The Gates Foundation and LifeArc^* have launched a joint Grand Challenges request for proposals, "Innovations for Exceptionally Low-Cost Monoclonal Antibody (mAb) Manufacturing".

Monoclonal antibodies are one of the most powerful tools in modern medicine. They are highly specific, safe, and effective medicines for a range of conditions, including treating non-communicable diseases and preventing and treating infectious diseases. These biologic therapies already save lives and improve the quality of life for many millions of patients, but high production costs continue to limit access to mAbs, especially for patients in low- and middle-income settings. While there are indication-specific dosage requirements for mAbs, it is broadly understood that to close the equity gap in mAb global access, we need to reach a target cost of $10 per gram of purified, released mAb, a goal long championed by our late colleague, Dr. Steve Hadley, former Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation.

This Grand Challenge is calling for proposals that offer radical, innovative, and technically feasible pathways to achieving the $10/gram target. We invite you to bring your expertise, creativity, and passion to this effort and help shape a future where the best medical treatments are available to everyone, everywhere.

The Gates Foundation and LifeArc are collaborating on this request for proposals to support a range of different approaches and build a critical mass of scientific innovation focused on reaching the target. While the organizations will employ a coordinated review process, individual grants will be funded either by the Gates Foundation or by LifeArc.

Applications for proof-of-concept projects (Option A) are due by 11:30 AM. PST on January 31st, 2025.

Additionally, the Gates Foundation is interested in proposals from organizations that have already completed proof-of-concept work with feasible pathways to achieving the $10/gram and are interested in additional support (Option B). Applicants may apply with solutions meeting the criteria for either Option A or Option B, but not both.

Applications for Option B are due by 11:30 AM. PST on May 31st, 2025.

Please review the full details for both opportunities on our Grand Challenges website.

Please contact Jill Sherman at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca for more information.

The Gates Foundation and LifeArc^* have launched a joint Grand Challenges request for proposals, "Innovations for Exceptionally Low-Cost Monoclonal Antibody (mAb) Manufacturing".

Monoclonal antibodies are one of the most powerful tools in modern medicine. They are highly specific, safe, and effective medicines for a range of conditions, including treating non-communicable diseases and preventing and treating infectious diseases. These biologic therapies already save lives and improve the quality of life for many millions of patients, but high production costs continue to limit access to mAbs, especially for patients in low- and middle-income settings. While there are indication-specific dosage requirements for mAbs, it is broadly understood that to close the equity gap in mAb global access, we need to reach a target cost of $10 per gram of purified, released mAb, a goal long championed by our late colleague, Dr. Steve Hadley, former Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation.

This Grand Challenge is calling for proposals that offer radical, innovative, and technically feasible pathways to achieving the $10/gram target. We invite you to bring your expertise, creativity, and passion to this effort and help shape a future where the best medical treatments are available to everyone, everywhere.

The Gates Foundation and LifeArc are collaborating on this request for proposals to support a range of different approaches and build a critical mass of scientific innovation focused on reaching the target. While the organizations will employ a coordinated review process, individual grants will be funded either by the Gates Foundation or by LifeArc.

Applications for proof-of-concept projects (Option A) are due by 11:30 AM. PST on January 31st, 2025.

Additionally, the Gates Foundation is interested in proposals from organizations that have already completed proof-of-concept work with feasible pathways to achieving the $10/gram and are interested in additional support (Option B). Applicants may apply with solutions meeting the criteria for either Option A or Option B, but not both.

Applications for Option B are due by 11:30 AM. PST on May 31st, 2025.

Please review the full details for both opportunities on our Grand Challenges website.

Please contact Jill Sherman for more information at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

OSSTF/FEESO is strongly committed to supporting and promoting evidence-informed practices in public education. As part of that commitment, OSSTF/FEESO supports high-quality research and is pleased to announce up to three research grants of up to $3,500 each, to support conducting, presenting, and publishing research in support of public education and anti-racism.

Award Criteria:
• Relevance to 2024-2025 research priority, listed below;
• Willingness to write a summary report for OSSTF/FEESO and/or an article for Education Forum magazine;
• Evidence of support for public education and/or the labour movement in previous publications and activities;
• Quality and feasibility of the project for which funding is sought;
• A budget of estimated research expenses.

Theme Identified for the 2024-2025 Academic Year:
• Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities and Challenges in Education. (Preference will be given to applications with an Ontario and/or Canadian Education focus.)

Note: At least one of the three awards will be reserved for researchers who identify as Indigenous, Black, or racialized.

