Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR) Cooperative Agreement

Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR) Cooperative Agreement is sponsored by United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This cooperative agreement supports operational research to address challenges, improve diagnostics, and overcome programmatic hurdles for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including schistosomiasis.

The primary focus is on sub-Saharan Africa, but the program has a global reach.

Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR) | Research Funding US Agency for International Development Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR) The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from qualified entities to implement the Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR) project.

Eligibility for this award is not restricted. USAID welcomes applications from both US and non-US organizations. National NTD programs, and the NGOs that support them, frequently encounter challenges and barriers in program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and management of morbidity due to NTDs; and these problems prevent them from achieving their control and elimination goals.

With 2030 elimination/control deadlines nearing, it is clear that a “business as usual” approach is not adequate to meet USAID’s program objectives. With expanding resources to support program implementation, there is a greater need to draw on the research community to ensure that these resources are focused appropriately to meet program challenges.

A global OR portfolio is needed to improve existing disease mapping, develop monitoring and evaluation strategies, evaluate and introduce improved diagnostics, inform best practices and policy change through OR studies, provide capacity building initiatives for local scientists and program staff, and employ innovative solutions to improve and sustain NTD health services for affected populations.

Under this five-year cooperative agreement, USAID intends to transfer federal Global Health (GH) assistance funds by awarding one cooperative agreement to an organization or to a consortium of organizations.

WHO’s 2030 NTD Roadmap Gap Assessment, and recent WHO NTD Global Partners Meeting, highlight several gaps in disease-specific strategies for mapping, monitoring and evaluation, availability of accurate and field-friendly diagnostics, and sustainable public health and surveillance systems, to name some.

Within USAID’s existing flagship implementation projects, Act | East led by RTI and Act | West led by FHI360, endemic countries and implementing partners frequently encounter these highlighted challenges in implementation.

Increasingly, there are challenges in approaching post-elimination strategies, such as country-specific periodic surveillance and provision of NTD services after elimination/control has been reached (thereafter community-wide drug treatments have ended).

Given the breadth of the gaps and barriers, the rapid progress of endemic countries in implementing and achieving their programmatic objectives, as well as continually evolving WHO policy and guidance, the recipient(s) is expected to research activities that will need to be designed and implemented and with a high degree of flexibility that results in a near real-time ability to centralize, analyze, and disseminate research findings and lessons learned across the USAID research portfolio.

Where needed, ENDOR may be leading the synthesis and dissemination of OR findings to relevant WHO technical working groups or advisory groups, such as the WHO Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group for NTDs and NTD diseases-specific working groups. An applicant may submit only one (1) application per organization; no individual investigator/ project director applications will be accepted.

Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke. edu as early as possible. Eligibility for this NOFO is not restricted.

U.S. and non-US organizations may participate under this NOFO. USAID welcomes applications from organizations which have not previously received financial assistance from USAID. USAID intends to award one (1) Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity.

Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide up to $45M in total USAID funding over a five (5) year period. This Activity will be incrementally funded over the life of the Activity. Actual funding amounts are subject to availability of appropriated funds.

International Opportunities Medical - Clinical Science