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This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) addresses the strong need for an electronic repository system in Rwanda. The system will be a web-based monitoring and reporting system to be used by all USG PEPFAR-funded agencies and implementing partners operating in the country, including the Rwandan Ministry of Health, the Rwanda Biomedical Center, and other PEPFAR implementing partners. An initial assessment of the existing electronic system will provide insights on whether or not maintenance, upgrade, or the development of a new platform will address the needs of PEPFAR Rwanda. A flexible and stable platform is needed and will serve as the unique repository of PEPFAR Rwanda program data at the country level. It will be used to generate PEPFAR periodic reports, including the semi-annual and annual progress reports and additional ad hoc requests. The purpose of this FOA is to develop a new system or upgrade and maintain the existing web-based reporting system that has been in place since 2008 and build local capacity within the USG team to manage and maintain the system. The system should include automated checks for data quality. In doing so, the system will add new functionality (e.g., dashboard to easily view achievement of indicators, etc.) as well as add additional data variables to be used for HIV program planning and implementation. The Division of HIV/AIDS at the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) will be one of the major users of the data stored and managed on the system, and the successful applicant will be expected to work closely with this division to refine some of the data elements collected to ensure harmonization with the national system.

The Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) Program supports innovative research in circuit and system hardware and signal processing techniques. CCSS also supports system and network architectures for communications and sensing to enable the next-generation cyber-physical systems (CPS) that leverage computation, communication, and sensing integrated with physical domains. CCSS invests in micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), physical, chemical, and biological sensing systems, neurotechnologies, and communication & sensing circuits and systems. The goal is to create new complex and hybrid systems ranging from nano- to macro-scale with innovative engineering principles and solutions for a variety of applications including but not limited to healthcare, medicine, environmental and biological monitoring, communications, disaster mitigation, homeland security, intelligent transportation, manufacturing, energy, and smart buildings. CCSS encourages research proposals based on emerging technologies and applications for communications and sensing such as high-speed communications of terabits per second and beyond, sensing and imaging covering microwave to terahertz frequencies, personalized health monitoring and assistance, secured wireless connectivity and sensing for the Internet of Things, and dynamic-data-enabled autonomous systems through real-time sensing and learning.

The Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Program supports interdisciplinary research that examineshuman and natural system processes and the complex interactions among human and natural systems at diverse scales. Research projects to be supported by CNH must include analyses of four different components: (1) the dynamics of a natural system; (2) the dynamics of a human system; (3) the processes through which the natural system affects the human system; and (4) the processes through which the human system affects the natural system. CNH also supports research coordination networks (CNH-RCNs) designed to facilitate activities that promote future research by broad research communities that will include all four components necessary for CNH funding.

In September 2000, the Pew Environmental Health Commission issued a report entitled “America’s Environmental Health Gap: Why the Country Needs a Nationwide Health Tracking Network.” In this report, the Commission documented that the existing environmental health systems were inadequate and fragmented and recommended a “Nationwide Health Tracking Network for disease and exposures.” In response to the report, Congress appropriated funds in the fiscal year 2002’s budget for the CDC to address this issue. What is Environmental Public Health Tracking? Environmental Public Health Tracking (Tracking) is the integrated surveillance of health, exposure, and hazard information and data from a variety of national, state, and local sources. These systems are critical in preventing and controlling disease in populations. Having accurate and timely tracking data permits public health authorities to determine temporal and spatial trends in disease and potential environmental exposures, identify populations most affected, and develop and assess the effectiveness of policy and environmental public health interventions. Tracking involves the utilization of data and information regarding health outcomes, environmental hazards, and human exposures, or a combination of them, and provides important information for public health practice. The availability of these types of data in a standardized network will enable researchers, public health authorities, healthcare practitioners, and the public to have a better understanding about the possible associations between the environment and adverse health effects. What is the National Tracking Network? A key characteristic of Tracking is the emphasis on data integration across health, human exposure, and hazard information systems. The National Tracking Network (Tracking Network) provides the United States with standardized data from multiple health, exposure, and hazard information systems that includes linka

Integrated Earth Systems (IES) is a program in the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) that focuses on the continental, terrestrial and deep Earth subsystems of the whole Earth system.  The overall goal of the program is to provide opportunity for collaborative, multidisciplinary research into the operation, dynamics and complexity of Earth systems at a budgetary scale between that of a typical project in the EAR Division's disciplinary programs and larger scale initiatives at the Directorate or Foundation level. Specifically, IES will provide research opportunities for the study of Earth systems from the core of the Earth to the top of the critical zone with a specific focus on subsystems that include continental, terrestrial and deep Earth subsystems at all temporal and spatial scales (NROES, 2012).  IES will provide opportunities to focus on Earth systems connected to topics which include (but are not limited to) the continents; the terrestrial, surficial Earth systems including physical, chemical and biotic dimensions; linkages among tectonics, climate, landscape change, topography and geochemical cycles including core and mantle processes.

