google experts and access to Google Cloud credits — infrastructure that matters for computationally intensive health AI work.

Google also ran the MedGemma Impact Challenge on Kaggle, a $100,000 prize pool for human-centered AI health applications built on Google's MedGemma open models, with final submissions due February 24, 2026. The competition signals where Google Research is focusing development resources — MedGemma 1.5 now handles 3D medical imaging and clinical speech — which matters for researchers choosing model foundations.

Microsoft AI for Health operates as a rolling philanthropic program awarding Azure cloud credits and AI for Good Lab collaboration to nonprofits, academic institutions, and researchers working on global health challenges. Since launching in 2020, the program has supported over 200 grantees. Applications are evaluated on an ongoing basis at microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/ai-for-health/.

Shared Infrastructure: NAIRR as Multiplier

The National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot, run by NSF, is less a grant program and more a force multiplier for researchers who are already funded. It provides access to compute, data, models, and training resources that would otherwise require multi-million-dollar contracts. NIH and the Department of Energy are building a NAIRR Secure element specifically for sensitive health data. Researchers can apply for resource allocations at nairrpilot.org. If you are writing an SCH or Bridge2AI application and you have NAIRR access in hand, include it — reviewers notice teams that have thought carefully about compute infrastructure before they ask for money.

The AI healthcare grant landscape runs from $50,000 BARDA milestone awards to $130 million NIH programs, and the deadlines are concentrated in the first half of 2026. Tracking all of it simultaneously is where Granted can do the work so your team doesn't have to.

Sources:

• NIH Bridge2AI Common Fund Program
• NSF Smart Health SCH Solicitation NSF 25-542
• AHRQ PA-24-261: AI Healthcare Safety R18
• AHRQ R21/R33 Digital Healthcare Solutions PA-24-266
• BARDA DRIVe Partnering
• FDA AI/ML Medical Devices Research Program
• Gates Foundation EVAH Initiative Press Release
• Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Science
• Microsoft AI for Health Program
• NAIRR Pilot Resource Allocations