Overview

Consistent with the U.S. Department of State’s America First Global Health Strategy, PORTENT emphasizes innovations that can improve health and wellness domestically while also strengthening global health security in partner settings.  The Point-of-Care Technologies for Nutrition, Infection, and Cancer (PORTENT) Center is a one-of-a-kind network of clinical, training, and device development facilities with - expertise in point-of-care diagnostics, their application and commercialization. Our integrated clinical and validation core facilities across four continents in the United States, Uganda, Ecuador, and India, can help advance point-of-care technologies for a broad range of populations, clinical samples, and with a unique set of users.  The PORTENT Center is unique in that it (1) focuses on primary health care globally, (2) addresses the needs of those living with low resources in the U.S. and (3) enables a broad range of diagnostic technologies to be validated on a global scale while simultaneously developing expertise and strengthening capacity domestically.

Innovation Awards

Through this opportunity, PORTENT will provide awards to teams developing point-of-care diagnostic technologies based on our criteria and those who need support for technology development, clinical validation, regulatory, commercialization/manufacturing, and clinical training to bring their product to market. Specifically, we aim to accelerate technologies that (1) are beyond the proof-of-concept stage and would benefit from clinical validation, (2) have been validated or even commercialized but want to expand reach and have additional impact, or (3) have been developed/incubated previously and show promise at addressing a market need locally in the US.  For this opportunity the term, “diagnostic” should be considered broadly, including technologies that enable accurate diagnosis, staging or severity of disease assessment, screening, monitoring of response to treatment or intervention, and promotion of wellness and health at the point-of-care.  

Specific Criteria for Awards

PORTENT is focused on supporting development, clinical validation, commercialization, and deployment of point-of-care technologies for primary care and more specifically for nutrition, infection, and cancer in locations where better diagnostics can have the largest impact.  For this solicitation, “limited resource settings” includes both domestic underserved settings in the U.S. (e.g., safety-net clinics/Federally Qualified Health Centers, ERs, safety-net clinics/hospitals) and international settings where laboratory capacity, supply chains, and trained personnel are constrained.

To meet this need, our 2026 PORTENT RFP identifies the following specific criteria for awards. 

1. Proposals must show direct responsiveness to a specific issue within or across Nutrition, Infection, or Cancer focus as described in the Needs Assessment and Areas of Interest section of this document. 

2. In support of specific criteria 1, projects must identify an intended “setting of use” where their technology could have the greatest impact and describe:  

   1. How the technology is compatible with its intended “limited resource setting” of use which may include: home care settings, clinical settings, laboratory and primary care settings.  
   2. Demonstrate a pathway towards effective linkages to clinical care, counselling, treatment or intervention if their diagnostic solution happens to be successful.  
   3. For technologies intended for implementation in international limited-resource settings, applicants should also describe relevance to U.S. health care and, where appropriate, include a complementary translation/implementation pathway through domestic underserved settings.
3. Proposals must have sufficient proof-of-concept evidence that they are likely to be successful in further development through PORTENT. This typically means that projects must be at least at the TRL stage 3-5. Please reference Cimit’s GAITS for more information. Projects should outline their key performance metrics for success. 
4. A successful outcome for a PORTENT project is achieving well-defined milestones that will allow it to advance towards a well-defined, specific, translational outcome. Proposals must state explicit milestones to be achieved at specific time points and describe how a successful outcome could advance the technology towards their proposed translational outcome.  Including evidence of consultations with and incorporation of input from a broad range of stakeholders is encouraged (e.g. ministries of health, payers, regulators, commercial partners, health care workers).  A description of how these local stakeholders have already been engaged or how they will be engaged is important.
5. Projects must identify the key challenge(s) to advancement and implementation of their technology.  This may include (but should not be limited to): clinical validation, manufacturing, prototyping, regulatory, commercialization and market development, specific expertise needed.
6. The PORTENT Clinical Network core sites represent key parts of our center. All selected teams are expected to participate in the PORTENT Knowledge Transfer workshops and Lab-2-Market accelerator.  Details on these capabilities is available through the PORTENT website. 

Innovation Award Opportunity Details, Awardee Requirements, and Solicitation Policies

Total Funds Available

Approximately $500,000

Project Budget

Project budgets should be between $50,000 and $100,000 USD for a timeline of 12-month projects.  Projects that require clinical support should include the costs in their budgets (PORTENT staff can help estimate these costs for budgeting purposes).  Projects should budget sufficient funds to support expenses related to IRB approvals, and travel to attend the PORTENT Knowledge Transfer and L-2-M Bootcamp, likely to be held annually at one of our four core sites (i.e., United States, India, Uganda, Ecuador).  For budgeting purposes, teams can estimate costs at $5000. 

