NIDDK Innovation Fund: Capitalizing on Rapid Advances in Data Science

May 2024 Council

Lead Division/Office

KUH, DDN, DEM, OD

Point(s) of Contact

Veerasamy Ravichandran, Ph.D.; Xujing Wang, Ph.D.; Daniel Gossett, Ph.D.; David Saslowsky, Ph.D.; Eric Brunskill, Ph.D.; Arthur Castle, Ph.D.; Ashley Xia, Ph.D.

Executive Summary

The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other data science technology is rapidly advancing, presenting new and revolutionary opportunities. We lack nimble processes to harness emerging opportunities to catalyze NIDDK science. Furthermore, our workforce has gaps that impact our ability to effectively leverage new data science technology to advance the NIDDK mission. There is a need for a NIDDK program that can quickly integrate new expertise and capitalize on the latest advances. The proposed initiative is to establish an innovation fund that allows NIDDK to rapidly capitalize on emerging and transformative opportunities and implement innovative ideas leveraging data science. The innovation fund will take advantage of timely and time-sensitive opportunities, prioritizing cross-cutting research that has NIDDK-wide impact and short-term efforts that limit out-year commitments. The fund will 1) support NIDDK science within NIH-wide Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS)-led efforts and 2) support a funding opportunity for short-term grants for specific emerging topics that are at the leading edge of the field, which will change over time and will be updated annually through the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts.