Request for Proposals - Health Sciences

Over the past year, ADIA Lab has undertaken a careful review of its health science priorities, involving external experts in health science and related fields to identify targeted research thrust areas and relevant application roadmaps.

For the 2025 proposal solicitation, ADIA Lab will focus on the following research thrust areas (please refer to the RFP document for the full scope):


1. AI, Data, and Tools for Analysis of Real-World Data

  • Open-access datasets linking modalities (e.g., outpatient records, genomics, wearables).
  • Algorithms for data normalization, quality assessment, and large-scale mining.
  • High-dimensional data imputation, model reliability, explainability, and evidence generation.
  • Methods to mitigate demographic biases and ensure equity.

2. Multimodal AI for Health Science

  • AI models integrating genomic, imaging, EHR, and other health data for clinical insights.
  • Evaluation tools for multimodal AI, including fairness, and bias.
  • Novel AI architectures beyond LLMs.
  • Foundation models for biology.

3. AI for Prevention and Management of Cardiometabolic Diseases

  • AI-driven risk stratification using multimodal patient data.
  • Precision self-care tools for personalized nutrition, exercise, and mental health.
  • Discovery and validation of new disease pathways and treatments.
  • Personalized treatment strategies at the point of care.

4. AI and Computational Tools for Healthspan and Longevity

  • AI-driven tools for assessing individual health using multi-omics data.
  • Economic impact assessment of preventive public health interventions.
  • AI and large-scale data to enable and support public health investment decisions.

Proposed projects should endeavor to generate new knowledge and tools to advance the above research topics toward applications. All proposed projects should describe a clear direction toward application (e.g. from Fundamental Research to Technology Development, or from Prototype to System Demonstration and Validation).

ADIA Lab will offer six prestigious awards, each up to $300k, distributed over two years (annual cap of $150,000 per award). These awards support groundbreaking research in AI, data science, and computational science.


Research Awards

Six awards of up to $300k each, distributed over two years (annual cap of $150,000).

Award 1

Up to $300k
($150K per year)

Award 2

Up to $300k
($150K per year)

Award 3

Up to $300k
($150K per year)

Award 4

Up to $300k
($150K per year)

Award 5

Up to $300k
($150K per year)

Award 6

Up to $300k
($150K per year)



Important Information for Applicants

Please review the timeline below for key deadlines and an overview of the award process. For detailed information on eligibility criteria, award specifics, the review procedure, and more, please refer to the full RFP document.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out at healthsciences@adialab.ae.

Detailed submission and preparation instructions are given with referenced templates in the RFP. Proposals must adhere strictly to the specified page limitations. Proposals that are not compliant with the provided guidelines will be rejected without review.

Download RFP Document

Award Timeline

May 10, 2025 Registration: Due by Midnight (GMT)
May 31, 2025 Proposal submission: Due by Midnight (GMT)
July 25, 2025 Shortlisted proposals notified (cooperative agreement negotiation begins)
October 29, 2025 Official Award Announcement (Day 2 of ADIA Lab Symposium)
December 1, 2025 Award/Cooperative Agreement Effective Date
→


What Makes a Strong Proposal?

Clear Research Strategies

  • Outline data collection, modeling, and analysis approaches.
  • Emphasize the use of multimodal, comprehensive health databases, including historical and new data.

Collaboration with UAE-based Partners

  • Involvement of UAE-based researchers is highly recommended.
  • Meaningful engagement with local research institutions or researchers will strengthen proposals.

Application Readiness

  • Clearly defined, and realistic deliverables achievable within the funding period.
  • Validation of methods or feasibility demonstration in a relevant research setting.
  • Clearly articulate the next steps toward longer-term translation or application.

Required Proposal Components

  • Knowledge Transfer Plan:
    Outline of how generated data, code, methods, and tools will be shared openly, with a timeline. All code, methods, and tools must be made publicly available in a timely manner.
  • Management Plan:
    Description of mechanisms for project oversight, team communications, risk mitigation, and financial monitoring.