Request for Applications: Ending Neglected Diseases through Operational Research (ENDOR)

USAID supports disease-endemic countries to control and/or eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) with proven, cost-effective public health interventions to treat and measure treatment impact against 7 NTDs: lymphatic filariasis (LF), blinding trachoma (TRA), onchocerciasis (OV), schistosomiasis (SCH), plus three intestinal worms, collectively known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH).

ENDOR Goals and Objectives

• Under this five-year cooperative agreement, USAID intends to transfer federal Global Health (GH) assistance funds by awarding one cooperative agreement to an organization or to a consortium of organizations. WHO’s 2030 NTD Roadmap Gap Assessment, and recent WHO NTD Global Partners Meeting, highlight several gaps in disease-specific strategies for mapping, monitoring and evaluation, availability of accurate and field-friendly diagnostics, and sustainable public health and surveillance systems, to name some. Within USAID’s existing flagship implementation projects, led by RTI and led by FHI360, endemic countries and implementing partners frequently encounter these highlighted challenges in implementation. Increasingly, there are challenges in approaching post-elimination strategies, such as country-specific periodic surveillance and provision of NTD services after elimination/control has been reached (thereafter community-wide drug treatments have ended).
• By focusing on efficiency and effectiveness, ENDOR will support national governments, local research institutions, and local NGOs by addressing the following high level Focus Areas:
  • Fostering and convening a network of local and international research investigators, including young and mid-career researchers, and identifying and prioritizing NTD OR needs in a more diverse and equitable manner;
  • Defining and undertaking relevant coordinated research initiatives as prioritized by USAID and USAID NTD Program implementing partners to target the gaps and barriers highlighted by the WHO 2030 NTD Roadmap and the NTD community;
  • Improving the timeliness and quality of OR initiatives through issuance of subaward agreements under ENDOR directly to local and endemic country institutions in response to persistent and new challenges, and translating these into programmatic solutions to solve endemic country issues; and
  • Working collaboratively with the NTD donor community to ensure that support for research is equitable and appropriate to meet project needs.

Program Areas

• More specifically, the project will provide technical assistance and OR subject matter expertise that may include, but not be limited to, the following key Program Areas of USAID’s NTD program:
  • Convening-power and global technical leadership on a wide array of NTD elimination and control implementation and end-game challenges;
  • Informing the evidence-base for improving global disease-specific monitoring and evaluation strategies and sustainable surveillance approaches;
  • Advancing improvements for diagnostics through consensus-based prioritization, performance evaluation, and accelerated regulatory processes with a wide array of multilateral, institutional, donor, and research partners;
  • Strengthening the capacity of early and mid-career NTD researchers to conceive, design, implement, and manage OR projects in their home countries, leveraging the expertise of local research institutions, NGOs, and national NTD programs;
  • Evaluating and proposing strategies to mitigate operational and social barriers to NTD service provision; and
  • Evaluating and technical assistance provision for evidence-based clinical competencies for NTD services of affected populations and pursuing linkages to strategic integration within the national health system.
• To prioritize and operationalize an OR agenda for USAID’s funding, ENDOR will issue subawards, primarily through fixed amount awards (FAAs), to local NGOs, research institutions, government entities and parastatals. Through COR-NTD, this operational model has proven to encourage local ownership and increase capacity building as organizations and government entities are directly involved in the management and design of FAAs to ensure that research provides locally-driven solutions. A key objective of the project will be to strengthen host country programs’ technical and operational capacities to conceive, design, implement, and report on OR findings that address challenges in their endemic communities, and inform the global evidence base and best practices.

Funding Information

• USAID intends to award one (1) Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity. Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide up to $45M in total USAID funding. This Activity will be incrementally funded over the life of the Activity. Actual funding amounts are subject to availability of appropriated funds.
• The anticipated period of performance is five (5) years. The estimated start date will be March 1, 2024.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility for this NOFO is not restricted. U.S. and non-US organizations may participate under this NOFO. USAID welcomes applications from organizations which have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.
• Faith-based organizations are eligible to apply for federal financial assistance on the same basis as any other organization and are subject to the protections and requirements of Federal law.
• U.S. federal government agencies and entities are not eligible for this award.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.