AI & Asian Health Seed Grant

AI & Asian Health Seed Grant is sponsored by Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) and Stanford Center for Digital Health (CDH). This specialized seed grant focuses on leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to advance, implement, and promote cutting-edge digital solutions to improve Asian health. The project aims to improve the health of Asian populations.

Stanford CARE Seed Grant | Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) Skip Secondary Navigation Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Stanford CARE has awarded 41 Seed Grants to pioneering scientists across a wide range of disciplines seeking early-stage funding to pursue innovative research in Asian health.

These grants have given Stanford CARE investigators the freedom to explore their most promising and uniquely Stanford research ideas, which nurtures and expands Stanford Medicine's exceptional capacity for innovation in Asian health. These funds are particularly helpful in promoting collaborations across disciplines and supporting the collection of pilot data to achieve further grant funding.

This strategy has been successful in launching and nurturing new Asian health research projects, and has allowed researchers to accumulate sufficient “proof-of-concept” data to apply competitively for follow-on research funding, both in the form of philanthropic investment and traditional public and/or private grant funding from the NIH, AHA, and others.

Every year, Stanford CARE releases a Call for Applications in early December with applications due via Slideroom on February 1. Awards are announced in early March. The award period is two calendar years, typically beginning on May 1 and ending on April 30.

View our Current Stanford CARE Seed Grant Awardees View this highlight on CARE's Seed Grant Program from the Stanford Department of Medicine's 2025 Annual Report.

Specialized Grants for our 2026 Seed Grant Cycle In addition to our general seed grants, Stanford CARE will be collaborating with the following centers and groups to offer 4 specialized grants: Lung Cancer & Asian Health This year, Stanford CARE and the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) will be co-sponsoring a specialized seed grant titled “Translational Therapeutics for Lung Cancer in People Who Have Never Smoked”.

This funding will support the development of Novel Therapeutic Entities (NTEs) for Lung Cancer with up to $200,000 in funding. There will be one grant awarded for this cycle.

Disease area: NSCLC in People who have Never Smoked Any therapeutic modality: small molecule, antibody, cell-based, peptide, other immuno-oncology, … Preference will be given to projects with high likelihood of commercialization within three years (i.e. potential to be licensed out of Stanford for further development by an established or new company). Projects should have a clearly defined and validated therapeutic target.

The grant is not intended for target identification or validation. Stanford CARE and the Stanford Center for Digital Health (CDH) will be co-sponsoring a specialized seed grant titled “The use of generative AI to improve the health of Asian populations”. This project will focus on leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to advance, implement, and promote cutting-edge digital solutions to improve Asian health.

There will be one grant up to $50,000 awarded for this cycle. This year, Stanford CARE's ADVANCE (Accelerate Innovation in Diabetes LeVeraging Unique PAthways iN Asians) Program will be co-sponsoring two specialized seed grants titled “Innovative Diabetes Research in Asian Populations Powered by the ADVANCE Biobank.

” There will be two grants of $50,000 each awarded to support innovative research on Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in Asian populations utilizing samples from the Stanford ADVANCE Biobank.

The Stanford ADVANCE Biobank is an Asian diabetes biobank within the Stanford Precision Health Biobank, created to better understand the unique genetic, molecular, and clinical features of diabetes among individuals of Asian descent, with and without diabetes.

We invite proposals that: Leverage ADVANCE Biobank samples and linked clinical data Focus on Type 1 and/or Type 2 diabetes in Asian and Asian American populations Use approaches such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, immunology, imaging, data science, or AI/ML Aim to generate preliminary data for future NIH or other extramural funding In order to access samples for research purposes, please follow the instructions listed under the ADVANCE Biobank tab using this link: https://med.

stanford. edu/precisionhealthbiobank/education/for-researchers. html Apply HERE for our 2026 cycle!

Stanford CARE Seed Grants are only eligible for active Stanford Faculty. This includes research and clinical faculty who can serve as a Primary Investigator on the project. Higher preference will go to projects that are aligned with Stanford CARE’s current high-impact research areas: Asian Cancers: Lung, Gastric, Liver, Nasopharyngeal (Note: At least one seed grant in the 2026 cycle will be reserved for lung cancer research.)

Cardiovascular disease and diabetes For all seed grants, focus areas above that also integrate Artificial Intelligence as a component to the study are encouraged.

Term : May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2028 Funding Amount : Up to $200,000 (determined by review committee each year) SEED GRANT IMPACT REPORT: Awardees are required to provide a one-page status report summarizing progress on the project and any resulting research products (abstracts, papers, grants, etc.) at 12, 18, and 24 months after receipt of funds.

Please refer to our Seed Grant Policy for information on requirements and conditions of funding. Any additional questions can be sent to stanfordcare@stanford. edu Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) How many seed grants do you offer each cycle?

This varies each year. The total number of grants, including any specialized grants, will be publicized with each application cycle. Can I apply to the same seed grant with multiple project proposals?

Yes. We welcome multiple proposals, however each new project will need a separate application. There are some years you offer a specialized grant that is dedicated to a topic (ex.

AI in Asian Health). If I apply to that specialized grant, am I also eligible for the general grant? Yes.

When you apply via our application, there is a checkbox asking if you are applying to that year’s specialized grant. If you apply to a specialized grant, you will automatically be considered for the general grant as well. There is no need to submit a separate application.

Is there a specialized grant each year? Not necessarily, although we prioritize project themes that align with our mission and key strategic areas (cancers, cardiometabolic disease, AI, mental health, and longevity). I noticed that your funding timeline is listed for 2 years, but the application asks for a 1-year scoped project.

Why is that? The award is expendable over a 2-year period, but we ask that the project proposal is scoped for 1 year. The reason we have a 2-year time frame on funding is largely to accommodate awardees that need to go through IRB approvals or to account for unexpected delays to our researchers.

What happens if my proposal is not selected? If your project is not awarded, CARE will house your proposal internally for 1 year in our waitlist. Should a funding opportunity arise, CARE will reach out to the PI to see if an “off-cycle” grant would be appropriate.

Any projects beyond the 1 year waitlist timeline will need to reapply for the next cycle if they wish to be considered.