AIM-AHEAD Year 3 Call for Proposals Released
Which Programs Can I Apply for?
Full CFP: AIM-AHEAD Federated Network
This RFA calls for site participation in AIM-AHEAD federated research programs. The research team from each site is expected to (i) assemble EHR data locally from their institution to be used for AIM-AHEAD research projects; (ii) provide informatics expertise to participate in EHR data harmonization across sites; and (iii) facilitate the analysis of EHR data using AI/ML algorithms developed by the AIM-AHEAD researchers. While all patient-level EHR data remain behind the firewalls of the local site, the research team is expected to facilitate the sharing of aggregated data to support AIM-AHEAD research projects.
Expected outcomes for the participating site include protocols for data curation and data sharing fine tuned to their specific institution along with lessons learned. The sites are expected to work with the core team members to assess capacity in running AI/ML models locally and sharing outputs of AI/ML models. During year 2 of the funding cycle, the participating sites are expected to generate and share aggregated data for relevant research questions to enable the research teams to perform federated analyses.
The participating sites and the AIM-AHEAD Infrastructure Core are expected to jointly work on publications detailing both the process of data curation, data harmonization, AI/ML analyses with local data, as well as federated analyses for selected research questions.
Key Dates
Solicitation Release Date: April 16, 2024
Application Due Date: June 3, 2024
Notice of Award Release: August 1, 2024
Earliest Start Date: September 3, 2024
Full CFP: AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship
The AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship Program will engage a group of early-career researchers to actively participate in biomedical research that involves the use of AI/ML methodologies on biomedical research data, clinical and genomic cohorts to address health disparities and inequities, including bias in AI/ML algorithms or data.
The program is open to individuals conducting research at the intersection of healthcare practice and delivery, AI/ML methods, and the advancement of health equity. The AIM-AHEAD Consortium seeks projects from institutions and their investigators from a variety of fields of study, institutions, and geography.
This Fellowship supports early-career researchers (graduate students, postdocs, junior faculty, and others conducting research outside of an academic institution, within 10 years of completing their highest degree) in implementations of novel and innovative data science and data-focused research problems. The program will provide both funding support and additional AIM-AHEAD resources for researchers who will leverage AIM-AHEAD to gain access to training, data, and infrastructure needed to rapidly develop research skills required in the AI/ML field. The research project needs to address emerging issues that reduce health disparities while improving healthcare and outcomes.
More information about the Fellows of the AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship Cohort #1, and Cohort #2, including their profiles and research projects.
Key Dates
Webinar Date: May 2, 2024 - 2:30 pm -3:30 mp ET
Solicitation release: April 16, 2024
Application Deadline: June 17, 2024 - 5 pm ET
Fellow's Notice of Funding Release: August 12, 2024
Research Fellowship Program Begins: September 3, 2024
The goal of the AIM-AHEAD AI/ML in Biomedical Research and Clinical Practice That Embodies Ethics and Equity (ABC-EE) program is to support multidisciplinary teams in the domains of biomedical research and clinical applications to develop and/or use AI/ML technologies that align with and/or extend the AIM-AHEAD ethics and equity principles [1].
This program will support teams at any stage of development, including those creating and/or validating frameworks for reasoning about the creation of AI/ML tools, on application of such tools in biomedical or behavioral health research, and on their translation into clinical care in a socially responsible manner. Topics of interest for this program include but are not limited to: the co-creation of data and/or AI/ML tools with target populations; the development of privacy enhancing technologies to support the collection, sharing, and/or use of such diverse data in AI/ML; and investigations into the trustworthiness and reliability of AI/ML, including emerging technologies such as generative AI and chatbots.
Applicants are expected to propose projects that address emerging issues to reduce health disparities while improving healthcare and outcomes.
Key Dates
Solicitation Release Date: April 26, 2024
Application Due Date: June 16, 2024 (11:59 EDT)
Application Review Date: July 26, 2024
Earliest Start Date: September 16, 2024
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[1] Hendricks-Sturrup R, et al. Developing ethics and equity principles, terms, and engagement tools to advance health equity and researcher diversity in AI and machine learning: modified delphi approach. JMIR AI. 2023; 2: e52888.
