NIH’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs, managed by the Small Business Education and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) Office, aim to support research and development in small businesses. These programs seek to drive technological innovation and translate scientific discoveries into health improvements.

Omnibus Solicitations for SBIR and STTR: ORWH is participating in the Fiscal Year 2025 Omnibus Solicitation for SBIR and STTR grant applications. ORWH’s participation in this solicitation reflects its understanding of the key role that small businesses will play in advancing innovation in women’s health.

ORWH encourages applications from small businesses that have a central focus on the health of women, as demonstrated through specific aims that either explicitly address a particular condition in women or focus on one of the high-priority topics identified in NOT-OD-24-079. Intersectional and/or multidimensional approaches that consider the health of women (e.g., social and structural variables—including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and state and federal policies) are strongly encouraged. Although projects are not required to exclusively focus on women to receive ORWH co-funding, studies that include more than one sex or gender should be designed and sufficiently powered to enable researchers to make sex or gender difference comparisons and generalizable conclusions.  

ORWH is participating in the following small business funding opportunities: 

Acronym definitions: CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; FDA: Federal Drug Administration; NIH: National Institutes of Health

ORWH intends to prioritize interdisciplinary research that:  

• Addresses the influence of sex-linked biology, gender-related factors, or their intersections on health.
• Addresses how physical, mental, and psychological health outcomes interact with structural factors to either mitigate or exacerbate health disparities and aims to create behavioral interventions to address these issues.
• Advances the translation of research advancements and evidence in women’s health into practical benefits for patients and providers.  
• Informs and develops multi-sector partnerships to advance innovation in women's health research.  
• Increases public awareness of the need for greater investment in and attention to women’s health research and women’s health outcomes across their lifespans.  
• Advances research to reduce health disparities and inequities affecting women’s health, including those related to race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, disability, and exposure to environmental factors and contaminants that can directly affect health.  
• Increases uptake of evidence-based interventions that advance women’s health.  
• Addresses topics identified in the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map (described in more detail below).
• Reduces violence, stigma, and trauma related to HIV.  
• Develops woman-centered self-tests for HIV viral load monitoring, including in breast milk.  
• Develops topical microbicide agents or wearable, implantable, or insertable devices that release medications alone or as part of a multipurpose prevention technology (MPT) to prevent sexual acquisition of HIV or other sexually transmitted infections, and/or unplanned pregnancy across the lifespan.  
• Promotes the use of advanced statistical modeling, data visualization, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) methods for research on the health of women.  
• Develops methods, tools, or technologies to increase data sharing and improve data management practices to align with findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) data principles and to enhance the utility of new and existing data on the health of women.  
• Develops methods for integrating data science, including AI and ML, into research on the health of women.  
• Develops cutting-edge computational tools and technologies to facilitate screening for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases that affect women.  
• Improves estimates of the impact of chronic conditions in women, including projects to diagnose and reduce the misclassification of female-specific and gynecologic conditions, conditions that predominantly impact women, or conditions that affect women differently.
• Characterizes differences in chronic condition presentation by gender, race/ethnicity, and various structural and social determinants that affect women’s experiences.
• Explores the role of hormonal fluctuations on the development of chronic conditions in women, including the influence of age of menarche; the role of menstrual cycle ir/regularity, length, and phase; the length of the reproductive window; the link between adverse pregnancy outcomes and the development of chronic conditions later in life; and the effect of exogenous hormones on the development of chronic conditions.  
• Develops new and better approaches for addressing the symptoms that affect women during perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.  
• Improves early and accurate detection and diagnosis of chronic conditions in women, including the diagnosis of multiple chronic conditions.  
• Elucidates gender differences in access and use of health care services, including methods for assessing discrimination (e.g., sexism, racism, ageism, and homophobia) encountered by women when accessing health care services for chronic conditions.

Please note that applicants may link their SBIR and STTR applications to the Notice of Special Interest on Women’s Health Research. The submission dates are January 5, 2025 and April 5, 2025. 

Executive Order 14120 on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation emphasizes the importance of private sector innovation in boosting women's health research. In response, NIH committed to increasing its funding by 50% to support early-stage small businesses and innovators dedicated to research and development in women’s health. 

ORWH is hosting a series of webinars to discuss “Small Business Opportunities for Innovative Women’s Health Research.” Staff from the SEED Office and several NIH small business programs will provide overviews of their programs and institute- and center-specific interests at the intersection of innovation and women’s health. The webinars have two overarching goals: to inform the women’s health research community of small business opportunities  and to inform the small business community of women’s health research priorities. The dates and registration/recording links for the webinars are:  

• Small Business Opportunities for Innovative Women’s Health Research - June 26, 2024
• Small Business Opportunities for Innovative Women’s Health Research - October 30, 2024
• Small Business Opportunities for Innovative Women’s Health Research - January 29, 2025