Gates Foundation: Global Grand Challenge: Indicators of Micronutrient Status – Minimum Scope

If you are interested in the following opportunity, please contact Carole King at [email protected].

• Application Due: September 8, 2026
• Amount: $200,000 (includes 15% indirects)
• Project Period: One year

This project aims to create an affordable test that can measure several vitamins, minerals, and signs of infection from a very small blood sample. Seeks novel approaches to extend analytical coverage, improve sensitivity and specificity, simplify measurement, reduce cost, and enable frequent monitoring of micronutrient status by local institutions.

Minimum scope (Alternative A): Develop and validate a strengthened, modestly expanded multiplex assay for population-level micronutrient surveillance, covering soluble transferrin receptor, ferritin, RBP4, thyroglobulin, plasma methyl-THF, holo-transcobalamin, CRP, and AGP. The project should resolve key limitations of existing platforms—including assay-range constraints, reagent variability, and specificity for folate and B12 biomarkers—while demonstrating acceptable precision, accuracy, and concordance using no more than 10 µL of plasma or serum. The complete panel must cost no more than $20 per sample in duplicate and operate on a benchtop instrument costing no more than $30,000.