Emerging and Neglected Diseases Competition

The Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases at Berkeley is interested in promoting the application of science and engineering for human benefit; specifically related to infectious disease and public health challenges.

Each year more than 15 million people die from infectious and parasitic diseases like HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria, rotavirus, and measles. Hundreds of millions also suffer from disfiguring neglected tropical diseases like schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthes, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomes. The challenge for this year’s Emerging and Neglected Diseases competition is to come up with a proposal for an original innovation that can be used to prevent, treat, cure, or control an emerging or neglected disease.

Your project could focus on, among other things, diagnostics, a drug or vaccine, improved medical practices in developing countries, anti-microbial natural products, specific medical research, or advancement in access to medicine or medical innovation. Proposals should have a definitive market and practical application to combat disease. While your proposal may acknowledge developmental and “quality of life” changes that improve health or medicinal practices in developing countries, in this competition we are particularly interested in scientific, engineering, economics, or public policy focused ideas.

Competition Rules

Proposals are invited from teams of researchers, including at least one Berkeley student or postdoc. Winners will be required to have a faculty advisor at UC Berkeley or UCSF, although this is not required at the time of submission.

For additional information about general contest rules, timing and how to apply, please refer to the Contest Application Guidelines

Prizes will be awarded only if there are high-quality submissions and are expected to be used to support the proposed activities (e.g., research, travel, workshops, project expenses). Decisions of the judges are final and not subject to appeal.