The application deadline for the 2024-2025 Academic year is by 4:00 p.m. on January 6, 2025.  Please note that the internal deadline for this application in the Office of Research Services is  is December 16, 2024.

Voluntary Self-Identification Form

All successful applicants will be informed by February 14, 2025.

The application forms and any attachments can be emailed to Peter Bates (peter.bates@osstf.ca) and copied to Jinell Rahim (jinell.rahim@osstf.ca). You will receive an email confirming your submission once received.

This funding opportunity is seeking submissions from researchers to conduct a literature review exploring the possible effects of military occupational exposures on cancer outcomes in Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) military women Veterans. This review should include a summary of known and possible sex- and gender-based differences in both military occupational exposures as well as their impacts on cancers.

Researchers are encouraged to use a broad search strategy so that applicable research from different militaries and contexts is included. Research conducted internationally, including the United States of America, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, should be considered. Researchers are also encouraged to expand the search strategy beyond Veterans to include serving military members and diverse members.

Studies from grey literature should be captured in addition to peer-reviewed literature. Sub-analysis or interpretation may be needed to demonstrate generalizability to women Veterans of the CAF.

In addition to cancer endpoints, researchers are encouraged to include other chronic physical health outcomes (e.g., respiratory, cardiovascular) in their review, if feasible.

Researchers are expected to follow established methods for reviews (e.g., Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)). Some members of the research team should have previous experience with conducting and publishing high-quality literature reviews.

This funding opportunity is seeking submissions from researchers to conduct a literature review exploring which novel, emerging, and/or adjunct mental health interventions are most promising in their capacity to address women Veterans’ mental health needs. Researchers may also choose to focus their review on evaluating the evidence for one or more specific interventions while demonstrating their applicability to women Veterans’ mental health.

Researchers are encouraged to use a broad search strategy so that applicable research relevant to women’s’ mental health within different militaries and contexts is included. Research conducted internationally, including the United States of America, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, should be considered. Researchers are also encouraged to expand the search strategy beyond Veterans to include serving military members.

Studies from grey literature should be captured in addition to peer-reviewed literature. Sub-analysis or interpretation may be needed to demonstrate generalizability to the Canadian Veteran population.

Researchers are expected to follow established methods for reviews (i.e., PRISMA). Some members of the research team should have previous experience with conducting and publishing high-quality literature reviews.

For more than a decade, this program has provided funding for research projects carried out by faculty members and their students.

Areas of interest

Environment

• Remediation of soil impacted by recalcitrant petroleum hydrocarbons, salts (mostly NaCl) or both, to as close to pristine conditions as possible
• Improved delineation of soil impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons, salts or both
• Boreal forest wetland reclamation
• Novel environmental monitoring technologies (e.g., remote sensing, eDNA)
• Fundamental understanding of the interactions of minerals and residual hydrocarbon in the aqueous phase and what causes enhanced separation (e.g., use of additives such as polymers)
• Enhancements in SOx, NOx reduction technologies

In-situ bitumen recovery

• Bitumen-hydrocarbon-steam phase behaviors (VLLE) with temperature and pressure variation (up to > 200°C)
• Dispersion and diffusion in porous media of methane in bitumen 
• Formation of hydrates upon depressurization of C2-C3-C1-bitumen-HC mixtures
• Miscible and partially miscible finger modeling (using macroscopic parameters)
• Mass transfer in solvent finger/bitumen matrix networks (diffusion and dispersion)
• Modeling of heat and mass transfer boundary layers in steam-thermal-solvent processes
• Modeling of asphaltene or asphaltene-rich heavy phase transport in heavy oil recovery process 

In-situ facilities

• Improvements in multiphase pumps, novel water softening, water hardness analyzers, waste heat utilization, external heat source engines, abrasion resistant materials
• Improved methods to detect, remove or prevent scaling and fouling on piping and vessels while minimizing downtime
• Improved methods of produced fluid measurement - quantification of multiphase produced fluid streams in presence of high temperature, vapour, solvents and viscous bitumen
• Improved methods to differentiate between native bitumen and reproduced injected solvent which have overlapping hydrocarbon components
• Economic optimization of in-situ solvent recovery processes and facilities under global constraints

Analytical Techniques for petroleum products

• In-use online analysis of petroleum products
• Failure modes of in-service petroleum products
• Failure modes of industrial components that are lubricated with petroleum products
• Forensic analysis of lubricants and related industrial equipment
• Analytical techniques for new and used lubricants
• Oxygenate and speciation measurement in hydrocarbons
• Bio-content determination in petroleum hydrocarbons
• Metal measurement in process waters including sour water

