NIH recently announced the launch of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) Tech for Maternal Health Challenge as part of the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, which supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and to improve health for women before, during, and after delivery.  

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and the NIH Office of the Director are co-sponsoring this challenge, which is offering up to $8 million in cash prizes to accelerate development of technologies to improve maternal health outcomes for those who live in areas lacking access to maternity care. The challenge will prioritize home-based and point-of-care diagnostic devices, wearables, and other remote sensing technologies to extend care and improve health outcomes during the postpartum period. Submissions for the multiphase competition are due November 1, 2022, and final winners are expected to be announced in March 2024.  

For more information about the challenge, please visit www.challenge.gov/?challenge=radx-tech-maternal-health.