The 2024 Call for Proposals (CFP) of the AIM-AHEAD Consortium Development Program (CDP) focuses on Innovation for Equity in Low-Resource Settings and provides funding to catalyze multi-disciplinary research projects to plan and pilot Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) algorithms or tools to address health disparities and minority health in cancer, cardiometabolic and mental/behavioral health. The projects must engage healthcare organizations serving patients in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) or Community Health Centers (CHCs) from Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) as defined by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and/or serving a disproportionately high percentage(s) of NIH-designated health disparity populations (as defined below) to design and pilot AI/ML-aided tools, models or interventions. As such, a community-engaged design phase grounded in AIM-AHEAD Ethics and Equity Principles is required for all funded projects, with ongoing engagement and bidirectional communication between AI and ML developers and communities (e.g., health care professionals, patient representatives) throughout the project. Innovation for Equity is responding to the challenge that medically underserved areas are not benefiting from advances in AI/ML at the same pace as higher-resource settings, and many AI/ML models are not informed by the data, needs, and perspectives of communities impacted by health disparities.
Key Dates
Solicitation Release Date: April 26, 2024
Webinar: May 9, 2024, 11am - 12 noon PT/ 2 pm - 3 pm ET
***Registration link coming soon.
Internal Submission Deadline: June 17, 2024, 11:59 pm ET
Programmatic Review Completed: July 26, 2024
Earliest Start Date: September 16, 2024
The AIM-AHEAD Public-Private Partnerships to Improve Population Health Using AI/ML Program is designed to support mutually beneficial triadic partnerships among a 1) local, state, and tribal accredited health departments; 2) limited resource higher education institution; and 3) a data-science oriented organization with an accessible data library to collaboratively conduct health equity-related AI/ML studies that align with the overall goal of AIM-AHEAD. Over 370 health departments exist in the United States (U.S.), many of whom are accredited and have research units that conduct and manage grant applications. Public health departments work to achieve health equity and serve as a force in their communities to shape the conditions for population health. These organizations are critical and trusted organizations that can benefit from enhancing their AI/ML capabilities to advance various aspects of public health, from early detection and monitoring, predictive analytics, disease surveillance and monitoring, and outbreak detection to healthcare resource allocation, and personalized interventions. Partnerships among public health department professionals, academic researchers, and data-science/AI/ML experts can further leverage data-driven insights that contribute to more effective and efficient public health strategies to improve community health outcomes. These approaches align with the overarching Healthy People 2030 goal “to eliminate health disparities, achieve health equity, and attain health literacy to improve the health and well-being of all”.
Mutually beneficial partnerships comprised of health departments, academic institutions, and private data science-oriented organizations can play a crucial role in addressing barriers and promoting the successful implementation of AI/ML capabilities.
Key Dates
Solicitation Release Date: April 25, 2024
Application Due Date: June 25, 2024, 11:59 ET
Scientific Review: July 15, 2024
Earliest Start Date: September 9, 2024
Full CFP: AIM-AHEAD Hub Specific Projects
The overall goal of the AIM-AHEAD Hub-Specific Projects is to advance the conduct of community-based participatory research (CBPR) using AI/ML to address and reduce health disparities. This funding opportunity will support small-scale research projects co-led by community-based organizational leaders and researchers from academic institutions. Collaborative teams are encouraged to submit applications using novel approaches to address diseases and conditions that disproportionately affect populations that experience health disparities. Approaches that utilize the interests, concerns, and values of communities have led to improvements in population-level outcomes.
The seven AIM-AHEAD regional hubs solicit hub-specific project applications that: 1) support research teams that equitably include community stakeholders to address critical health challenges using AI/ML methods; 2) facilitate direct interaction between key stakeholder teams, AIM-AHEAD hubs, and AIM-AHEAD technical cores; 3) utilize CBPR approaches to advance AI/ML-related capacity building opportunities for vulnerable communities; and 4) enhance community stakeholder understanding of and familiarity with AI/ML analytic methods. Funding for these small-scale projects is expected to establish and facilitate sustainable efforts that will enhance community leadership in AI/ML research, accelerate the dissemination of study findings back to communities, and generate preliminary data to enhance the competitiveness of future larger-scale community-engaged NIH grant applications for AI/ML research applications.
Key Dates
Solicitation Release Date: 05/1/2024
Application Due Date: 06/16/2024
Programmatic Review Date: 07/26/2024
Earliest Start Date: 09/16/2024