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to reduce risky alcohol use among women of childbearing age through system-level implementation of alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) in health systems providing women’s health services. Risky alcohol use can result in a variety of negative health and social consequences, such as motor vehicle crashes, intimate partner violence, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. It is costly, results in over 88,000 deaths annually, and can affect serious medical conditions, such as hypertension, liver disease and certain types of cancer. Health professionals are uniquely positioned to intervene with patients with acute and chronic health conditions caused or exacerbated by risky alcohol use. Alcohol SBI implementation efforts within health systems will focus on development and implementation of: a training and technical assistance plan; alcohol SBI protocols in primary care clinics; system-level approaches that facilitate uptake (e.g., electronic health record integration and performance metrics); an evaluation plan assessing feasibility and impact of system-level implementation; a dissemination plan on promising models and lessons learned; and a sustainability plan. Expected performance outcomes include documenting provider/clinic readiness to conduct alcohol SBI, documenting implementation barriers and proposed solutions, tracking clinic-level data on alcohol SBI, and assessing the use of system-level strategies.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Divisions of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS); Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET); Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI); Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS); and Mathematical Sciences (DMS) announces a solicitation on Multimodal Sensor Systems for Precision Health enabled by Data Harnessing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Learning. Next-generation multimodal sensor systems for precision health integrated with AI, machine learning (ML), and mathematical and statistical (MS) methods for learning can be envisioned for harnessing a large volume of diverse data in real time with high accuracy, sensitivity and selectivity, and for building predictive models to enable more precise diagnosis and individualized treatments. It is expected that these multimodal sensor systems will have the potential to identify with high confidence combinations of biomarkers, including kinematic and kinetic indicators associated with specific disease and disability. This focused solicitation seeks high-risk/high-return interdisciplinary research on novel concepts, innovative methodologies, theory, algorithms, and enabling technologies that will address the fundamental scientific issues and technological challenges associated with precision health.

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; or the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to involve the public health research community, including for example, epidemiologists, physicians, veterinarians, food scientists, social scientists, entomologists, pathologists, virologists, or parasitologists with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; or the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to involve the public health research community, including for example, epidemiologists, physicians, veterinarians, food scientists, social scientists, entomologists, pathologists, virologists, or parasitologists with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages UG3/UH3 phased cooperative research applications to conduct efficient, large-scale pragmatic trial or implementation science study designs to improve pain management and reduce the use of opioid medications. Awards made under this FOA will initially support a one-year milestone-driven planning phase (UG3), with possible transition to an implementation phase (UH3). UG3 projects that have met the scientific milestone and feasibility requirements may transition to the UH3 phase. The UG3/UH3 application must be submitted as a single application, following the instructions described in this FOA. The overall goal of this initiative is to identify effective methods to improve the management of pain and reduce the need for opioid medications at the health care system level. This FOA requires that the intervention under study be embedded into health care delivery system, real world settings. Studies can propose to integrate interventions that have demonstrated efficacy into health care system; or implement health care system changes to improve adherence to evidence-based guidelines. Trials must be conducted across two or more health care systems (HCS) and must be conducted as part of the NIH HCS Research Collaboratory supported through the NIH Common Fund. (See https://commonfund.nih.gov/hcscollaboratory). The NIH HCS Research Collaboratory Program has established a Collaboratory Coordinating Center (CCC) that is providing national leadership and technical expertise in all aspects of research with HCS. After awards are made by NIH, the CCC (http://rethinkingclinicaltrials.org/about-nih-collaboratory/) and the NIH will work with successful awardees from this FOA to facilitate the planning and rapid execution of high impact trials that conduct research studies in partnerships with health care delivery systems.

