By Jamie Hansen, Global Health Communications Manager

Cover photo of women during a family planning training in Jimma, Ethiopia, courtesy of imagesofempowerment.com, Maheder Haileselassie Tadese/Getty Images

Stanford’s Center for Innovation in Global Health today announced a record 17 new global health seed grants, each of which tackles an emerging threat to global health, and each with the potential to save lives and improve global health equity.

CIGH is entering its 12th year of funding early-stage research projects in global health through its annual Global Health Seed Grant awards. Stanford’s exceptional ecosystem of talented researchers is an ideal place to incubate lifesaving innovations, which require initial funding to bring these ideas to fruition.

Through partnerships with funders across campus, CIGH has funded nearly 100 innovative projects, catalyzing careers and new initiatives, building much-needed bridges between wide-ranging disciplines, and often generating follow-on funding for a growing portfolio of new ventures.

This year’s winning grants span numerous disciplines and multiple continents, involving a range of international and local partners. They include, to name just a few: A project to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics post-surgery in Malawi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia; a collaboration with the WHO Health Emergencies Program to develop digital training for managing health emergencies in order to help low-resource settings prepare for the next pandemic; and an initiative to improve mental health outcomes for survivors of human trafficking in Brazil.

“The number of grants awarded this year is a testament to the quality and quantity of excellent proposals we received,” said Dr. Michele Barry, director of CIGH and the senior associate dean of global health in the school of medicine.

These projects would not be possible without the generosity of our funders who recognized the importance of funding multidisciplinary teams to generate new global health solutions.

These include Stanford Medicine’s departments of Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Surgery;  the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, the Woods Institute for the Environment; Stanford Health Care Research & Health Equity Program; and the Stanford Office of Community Engagement.

“Without these donors’ generous support, lifesaving research that targets overlooked and marginalized populations around the world would not be possible,” Barry said.

CIGH’s annual seed grant program is announced in February of every year, and grant opportunities range from $10,000-$50,000. Please keep an eye on our newsletter for information on the next request for proposals.

Learn about each seed grant awardee via the links below.