Number of Projects Anticipated

About 5-7 awards, with budgets ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 in total costs for projects up to 12 months in duration. 

Additional Awardee Requirements

• Awardees are expected to review progress with the PORTENT Team regularly and provide progress reports at the 6-month and 12-month time points. Awardees are required to use Cimit’s GAITS to track progress at these monthly reviews. 
• Awardees are expected to attend the PORTENT new project kick-off meeting and in-person PORTENT Annual Knowledge Transfer Workshop and participate in the point-of-care Lab-2-Market program. 

Eligibility and Additional Solicitation Policies

• Animal studies, and human clinical trials may not be proposed under this solicitation. 
• Applications from all sources, including public or private, and non-profit or for-profit, will be considered. Awards under this solicitation may be made only to NIH-eligible applicants. Details regarding specific requirements can be found in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of the NIH Grant Awards.
• Please note the updated guidance regarding foreign subawards.

• All proposals and affiliated documents must be submitted through the online system by the dates and times outlined in the timeline. Late applications will not be accepted. Proposals should not include information which could be considered proprietary.

Needs Assessment and PORTENT Areas of Interest

Health Impact of Nutrition, Infection, and Cancer

The regularly updated Global Burden of Disease data illustrates the top causes of mortality and morbidity, both in the U.S. and globally. Infectious Diseases and Cancer are responsible for millions of deaths every year globally and also accounts for several million disease adjusted life years lost. Cancers account for over 250 million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and are the second ranked cause of disease burden globally. Similarly, infections, including the scourge of antibiotic resistance and sepsis, exact a heavy toll in terms of both qualities of life and lives lost. Major infections including tuberculosis, HIV, enteric infections, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases collectively account for more than 400 million DALYs. Many of the infections that we believed to have been controlled in certain parts of the world have re-emerged or become difficult to manage because of antibiotic resistance; new ones emerge with recent pan/epidemics such as Ebola, and Zika viruses; continuing diseases such as Tuberculosis; and the health community has to be prepared for other ones.  

Nutritional deficiencies individually account for nearly 50 million DALYs. In addition, they are also one of the biggest contributing factors for most of the other disease causes included. The interplay between nutrition and health is well established - poor nutrition predisposes to the development of disease as well as severity - and disease itself leads to worsening of nutritional status. The importance of nutrition cannot be overemphasized, given that nearly two-thirds of the population in the U.S. is obese or overweight, and an estimated 1 out of every 3 individuals globally has one or more micronutrient deficiencies, a number which may be substantially higher depending on setting. Today we recognize nutrition as one of the few truly 'modifiable’ determinants for health states. For example, the latest GBD analysis highlights nutrition-associated factors including healthy eating, varied diet -, maintaining a normal weight, high blood pressure and high fasting glucose levels, and lack of regular exercise, as constituting most of the key contributors to diseases across low and high resource settings. Further, one-third of all premature deaths in the U.S., such as those due to non-communicable diseases (e.g., diabetes and obesity), are attributed to dietary factors (2). The global numbers are equally stark - deaths attributable to poor diets have grown by 15% since 2010, faster than the population growth, accounting for 26% of all adult deaths in a year, per the latest Global Nutrition Report. 

Inflammation is a common mediating factor for multiple acute and chronic disease pathways and natural histories that can be a risk factor that determines incidence, severity, resolution of disease as well as recovery. Nutritional biomarkers are often key indicators of inflammation and host response. Point-of-care technologies that characterize inflammatory status and host response can enable risk stratification, monitoring of response to therapy or nutrition interventions, and more precise linkage to care in both domestic underserved and international limited-resource settings. This emphasis also aligns with current U.S. priorities in nutrition, prevention, and global health security.  

The Role of Early Detection

A common thread to nutrition, infection, and cancer, is the key role of early detection. Early screening can inform interventions to optimize nutritional status most effectively in a simple low-cost manner. For example, determining vitamin A deficiency in children early in its course can be easily reversed relatively without lasting sequelae with supplementation; however, waiting for clinical signs and symptoms such as night blindness to manifest carries a hefty cost of greatly increased likelihood of mortality or permanent blindness. Detecting an infection early likewise is key to interrupting transmission as well as ensuring appropriate management along with antibiotic stewardship. Similarly, for many cancers, timely diagnosis is often the most critical factor for prognosis. These are the areas where point-of-care technologies can have the largest and immediate impact. By providing actionable information in real time, point-of-care technologies can truly transform the health care landscape around the world.

