AI Healthcare Grants

The Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH) initiative is a $60 million joint investment by the Gates Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and Wellcome Trust to support rigorous, country-led evaluations of AI health tools in low- and middle-income countries. Delivered in partnership with J-PAL and the African Population and Health Research Center, EVAH funds evaluations of AI-enabled clinical decision support tools in primary and community healthcare settings across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Pathway A supports early-deployment evaluations focusing on usability, workflow integration, and safety for up to $1 million. Pathway B funds randomized controlled trials, economic analyses, and implementation science studies of tools ready for deployment at scale for up to $3 million. The initiative addresses a critical evidence gap about whether AI diagnostic and clinical decision support tools actually improve health outcomes in resource-limited settings.

University of Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI Accelerator Fellowship Programme is sponsored by University of Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI. Flexible, self‑directed research fellowship for individuals across sectors to develop ethical, policy‑relevant AI research under one of core themes (e. g. , AI and Mental Health, AI and Humanity)

The Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) at U.S. Mission UAE invites results-oriented proposals for programs that foster economic opportunities for U.S. businesses, investors, and innovators, and showcase American leadership and excellence in science, technology, culture, arts, sports, culinary diplomacy, artificial intelligence (AI), and health. The purpose is to strengthen ties between the United States and the United Arab Emirates in ways that make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous and advance the interests of the American people as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence (2026) and celebrate the enduring U.S.-UAE partnership. See Section C, Program Description for more information. This APS outlines the funding priorities and strategic themes we will focus on in FY2026, and the procedures for submitting requests for funding. Please carefully follow all instructions below. Proposals that fail to conform to the requirements outlined in this APS will not be considered. Goals and Objectives Proposals must focus on one of the seven priority areas outlined below. All proposed programs must clearly advance American strength, safety, and/or prosperity, to advance Goal 2 of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs: Secure opportunities to advance U.S. commercial and strategic interests. Specifically, all proposals must include an American element or demonstrate meaningful engagement with American experts, organizations, or institutions in ways that advance U.S. interests and promote understanding of American policies, perspectives, society, culture, and values. Proposals that include programming across multiple emirates are encouraged. Possible PD grant proposals include, but are not limited to: Programs that generate tangible opportunities for U.S. companies and American experts and institutions by connecting them with Emirati partners, suppliers, procurement channels, investors, government stakeholders, and/or decision makers; supporting U.S. market entry and visibility in the UAE; and facilitating engagements designed to produce measurable outcomes, including deals, partnerships, exports, investment, licensing, training agreements, or expanded U.S. market share across strategic sectors. Proposals may include activities such as events, collaborative projects, workshops, conferences, speaker series, alumni engagement initiatives, performances, trade and expo engagement, business networking activities, or programs conducted in connection with appropriate UAE trade shows, festivals, or public events. Examples of programs include, but are not limited to: • Programs that connect U.S. companies and experts with Emirati partners, suppliers, procurement channels, investors, and decisionmakers, facilitating business-to-business networking, investment matchmaking, and engagements designed to produce commercial partnerships, deals, exports, or expanded market access for American firms across strategic sectors. • Subject-matter expert, academic, and professional lectures, seminars, workshops, and speaker programs featuring American experts. • University-industry partnerships, including with research or technology parks, that generate commercialization projects and innovation initiatives, creating opportunities for U.S. companies in STEM fields and emerging technologies to expand partnerships and commercial engagement in the UAE. • Programs in partnership with UAE institutions and American companies that promote U.S. technologies, products, and services through workshops, trade show engagement, expos/showcases, and business networking in priority sectors such as AI, healthcare, energy, or the creative industries. • Hackathons, innovation competitions, maker spaces, or other hands-on activities that showcase American leadership in AI, space, cybersecurity, and other emerging technologies. • Professional and academic exchanges, training programs, and collaborative projects between U.S. and UAE institutions. (Note: This funding cannot be used to support construction-related activities. End note.) Priority Program Areas and Strategic Themes: Proposals must focus on one of the seven priority areas outlined below: 1. CELEBRATING AMERICA'S 250th ANNIVERSARY (FREEDOM 250): Initiatives that celebrate America’s 250th birthday by showcasing American excellence, innovation, technology, dynamism, culture, and strength of the U.S.-UAE partnership. 2. CELEBRATING AMERICAN SPORTS EXCELLENCE DURING THE AMERICAN DECADE OF SPORTS: Initiatives that leverage major U.S.-hosted sporting events, such as the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics and the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, to showcase American excellence in sports, sports science, athlete development, event management, tourism, and entertainment while strengthening U.S.-UAE engagement and creating opportunities for American sports institutions, companies, and experts to expand partnerships and commercial engagement in the UAE. 3. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) ADOPTION AND INNOVATION: Initiatives that promote the adoption of American AI technologies and strengthen U.S.-UAE collaboration in AI, innovation, and applied STEM fields, including cybersecurity, space, energy, water security, and smart agriculture, while creating opportunities for U.S. companies, universities, and research institutions to expand partnerships and commercial engagement in the UAE. 4. CULINARY DIPLOMACY:. Initiatives that use food and culinary arts as a bridge to strengthen U.S.-UAE ties while promoting American agricultural products, food systems, hospitality expertise, and culinary innovation. Programs should create opportunities for U.S. food producers, culinary professionals, hospitality companies, and agricultural exporters to expand partnerships and commercial engagement in the UAE. 5. CULTURAL HERITAGE PRESERVATION AND DIGITAL HERITAGE: Initiatives that showcase American leadership in cultural heritage preservation, artifact and antiquities protection, site conservation, and digital heritage technologies, including VR/AR platforms, 3D scanning, and digital archiving, while promoting U.S. expertise and expanding opportunities for American technology providers, educational institutions, and cultural organizations to strengthen partnerships and commercial engagement in the UAE. 6. HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES: Initiatives that strengthen U.S.