Background

While mathematical modeling approaches have been used to understand malaria epidemiology and the
potential impact of antimalarial interventions for some time, National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs)
across sub-Saharan Africa are showing a growing interest in working with modeling units to shape their
National Strategic Plans and Global Fund applications, as well to evaluate the ongoing impact of control
programs. Furthermore, R&D partners in the malaria space are also increasingly working with modelers as
part of the product development process, using quantitative insights to shape target product profiles, plan
trials, and understand the market for a given product.At present, many of the malaria modeling units contributing to these efforts are based in academic institutions in the Global North. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we believe that having local modeling expertise embedded within or easily accessible to NMCPs will improve programs’ uptake of modeling as a strategic planning and evaluation tool, ultimately leading to improved data-driven decisionmaking by NMCPs. However, for this vision to be realized, the malaria modeling ecosystem across subSaharan Africa needs to be strengthened.

The Challenge

This RFP seeks innovative approaches to building a stronger malaria mathematical modeling ecosystem
in sub-Saharan Africa. We are looking for 1 to 3 years projects that will achieve one or more of the objectives below:
• Increasing the number of Ph.D.-trained mathematical modelers with malaria expertise based at
sub-Saharan African institutions
• Improving NMCP’s understanding of and engagement with modeling approaches as a tool that can
support strategic planning and/or evaluation work
• Connecting malaria Product Development Partners (PDPs) with sub-Saharan African modelers
• Bringing together discrete modeling units across sub-Saharan Africa to share expertise
• Improving modelers’ access to timely, high-quality data

Funding level: up to USD $1,000,000 per year for each project, with a grant term of 1 to 3 years depending on the scope of the project.

For more information about the opportunity or to apply visit the Grand Global Challenges website.