CDC Tanzania is seeking to enter into a cooperative agreement to provide software development and other health information systems (HIS) related support services to United Republic of Tanzania government ministries, agencies or departments. The partner(s) will help increase the use of electronic systems to improve delivery of services, increase the number of interoperable systems exchanging and sharing data to support evidence-based decision making, and improve the alignment between health information systems and health sector service delivery and management requirements.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funds research leading to patient safety improvements in all settings and systems of care delivery. While many researchers have endorsed a systems model as a way of thinking about entrenched patient safety problems, there has been a scarcity of programmatic activity that actually engages in new design and systems engineering effort, and that is focused on more than singular patient safety concerns. This P30 FOA calls for the creation and utilization of Patient Safety Learning Laboratories. These learning laboratories are places and professional networks where closely related threats to patient safety can be identified, where multidisciplinary teams generate new ways of thinking with respect to the threats, and where environments are established conducive to brainstorming and rapid prototyping techniques that stimulate further thinking. Learning laboratories further enable multiple develop-test-revise iterations of promising design features and subsystems of the sort that can be found in larger-scale engineering projects. Once the closely aligned projects or subsystems are developed, integrated, and implemented as an overall working system, the ultimate function of the learning laboratory is to evaluate the system in a realistic simulated or clinical setting with its full complement of facility design, equipment, people (patients, family members, and providers), new procedures and workflow, and organizational contextual features, as appropriate.

USAID/KEA anticipates awarding a five-year cooperative agreement (CA) whose purpose is to sustainably reduce hunger, malnutrition and poverty in Kenya by focusing on (i) inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led growth; (ii) strengthened resilience among people and systems and (iii) a well-nourished population. USAID/KEA's programmatic priorities for achieving this purpose include: Priority area 1: Competitive, inclusive, and sustainable agricultural market systems Priority area 2: Diverse agricultural production and improved productivity Priority area 3: Policy environment for agricultural market systems development Priority area 4: Integration of youth and women into agriculture market systems Priority area 5: Collaborative Action and Learning for Market Systems Change

The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is to announce a program to strengthen the nation's public health infrastructure, ensure a competent, current and connected public health system, and improve delivery of essential services through capacity building assistance (CBA). CBA is defined as activities that strengthen and maintain the infrastructure and resources necessary to sustain or improve system, organizational, community or individual processes and competencies. CBA is delivered through technical assistance, training, information sharing, technology transfer, materials development, or funding that enables organizations to serve customers better and operate in a comprehensive, responsive, and effective manner. The goal is to fund organizations that have the capability, expertise, resources, reach, and history of providing capacity building relevant to implementing this program’s key strategies, activities, and outcomes. The program strategies include strengthening the capacities of health systems infrastructure; leadership and workforce; data and information systems; communication and information technology; partnerships; laws and policies; and programs and services. Capacity building efforts of this program are expected to strengthen and optimize the public health system and services to improve the nation’s health.

This notice solicits applications for Advancing Systems of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs. The purpose of this program is to improve health and well-being for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families by addressing three core systems focus areas for CYSHCN-access to patient/family-centered medical home, transition of youth into the adult health care system, and adoption of health care financing models that improve care and outcomes while achieving cost savings. This program will establish a national collaborative network of resource centers supporting state Title V programs, families of CYSHCN, child health professionals, and other stakeholders through the provision of technical assistance, training, education, partnership building, policy analysis, and research. Program Goal: The overall goal of this program is to strengthen the system of services for CYSHCN and their families by awarding three separate and distinct cooperative agreements. Cooperative agreements will be awarded to three recipients, who will collaborate to establish a national network of resource centers, with one center awarded for each of the following three focus areas: (1) Patient/family-centered medical home; (2) Transition of youth into the adult health care system; and (3) Health care financing models that improve care and outcomes while achieving cost savings. The three recipients will coordinate efforts to achieve quality care, decrease health care costs, and improve experience of care for CYSHCN and their families. An applicant can apply and be awarded only one focus area. For specific information about applying for one focus area, see Section IV. Application and Submission Information, Project Abstract.

PCORI is seeking applications to study the comparative effectiveness of alternate features of healthcare systems (e.g., innovative information technologies, personnel deployments, incentives, service designs, etc.) designed to optimize the quality, outcomes, and/or efficiency of care for the patients they serve.  Healthcare systems include:  private and public health insurance plans; physician groups; hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities; academic medical centers; integrated delivery systems; community-based and safety-net clinics; federal, state, and municipal providers; and other entities organized to deliver, arrange, purchase, or coordinate healthcare services.  PCORI seeks studies that will provide information of value to patients, their caregivers and clinicians, as well as to healthcare leaders, regarding which features of systems lead to better patient-centered outcomes.