-UAE collaboration in health and life sciences by promoting American expertise, technologies, research, and innovation while expanding partnerships and commercial opportunities for U.S. companies, healthcare institutions, and academic organizations in the UAE. 7. CREATIVE INDUSTRIES AND DIGITAL INNOVATION: Initiatives that strengthen U.S.-UAE cooperation and commercial engagement in the creative industries, digital media, entertainment, gaming and game development, esports, immersive technologies, and AI-enabled creative sectors by showcasing American platforms, technologies, platforms, storytelling, and innovation models while creating opportunities for U.S. companies, creators, developers, institutions, and experts to expand partnerships, collaboration, and market engagement in the UAE. Programs may also highlight the importance of intellectual property protections, creator rights, licensing frameworks, and responsible innovation in supporting growth across the digital and creative economy. In addition to the specific requirements listed above, all proposals must: Clearly indicate the primary grant priority area the program is focused on. Clearly indicate the key public diplomacy audience(s) that will be targeted by the program and the key activities to be delivered through the program. Identify the emirate(s)/city(cities) in which activities will take place. Identify specific outcomes to be achieved by the end of the grant period. Clearly delineate how elements of the proposed program will have a multiplier effect and be sustainable beyond the life of the grant. Provide a traditional and/or social media plan for marketing program activities and outcome, if applicable. Identify any tools (surveys, beneficiary interviews, focus groups, etc.) that will be developed and used for Monitoring and Evaluation purposes. Participants and Audiences: All proposals must focus on audiences in the United Arab Emirates and in the United States. If appropriate and feasible, proposals may have a regional scope and include participants from other countries, with a view to strengthening broader U.S. engagement in the region. Proposals should describe both the primary and secondary audiences for the program, including age, sex, geographic location, and anticipated reach. Primary audiences are those that will participate directly in the program, and secondary audiences include those reached indirectly, for example, via traditional or social media. Specific audiences that are considered a priority include: · Students, emerging leaders, and young professionals (ages 14-45), particularly in STEM, entrepreneurship, sports, media, technology, culinary arts, and the creative industries; · Entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, educators, artists, chefs, content creators, startup founders, and other professionals engaged in technology, business, culture, and innovation sectors; · Mid-career and senior-level professionals, decision-makers, institutional leaders, investors, and industry experts across sectors including artificial intelligence, healthcare, education, aerospace, sports, media, cultural heritage preservation, entertainment, and emerging technologies; · Alumni of U.S. government-funded programs; and Representatives of academic institutions, research organizations, technology parks, innovation hubs, cultural institutions, and business associations involved in strengthening U.S.-UAE collaboration and commercial engagement. Mandatory application forms • SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance – organizations) or SF424-I (Application for Federal Assistance --individuals) at grants.gov. • SF-424A (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs) at grants.gov. • SF-424B (Assurances for Non-Construction programs) at grants.gov or the Mission's website (Note: The SF-424B is only required for individuals, organizations exempt from registration, and for organizations not required to fully register in SAM.gov.) • Budget Project Narrative Template: (detailed budget categories) at grants.gov. Summary Page (optional) Cover sheet stating the applicant's name and organization, proposal date, program title, program period proposed start and end date, and brief purpose of the program. Proposal (5 pages maximum) The proposal should contain sufficient information such that anyone not familiar with it would understand exactly what the applicant wants to do. You may use the Mission's recommended proposal template (APS Application Form) included with our APS package on Grants.gov or your own proposal format, but the proposal must include all the items below. • Proposal Summary: Short narrative that outlines the proposed project, including project objectives and anticipated impact. • Introduction to the Organization or Individual applying: A description of past and present operations, showing ability to carry out the program, including information on all previous grants from the U.S. Mission UAE and/or U.S. government agencies. • Problem Statement: Clear, concise, and well-supported statement of the problem to be addressed and why the proposed program is needed • Program Goals and Objectives: The "goals" describe what the program is intended to achieve. The "objectives" refer to the intermediate accomplishments on the way to the goals. These should be achievable and measurable. • Project Activities: Describe the program activities and how they will help achieve the objectives. • Project Methods and Design: A description of how the program is expected to work to solve the stated problem and achieve the goal. Include a logic model as appropriate. • Proposed Project Schedule and Timeline: The proposed timeline for the program activities. Include the dates, times, and locations of planned activities and events. • Key Personnel: Names, titles, roles and experience/qualifications of key personnel involved in the program. What proportion of their time will be used in support of this program? • Project Partners: List the names and type of involvement of key partner organizations and sub-awardees. (NOTE: If your proposal requires permission, collaboration, cooperation, and/or some form of approval from or partnership with an Emirati governmental office to effectuate the project, you should obtain that permission and support prior to submitting your proposal so you can include the required letters of permission or agreement with your proposal. • Project Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: Throughout the timeframe of the grant, how will the activities be monitored to ensure they are happening in a timely manner, and how will the program be evaluated to make sure it is meeting the goals of the grant? • Media Outreach Strategy: Applicant's plan for using traditional and/or social media to raise awareness of the program and U.S. funding of it, recruit participants, and highlight program impact and benefits for Emiratis. Budget Justification Narrative After filling out the SF-424A Budget (above), use a separate file to describe each of the budget expenses in detail. See section I. Other Information: Guidelines for Budget Submissions below for further information. Proposal applications may be submitted at any time before the closing date of July 15, 2026, 5:00PM UAE Time at 5.00 p.m. UAE time. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Funding Opportunity Number: PDS-UAE-01-FY2026. Assistance Listing: 19.040. Funding Instrument: CA,G. Category: O. Award Amount: $75K – $300K per award.

PA-24-266 supports the development and implementation of digital healthcare solutions including AI/ML clinical decision support, generative AI for clinical workflows, smart point-of-care tools, and AI-based safety alerts that demonstrably improve healthcare quality, safety, and efficiency. The R21 phase funds early-stage feasibility and prototype work; the R33 phase funds translational scaling and clinical implementation. Standard receipt dates are February 16, June 16, and October 16, with the next round closing June 16, 2026, and a final cycle August 1, 2026. Strong fit for clinical AI teams, health systems, and digital health innovators with concrete deployment plans.

NIH SBIR/STTR Programs is sponsored by National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH SBIR/STTR programs are designed for U.S.-based small businesses to secure non-dilutive grant funding to advance R&D and commercialize health technology innovation. These programs support the translation of scientific discoveries into health technologies, including digital health, AI diagnostics, wearables, mobile health apps, EHR integrations, and assistive technologies for aging-in-place.

Wellcome Discovery Awards provide long-term flexible funding for established researchers and teams pursuing bold, creative research that can deliver significant shifts in understanding of human life, health, and wellbeing. AI and computational approaches to biomedical challenges are explicitly welcome, including machine learning for drug discovery, AI-driven clinical diagnostics, computational genomics, and data science for health equity. The world's second largest private funder of medical research (endowment approximately £14.5 billion), Wellcome supports interdisciplinary teams tackling fundamental health questions using novel methodologies. Discovery Awards are discipline-agnostic and value transformative potential over incremental advances, making them ideal for ambitious AI-health intersection research.

This Digital Europe Programme call funds the deployment of AI-powered image screening tools in medical centres across the European Union for cancer and cardiovascular disease detection. Part of a €63.2 million package of seven Digital Europe calls published on April 21, 2026, this specific topic focuses on integrating validated AI diagnostic tools into clinical workflows to improve early detection rates and screening efficiency. Projects should demonstrate scalable AI-powered diagnostic imaging solutions that can be deployed across multiple medical centres and health systems within the EU. The call supports the European Health Data Space initiative and aligns with the EU's digital health strategy.

Under the European Commission's GenAI4EU initiative and the Digital Europe Programme, this call (DIGITAL-2026-AI-PILOTING-10-SCREENING) supports the development, deployment, and large-scale clinical validation of cloud-based AI systems for medical image screening across European hospital networks. Funded projects will integrate AI diagnostic tools into routine clinical workflows for cancer (mammography, lung CT, dermatology, pathology) and cardiovascular imaging, establish multi-country networks of AI-powered screening centres, demonstrate clinical performance on large patient datasets, address EU AI Act and MDR compliance, and deliver health-economic evidence to support reimbursement and scale-up. Cybersecurity, data protection under GDPR, and federated learning architectures for cross-border data governance are emphasized.

Joint NSF/NIH interagency program (NSF 25-542) supporting transformative, high-risk/high-reward advances in AI and advanced data science for biomedical and public health research. Funds interdisciplinary teams developing novel methods to collect, sense, connect, analyze, and interpret health data from individuals, devices, and systems. Six priority themes: fairness and trustworthiness in health AI systems, transformative analytics using AI/ML for biomedical research, multimodal wearable and implantable biomarker sensing systems, cyber-physical systems for closed-loop health interventions, robotics for health outcomes, and biomedical image interpretation combining human perception with computational analysis. All proposals require a mandatory Collaboration Plan demonstrating cross-disciplinary integration.

Precision Medicine with AI: Integrating Imaging with Multimodal Data (PRIMED-AI) Development and Testing of Multi-use Frameworks Playbook (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is sponsored by National Cancer Institute (NCI) (part of NIH Common Fund). This program supports the development and testing of standardized frameworks for multimodal AI clinical decision support tools. It aims to integrate imaging with multimodal data for precision medicine, directly relevant to AI diagnostics, including breast cancer.

Examining the Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Healthcare Safety (R18 PA-24-261 for Evaluating Deployed Clinical AI Systems) is sponsored by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Funds research to determine (1) whether and how breakthrough uses of AI systems affect patient safety in real clinical environments and (2) how AI systems can be safely implemented and used in healthcare delivery. This NOFO explicitly does not support development of new AI systems but rather the rigorous post-deployment evaluation of AI in live clinical settings. Topics can include AI-driven diagnostic safety and equity impacts of clinical AI, which could be applied to breast cancer imaging AI.

AHRQ PA-24-261 funds research to determine (1) whether and how breakthrough uses of AI systems affect patient safety in real clinical environments and (2) how AI systems can be safely implemented and used in healthcare delivery. The R18 mechanism funds evaluation - this NOFO explicitly does not support development of new AI systems but rather the rigorous post-deployment evaluation of AI in live clinical settings, complementing AHRQ's broader digital healthcare portfolio. Topics include AI failure mode analysis, alert fatigue from clinical AI, AI-driven diagnostic safety, equity impacts of clinical AI, and human-AI team performance in care delivery. Strong fit for health services researchers, patient safety researchers, and health systems studying AI deployment outcomes.

AI for Public Health Initiative is sponsored by University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. This initiative seeks to build educational and research capacity in AI and Digital Epidemiology to train a new generation of public health professionals. Funds will support course development, pilot projects, and an endowed chair to lead efforts in using AI for public health challenges, including surveillance and rapid response to emerging threats.

Discovering the Future of AI Grant Program (AI + Health; AI + Science) is sponsored by University of Pennsylvania (Office of the Vice Provost For Research). This program provides faculty with resources to pursue paradigm-shifting research and education in AI and its applications, including revolutionizing healthcare through AI-driven diagnostics, personalized medicine, computational biology, and applying AI to accelerate discovery.

Teaching Future Doctors to Team with AI: A Social Science Approach to Developing and Evaluating Training Methods for Clinical-AI Collaboration Across the ARiSE Network is sponsored by The Macy Foundation. Aims to train doctors to work effectively with AI, enhancing patient safety and adapting to new medical technologies through social science methodologies.

