The National Science Foundation (NSF) though their “Smart Health and Wellbeing (SHB) program issued their cross-cutting grant solicitation (12-512) on November 10, 2011. The purpose for the funding opportunity available across three NSF directorates is to draw expertise from multiple domains of science and engineering including social, behavioral, and economic sciences. The estimated program funding if funding is available is $15,000,000 for 18 awards.
The work to be funded by the solicitation must relate to a key health problem and make a fundamental contribution to engineering, computer and information sciences, or social behavioral and economic sciences. Traditional disease-centric medical, clinical, pharmacological, biological, or physiological studies and evaluations are outside the scope of the solicitation.
Addressing the challenges will require research and the development of new tools and methods for:
• Researchers to develop effective ways to enable the effective sharing and use of EHR data and networked applications, be able to access the data, and be able to exchange current and future health and wellness data originating from a number of diverse sources available in multiple formats
• Developing PHRs while aggregating clinical, biomedical, and environmental data about each patient to include in their EHRs and PHRs in order to take the knowledge obtained to make vital decisions
• Individuals to be empowered by investigate the underlying socio-economic and behavioral principles underlying patient participation in healthcare and wellness
• Researchers to develop medical prosthetic and embedded devices and devices to be used for storage and the transmission of physiological state and environmental data
Proposers may submit proposals in two project classes to include Type I (Exploratory Projects) for $200,000 to $600,000 total budget to last from two to three years, and Type II (Integrative Projects) for $600,000 to $2,000,000 total budget to last from four to five years.
Proposals may be submitted by universities and colleges, nonprofits, non-academic organizations, independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies and other organization associated with educational or research activities.
The closing date for application is February 6, 2012. For more information, go to www.grants.gov.
