BARDA Innovation Challenge

AI Technologies for Health Security Applications

Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) supports the development of products and technologies (medical countermeasures or MCMs) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to health security threats including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, pandemic influenza, and emerging infectious diseases.

The products and technologies range from vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, digital health tools, and other enabling technologies that address the public health and medical consequences of these threats.

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With the emergence of high-impact generative AI technologies and innovations, BARDA is seeking to identify how both startups and academic innovators can apply their technologies to support BARDA’s mission to prevent, prepare for, and respond to health security threats and public health emergencies.


Potential Solutions that align with BARDA's mission areas:

Use cases and examples could include, but are not limited to:
  • Enhancing Threat Response
  • • Delivery of MCMs (e.g., overcoming barriers due to lack of infrastructure for manufacturing or delivery of vaccines)
    • Improving public acceptance of MCMs (e.g., resistance to mask-wearing or vaccines)
    • Creating automated ways to manage and enhance emergency response programs and overall response
    • Prediction of pathogen evolution and emerging threats
    • Prediction and optimization of supply chain and logistics during a public health emergency
  • Accelerating Access & Analysis of Evolving, Complex Information
  • • Generating actionable insights from complex clinical and real-world data sources
    • Enhancing BARDA’s ability to access on-demand expertise in adjacent or outside domains, (e.g., scientific chatbots)
    • Accurate symptom and context-based diagnoses from natural language interactions
  • Modeling Humans
  • • Modeling response to infection or drugs to replace human testing
    • Predicting disease pathologies of emerging, novel pathogens

Why You Should Apply

Prize money to further develop your technology use cases aligning with BARDA’s mission:

  • Two awards, $50,000
  • One award, $25,000

Showcase opportunity

  • Present to attendees from multiple US government agencies in the finalist pitch event

BARDA suggests the technology developers propose what health security problems their AI/Gen AI solutions could solve and how their technologies would support and enable BARDA’s mission.

Challenge Dates

  • Nov. 30, 2023
    Applications Open
  • Feb. 9, 2024
    Applications Close
  • Mar. 15, 2024
    Finalists - Virtual Pitch Event to BARDA Team
  • Mar. 30, 2024
    Winners Announced

Interested in applying?

Apply Here

Plug and Play Health

We focus on digital health technologies that challenge clinical practices, improve data analytics, and enhance the patient journey across the continuum of care.

We connect the best startups in the world to corporations who want to disrupt the healthcare industry.

BARDA DRIVe

Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe) was established to help BARDA be prepared for any public health emergency by identifying and derisking the world's most promising technologies and capabilities, no matter their origin, towards the development of tomorrow's medical countermeasures.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) provides an integrated, systematic approach to the development of the necessary vaccines, drugs, therapies, and diagnostic tools for public health medical emergencies such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) accidents, incidents and attacks; pandemic influenza (PI), and emerging infectious diseases (EID).

Together with its industry partners, BARDA promotes the advanced development of medical countermeasures to protect Americans and respond to 21st century health security threats.

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