ADVOCATE (Agentic AI-EnableD CardioVascular CAre TransfOrmation) is sponsored by ARPA-H. The ADVOCATE program aims to transform advanced cardiovascular disease management with an agentic AI system that can provide 24/7 holistic clinical care. It seeks to develop clinical AI agents that can be trusted to autonomously adjust changes in appointments, medications, diet, and exercise, and a supervisory AI "overseer" to monitor these agents for continued safety and efficacy. The program also encourages proposals from small businesses.

Advancing Medical Artificial Intelligence with Foundation Models is sponsored by Not specified (UK based, but indicative of relevant research areas for US universities). This project aims to drive significant advancements in medical Artificial Intelligence (AI) by developing versatile and efficient medical foundation models. While the example provided is UK-based, the focus on medical AI and foundation models is highly relevant to US universities working on quantitative imaging and self-supervised learning for MRI denoising.

The NIH Common Fund's Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) program accelerates the use of AI in biomedical and behavioral research by generating ethically sourced, AI-ready datasets and the tools to use them. On January 29, 2026, the NIH Council of Councils approved Bridge2AI to advance to Stage 2, with approximately $130 million over four years (pending appropriations). Stage 2 will fund Innovation Funnels that translate Bridge2AI's flagship datasets into validated clinical tools, and a Network for AI Health Science that develops safety, validation, and benchmarking protocols for health AI. Stage 2 RFAs had not yet been posted as of mid-2026 but are expected during 2026, with individual award amounts to be specified in those announcements.

NIH Bridge2AI Stage 2 represents the next phase of the NIH Common Fund Bridge to Artificial Intelligence program building on $130 million invested in Stage 1 to create ethically sourced AI-ready biomedical datasets. Stage 2 shifts focus from data generation to building tools devices and safety frameworks that translate those datasets into clinical and research applications. Two interconnected initiatives are funded: Innovation Funnels supporting teams that use Stage 1 AI-ready datasets to create practical tools including diagnostic algorithms drug discovery platforms and clinical decision support systems that demonstrate measurable health impact and a Network for AI Health Science developing safety measures validation protocols and responsible-use frameworks for AI in health research. The program values interdisciplinary teams combining computational scientists with domain experts in specific disease areas. Stage 2 Requests for Applications are expected by mid-2026. This is distinct from ARPA-H programs which fund specific high-risk clinical AI applications and from AHRQ healthcare AI safety grants which examine existing AI impact on healthcare systems.

Lacuna Fund is a first-of-its-kind multi-funder collaboration formed in 2020 (and transferred to Global South leadership in July 2025) to fill gaps in data used to train Machine Learning models, making ML and AI more representative, accurate, equitable, and accessible to underserved communities worldwide. The Fund supports grantees to create high-quality, openly accessible machine-learning datasets that serve urgent problems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America across four thematic areas: agriculture (crop monitoring, smallholder farming, soil and weather datasets); language (low-resource language NLP datasets, including text, speech, and machine translation across 29+ African languages and indigenous Latin American languages); health (clinical AI datasets, disease surveillance, epidemiology); and climate (climate adaptation, weather prediction, ecosystem monitoring). Following the July 2025 leadership transition, the Fund is now governed by ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies), CENIA (Chile's National Centre for AI), Masakhane, and the University of Pretoria's Data Science for Social Impact Research Group — putting Global South institutions firmly in control of priorities, calls, and grantmaking decisions. Calls are issued in cohorts by thematic area; the 2026 cohort emphasizes climate datasets and continued investment in African language NLP.

Microsoft's AI for Earth program awards Azure cloud compute credits to support AI projects addressing environmental challenges. Compute credit grants are tiered at $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 depending on project scope, focused on four key program areas: agriculture (precision farming, crop monitoring, soil health AI); biodiversity (species detection, habitat mapping, wildlife conservation AI); climate change (emissions modeling, carbon accounting, climate adaptation AI); and water (water quality, drought prediction, watershed health AI). Beyond compute credits, grantees receive machine learning expertise, collaboration with Microsoft Research AI for Good Lab, mentorship, and access to the Microsoft Planetary Computer platform with petabytes of geospatial Earth observation data and APIs. Successful applicants typically have a demonstrated background in environmental science and/or technology, at least one team member with strong technical/ML skills, and are close to or finished with data collection ready for computation and model building. Applications are evaluated on quarterly rolling basis.