Refinery products, processes and facilities

• Novel approaches for the removal of sulphur, phosphorous and nitrogen from hydrocarbon streams
• Improved understanding of fouling and corrosion of process equipment both hydrocarbon and inorganic, and means to mitigate same
• Novel approaches for quality enhancements for fuel products, oxygenate containing fuel products, and asphalts
• Improvements in yields, run lengths, and molecular composition of product streams in refinery processing equipment
• Improved production of basestocks from crudes
• Breakthrough technology for energy efficiency improvement in refinery processing equipment, namely fired heaters and heat exchanger
• Enhanced process control system - modeling of refinery systems (improved molecular characterization, reaction kinetics, hydrodynamic modeling)
• Novel techniques for water conservation within a modern refinery
• Novel techniques to predict cold flow properties of fuels from feed qualities and operating conditions in fixed bed reactors
• Novel quench system designs for fixed bed reactors providing uniform fluid flow and quick installation and inspection

Machine Learning applied to simulation of chemical processes

• Predictive Analytics: Equipment failure prediction, such as compressors, pumps, etc.
• Hybrid Modeling of chemical processes: Combining first principle models with data driven models for a more comprehensive simulation
• Use of Machine Learning algorithms for root cause analyses purposes.
• Machine Learning Research in Petroleum processes
• Tower Flooding predictions with data driven algorithms
• Artificial Neural Network modeling and optimization of chemical processes, including FCC, Hydrotreating, Reforming, Distillation, etc.
• Data anomalies and deviation detection with Machine Learning for monitoring purposes

Chemicals

• Improvements related to polyethylene manufacturing
• Improvements related to polyethylene products particularly polyethylene for injection and rotational molding applications
• Improvements related to ethane/propane gas cracking to produce ethylene
• Improvements related to manufacturing of vinyl intermediates, aromatics and naphtha based solvents
• Improvements related to plastics recycling – technology improvements to enable improved flexible plastic packaging recycle chains
• Improvements related to advanced recycling technologies
• Investigate the effect of different bio sources in biofuels (gas and diesel) on polyethylene physical properties
• Investigate and improve the organoleptic properties of polyethylene
• Investigate methods to improve the barrier properties of rotational and injection molded parts
• Investigate methods to improve the paintability of rotational and injection molded parts
• Explore applications of polyethylene combined with bio-based materials
• Investigate methods to evaluate and improve the Environmental Stress Crack Resistance performance of polyethylene
• Safe transfer of synthetic polymer particles and dust properties
• Investigation into and new methods to characterize the long term performance of polyethylene

Geoscience

• Diagenetic history, cementation, clay formation, burial history and petrographic studies of the McMurray Fm to determine the variation in ore quality
• Emplacement variability and degradation of Northern Alberta bitumen using novel approaches
• Resolve the stratigraphy and sedimentology of Post Cretaceous sediments in the Athabasca region
• Applications of remote sensing to mine development
• Investigation of mud sedimentation in shallow water clastic depositional environments
• Modeling of oil migration pathways through the Palaeozoic sediments of the Athabasca basin
• Application of geophysical methods in predicting oil sands reservoir properties
• Application of geophysical methods, other than seismic, to characterize the caprock formation in oil sands thermal projects
• Hybrid modelling of reservoir processes
• Optimization of reservoir operation

Literature review and synthesis of best practices and approaches to measurement-based care in military and Veteran mental health care systems.

The funding opportunity seeks proposals to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using of LLM-based chatbots for trauma-informed support for sexual assault survivors in the military. The project should involve user studies, a research framework, and collaboration with subject matter experts to review and update the chatbot's knowledge base and response strategy.

With a focus on ethical AI principles, the goal is to ensure user safety, prevent re-traumatization, and protect data privacy through robust evaluation protocols.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund aims to stimulate the growth of new connections between thinkers working in largely disconnected fields who might together change the course of climate change’s impact on human health. In the three years between Fall 2023 and Summer 2026, we will dedicate $1M to supporting small, early stage grants of $2,500–$50,000 toward achieving this goal.

We are mainly but not exclusively interested in activities that build connections between basic/early biomedical scientific approaches and ecological, environmental, geological, geographic, and planetary-scale thinking, as well as with population-focused fields, including epidemiology and public health, demography, economics, and urban planning. Also of interest is work piloting new approaches or interactions toward reducing the impact of health-centered activities, such as developing more sustainable systems for health care, care delivery, and biomedical research systems.

For more information, please contact Jill Sherman at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca