In the face of pressing global health challenges—ranging from air pollution and extreme weather to emerging viruses and antimicrobial resistance—there is a critical need for innovative, resourceful, and collaborative approaches. At a time when overseas research funding has been threatened, Stanford’s Center for Innovation in Global Health is excited to fund 16 new global health seed grant awards. These grants were chosen to empower multidisciplinary teams in developing pioneering solutions alongside local healthcare providers.

Since its inception in 2011, Stanford’s global health seed grant program has supported over 100 early-stage research projects, emphasizing cross-disciplinary initiatives that are guided by local needs and expertise to promote health equity. These efforts have sparked innovative responses to urgent global health threats, including Ebola, COVID-19, and climate change, while fostering low-cost health innovations and equitable research partnerships.

This year’s projects span a wide range of disciplines and countries to address critical and emerging global health issues. They range from using machine learning to predict the severity and survival outcomes of Marburg Virus Disease in Rwanda, to implementing a life-saving airway management training across Mexico, to assessing bird flu risk in vulnerable California communities.

“In light of recent cuts and challenges to global health efforts, we must adapt and do more with less in order to meet the urgent health challenges of our time,” said Dr. Michele Barry, Director of CIGH and the Senior Associate Dean for Global Health in the School of Medicine. “Our seed grants represent a vital commitment by our center and our funding partners to improving health globally, fostering innovations that benefit vulnerable populations, and supporting international collaborations.”

The research projects would not be possible without the generous support of CIGH’s funding partners. These partners are: Stanford Medicine’s departments of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Ophthalmology, Pathology, Pediatric Palliative Care, and Surgery; the Woods Institute for the Environment; the School of Medicine Dean’s Office; the Maternal and Child Health Research Institute; the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health; and the Stanford Office of Community Engagement.

See the full list of awarded projects below and stay tuned for more details on each project later in the summer. Applications for next year’s seed grant awards will open in early 2026.

2025 Global Health Seed Grant Winners

Defining Ambient Air Pollutants and Associated Respiratory Disease in Makassar, Indonesia

Predicting Severity and Survival Outcomes in Marburg Virus Disease: A Machine Learning Approach Leveraging Clinical and Demographic Data

Assessing H5N1 Risk in California Communities through a Mixed-Methods, One Health-Focused Approach

Low-cost Transcriptional Diagnosis of Breast Cancers in Guatemala

Validating an asthma screening survey and co-piloting a community-based asthma education intervention in Kenyan children with sickle cell disease

Can Invasive Species Improve Public Health? Leveraging Ecological Change to Enhance Schistosomiasis Control in Madagascar

Investigating the impacts of extreme weather events and weather anomalies on child mortality in Karachi, Pakistan

Estimating the burden of strongyloidiasis in urban and rural locations to guide predictive risk models in Côte d’Ivoire

Mathematical models for cancer decision-making considering healthcare system and access constraints

Spinal Analgesia for Trial of Labor After Cesarean (TOLAC) Delivery to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in a Resource Limited Hospital

Mental Health and Self-Efficacy of Mothers with Very Low Birthweight Infants in Zimbabwe

Phage Cryogels for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacterial Infections in Low-Resource Communities

Point-of-Care Ultrasound to Detect Pathology Before Cataract Surgery in Remote Areas

A is for Airway – Life-Saving Airway Management Training Across Mexico

Bridging the Gap: Innovative Pediatric Palliative Care Models in Low-Resource Settings in Rwanda

Expanding Wastewater Monitoring to Coccidioides to Monitor Disease and Climate Change