ARPA-H's PRECISE-AI (Performance and Reliability Evaluation for Continuous Modifications and Useability of Artificial Intelligence) program develops techniques to detect when AI-enabled medical tools used in real-world clinical settings fall out of alignment with their underlying training data and auto-correct these tools to maintain peak performance. The program addresses a critical challenge in healthcare AI deployment: ensuring AI diagnostic and clinical decision support tools remain accurate over time as patient populations, disease patterns, and clinical practices evolve. Performer teams of ML experts, health information specialists, and clinicians will develop capabilities for establishing accurate diagnostic ground truth, monitoring AI performance autonomously, determining root causes of performance degradation, enabling AI models to communicate uncertainty to clinicians, and creating data infrastructure for sharing findings among healthcare stakeholders.

NSF SBIR Phase I - Artificial Intelligence is sponsored by National Science Foundation. NSF SBIR funds high-risk AI innovation and R&D. A bike repair shop could only qualify if developing a novel AI technology for commercialization (e. g. , custom AI diagnostic tool for bike repairs), not for adopting existing AI tools.

Colorectal Cancer Research Program (CRCRP) is sponsored by U.S. Department of Defense, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). The CRCRP supports high-impact biomedical research focused on reducing morbidity and mortality of colorectal cancer, with a unique prioritization of early-onset colorectal cancer. It covers a broad spectrum of research, including prevention, early detection, precision oncology, tumor biology, molecular/genetic risk factors, treatment optimization, survivorship, and technology-enabled patient monitoring. Priority topics include digital risk-stratification tools, telehealth-assisted diagnostics, novel biomarkers, surgical decision-support platforms, adaptive clinical trial methodologies, and disparities research. Eligibility is broad, including academic centers, universities, non-profits, federally funded R&D centers, and for-profit entities like biotechnology and AI diagnostic firms.

NIH Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs is sponsored by National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH's SBIR and STTR programs support research and development in small businesses with a focus on biomedical/behavioral research areas, including health tech/AI. This could involve AI for digital health, such as AI diagnostics or mobile health apps, and AI techniques for characterizing and minimizing errors in health-related datasets.

NYS Department of Health AI Solutions in Healthcare (part of FY27 Budget initiatives) is sponsored by New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). As part of the FY27 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul's initiatives include incentivizing partnerships between safety net hospitals and other healthcare partners to implement AI solutions that improve quality of care and strengthen operations in New York State.

The Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science (SCH) program is a joint NSF-NIH solicitation (NSF 25-542) supporting high-risk, high-reward advances in AI, machine learning, and data science for fundamental biomedical and public health research. Projects must cross disciplinary boundaries, pairing computer and data scientists with clinicians, public health researchers, or biomedical experts. Priority areas include AI-driven diagnostics, clinical decision support, sensing and imaging, and trustworthy health AI. Awards reach up to $1.2 million (with some larger multi-year projects), and NSF invests $15-20 million per cycle.

AI for Health Equity, Analytics, and Diagnostics (AHEAD) Center (seed funding) is sponsored by New York State (Governor Kathy Hochul and SUNY Upstate Medical). This seed funding supports the establishment of the AI for Health Equity, Analytics, and Diagnostics (AHEAD) Center at SUNY Upstate Medical, as part of a broader New York State initiative to advance AI for the public good.

The Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH) initiative is a $60 million joint commitment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and Wellcome Trust, announced at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February 2026. EVAH funds locally-led evaluations of AI health tools in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, with the goal of generating high-quality real-world evidence on the clinical, equity, and economic impacts of AI-enabled diagnostics, decision support, triage, screening, and population health tools in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) health systems. The initiative emphasizes researcher leadership from LMICs themselves, capacity-building for local evaluation infrastructure, and producing evidence that informs procurement, regulation, and scale-up decisions by ministries of health and global health funders. EVAH addresses a critical gap: rapid AI tool deployment in LMIC settings without rigorous evidence on safety, effectiveness, and equity.

Maximizing Investigators' Research Award for Early State Investigators (MIRA) (R35) - Pediatric Sepsis Program is sponsored by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). This MIRA grant supports the establishment of a comprehensive sepsis program at Children's National Hospital. The program includes an AI-based, biomarker-enhanced platform for early recognition of pediatric sepsis and extracellular vesicle-based therapeutics to decrease mortality and long-term sequelae.