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to strengthen capabilities of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and District Health Teams (DHTs) to conduct the following activities: (1) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HIV program including service quality assessment, (2) district led HIV programming (DLP); (3) conducting population case-based surveillance, and lastly (4) strengthening the Ministry of Health (MOH)-owned national Health Management Information System (HMIS), to generate timely, valid, consistent and complete data. This FOA is part of the PEPFAR overall sustainability plan and transition of HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation into the primary national health care system towards alignment to the national HIV/AIDS M&E framework and achievement of one national M&E system. The FOA also supports the PEPFAR implementation of a sustainability plan and investments in public health systems, quality improvement, and public health workforce development. At the end of the project, the main expected outcomes include increased use of information for evidence-based decision making, effective health programming at the district levels, and a well-functioning Health Management Information System. All the data collection and reporting activities will emphasize maintaining patients' and participants' confidentiality by treating information that they disclose in a relationship of trust. All of the information provided by patients/participants will be kept confidential and secure in locked rooms/drawers with limited access. Any data analyses will be conducted after all personal identifying information have been removed from electronic datasets.

Nanomanufacturing is the production of useful nano-scale materials, structures, devices and systems in an economically viable manner. The NSF Nanomanufacturing Program supports fundamental research in novel methods and techniques for batch and continuous processes, top-down (addition/subtraction) and bottom-up (directed self-assembly) processes leading to the formation of complex heterogeneous nanosystems. The program supports basic research in nanostructure and process design principles, integration across length-scales, and system-level integration. The Program leverages advances in the understanding of nano-scale phenomena and processes (physical, chemical, electrical, thermal, mechanical and biological), nanomaterials discovery, novel nanostructure architectures, and new nanodevice and nanosystem concepts. It seeks to address quality, efficiency, scalability, reliability, safety and affordability issues that are relevant to manufacturing. To address these issues, the Program encourages research on processes and production systems based on computation, modeling and simulation, use of process metrology, sensing, monitoring, and control, and assessment of product (nanomaterial, nanostructure, nanodevice or nanosystem) quality and performance.The Program seeks to explore transformative approaches to nanomanufacturing, including but not limited to: micro-reactor and micro-fluidics enabled nanosynthesis, bio-inspired nanomanufacturing, manufacturing by nanomachines, additive nanomanufacturing, hierarchical nanostructure assembly, continuous high-rate nanofabrication such as roll-to-roll processing or massively-parallel large-area processing, and modular manufacturing platforms for nanosystems. The Program encourages the fabrication of nanomaterials by design, three-dimensional nanostructures, multi-layer nanodevices, and multi-material and multi-functional nanosystems. Also of interest is the manufacture of dynamic nanosystems such as nanomotors, nanorobots, and nanom

The Division of Child, Adolescent, and Family Health (DCAFH) and the Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services (DHSPS), both parts of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are accepting applications for the National Fetal, Infant, and Child Death Review Center (FICDRC or Center). Please read the entire FOA carefully before completing the application. The ultimate goal of fetal, infant and child death reviews is to prevent deaths of children through the use of information gained from systematic reviews that identify factors at the individual, environmental, clinical or systems levels that can be mitigated. Ideally by having this comprehensive review, factors associated with preventable deaths can be addressed. CDR and FIMR programs provide valuable information regarding fetal, infant and child deaths and provide insight into gaps in services, systems and modifiable risk factors not obtained from administrative surveillance systems. Information from these reviews can be used at the local, state and Federal levels to focus planning and policy development, quality improvement and health systems development, and to enhance efforts to develop and maintain risk reduction and prevention programs. This initiative will provide funds for a FICDRC to improve and strengthen state and local capacity to perform complete and accurate fetal and child death reviews including an estimated 1,200 CDR and 159 FIMR programs. Specifically, the Center will support the use of standardized data collection protocols and data elements to design prevention-oriented recommendations, and translate those recommendations into local, state and national program and policy development and quality improvement efforts. Through the delivery of data, training and technical support, the Center will assist State and community programs in understanding how CDR and FIMR can be

This FOA invites applications that propose to develop, characterize and validate innovative human cellular model systems that recapitulate phenotypic, mechanistic and neuropathological hallmarks of  Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias (ADRDs). Model systems will be expected to capture the complex, multi-faceted proteinopathies and/or vascular pathology observed in ADRDs, with multiple cell types represented in each model. Years 3-5 will focus on the extensive characterization and perturbation of the cellular model systems. The overall goal of this FOA is to establish next generation human cellular model systems for ADRDs to serve as tools to interrogate molecular disease mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets.