The University of Washington Population Health Initiative has announced the Accelerator Grants Program, a funding opportunity designed to help UW researchers pursue ambitious opportunities aimed at addressing major population health challenges. The program will offer awards of up to $400,000 to support interdisciplinary projects that draw on the University’s strengths in research, innovation and public benefit. Letters of intent are due February 1, 2027.
The Accelerator Grants Program reflects a growing need for new approaches to challenges that increasingly shape health and well-being, including advances in artificial intelligence and other technologies, climate resilience, demographic change and evolving social and economic conditions. Rather than supporting incremental advances, the program is intended to help promising ideas move from concept to broader application and influence.
“The University of Washington has a long history of developing new knowledge and putting it to work for public benefit,” said Ali H. Mokdad, the UW’s chief strategy officer for population health and professor of health metrics sciences. “The Population Health Accelerator is intended to help researchers and partners pursue bold ideas that can open new frontiers in how major population health challenges are understood and addressed.”
The program advances priorities identified in the UW’s strategic plan, particularly launching breakthroughs that shape tomorrow, driving technological innovation that meets the needs of humanity and shaping healthier populations and flourishing communities. Proposed projects may span discovery science, technology development, policy innovation, implementation and community-engaged approaches, provided they present a compelling pathway to meaningful population health impact.
The Initiative is encouraging applicants to think beyond incremental advances and pursue opportunities that match the scale and urgency of today’s population health challenges. Successful projects may lay the groundwork for new discoveries, partnerships, technologies and approaches that improve population health long after the initial grant period ends.
Program guidelines, eligibility requirements and submission instructions are available on the Accelerator Grants program page.