The Impact of Point-of-Care in Limited Resource Settings

In resource-limited settings, many diagnostic tests are cost prohibitive and out of reach given limited laboratory infrastructure. Patients frequently travel great distances for clinical care yet are unable to obtain routine testing. Clinical management is often guided by recognition of clinical syndromes, which may be inaccurate resulting in either inadequate treatment or overtreatment. In the case of presumed bacterial infection, undertreatment can be fatal yet overtreatment can result in unanticipated antibiotic resistance. Nutritional deficiencies that predispose to infectious diseases may also not be recognized due to lack of symptoms. Therefore, in all three domains of nutrition, infection, and cancer, diagnosis remains the biggest gap in the cascade of care (from screening, diagnosis, and treatment) for many cancers in low resource settings thus precluding appropriate timely care. Even when facilities are available, personnel issues (particularly lack of trained pathologists) can delay diagnoses for long periods of time making it difficult to track down patients to return results. The combination of these factors means there is great potential to reduce morbidity and mortality through implementation of point-of-care screening and diagnostic technologies and screening tests for infectious diseases, cancers, and nutritional deficiencies across all settings. 

PORTENT 2026 Award Priorities

For 2026, the PORTENT center will consider a broad range of point-of-care diagnostic technologies for awards which address priorities in Nutrition, Cancer, and Infection, as described this section.  For this opportunity the term, “diagnostic” should be considered broadly, including technologies that enable accurate diagnosis, staging or severity of disease assessment, screening, monitoring of response to treatment or intervention, and promotion of wellness and health at the point-of-care.  

Areas of specific interest for this solicitation align with the current priorities on chronic disease, infectious disease, and disease prevention, and specifically include, but are not limited to, the following: 

Nutrition

• Technologies that support the screening, prevention, and diagnosis of nutritional problems – including technologies that measure biomarkers of nutritional status, body composition, anthropometry, dietary assessment, and clinical nutrition; metabolic health; weight loss and management; and approaches to support nutrition (including weight management and dietary supplements). Dual use technologies that can measure the nutritional content, quality, and safety of food to enable uptake and easier adoption of dietary guidelines can also be considered.
• Projects that involve technologies that align with NIH priorities for nutrition (including assessment of dietary intake, dietary patterns, nutrition and health disparities in non-communicable diseases, nutrition in health and aging, nutrition in growth and development, and precision nutrition); and improving nutrition and health across the lifecycle are encouraged. 

Infection

• Multiplexed screening/diagnostic assays for infections such as those diagnosing HIV and co-infections, acute febrile illness, neglected tropical diseases, and/or mosquito borne illnesses (e.g. Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya).  Technologies that can additionally assess the antibiotic sensitivity of infectious agents are of particular interest. 

Cancer

• Technologies that broaden cancer screening and diagnosis at the community and clinic level, thereby addressing a neglected need of timely screening and promoting decentralization of diagnosis, are desired.  Specific interests include gastric, colorectal, lung, cervical, liver, and breast cancers.  This includes tests which screen for infectious agents known to be causative agents for some cancers (e.g. H. pylori, HPV 16-18, KSHV, and related).

Within the context of these PORTENT focus areas, proposals which have alignment with the following application spaces and/or technical areas are also encouraged. 

• Inflammation and host response (cross-cutting theme): Technologies that enable rapid, affordable characterization of systemic or localized inflammation and host immune response at the point of care, with clear clinical or implementation utility across Nutrition, Infection, and Cancer. Examples include multiplex biomarker panels and signatures that distinguish infectious vs non-infectious etiologies, support triage, inform severity/risk stratification, and/or monitor response to treatment or nutrition interventions. Applicants should clearly define intended use, target population(s), and the actionable clinical or public-health decision enabled by the measurement.

• Preventive health and wellness solutions: The development and validation of point-of-care technologies that integrate preventive health care and wellness (including complementary and integrative health approaches) to support early risk identification, disease prevention, and the promotion of whole-person health and well-being. These solutions may enhance screening, diagnosis, monitoring, or intervention across the health continuum, linking actionable measurements to personalized prevention strategies, lifestyle and nutritional guidance, and other evidence-based approaches that improve health outcomes and quality of life.  Areas of particular interest include child and adolescent health, cardiometabolic and mental health, nutrition and inflammation, and related health disparities.

• Women’s and Children’s Health: Proposals addressing conditions and biological processes that disproportionately affect women and children across the life course, including adolescence, preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, early childhood, and pediatric development. Areas of interest may include maternal and reproductive health, pediatric and adolescent health, cardiometabolic and mental health, nutrition and inflammation, and related health disparities.

• Digital Health, AI & Connectivity: Solutions to support any aspect of clinical staging, clinical decision making, promotion of health and wellness and encouraging use of behavioral life-style interventions, for all/any combination of technologies. Technologies which promote connectivity with mobile networks to enhance data availability to facilitate clinical decision making at the point of care are also encouraged. 

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