Build the future of human-based biomedical research with new approach methodologies!

The NIH Common Fund has teamed up with NASA’s Tournament Lab to launch the Reduction to Practice prize, a competition that invites innovative New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) solutions from teams who can successfully demonstrate implementation of integrated human-based solutions in a practical and usable form within a 3-year period.

While animal studies remain foundational for advancing scientific knowledge and developing therapeutics, there is increasing recognition that animal models can be suboptimal at predicting human biological responses due to species-specific differences. At the same time, there have been critical advances in human-based NAMs that have the potential to transform our understanding of human health and disease pathways. While many NAMs are still in early stages of development, they have potential to promote translation of basic research to clinical applications. The past decade has seen dramatic advances in areas such as complex in vitro systems, bioengineering technologies, human health data, and computational methods like artificial intelligence/machine learning. A combination and integration of multiple NAMs elements into a synergistic approach that augments gaps and/or deficiencies in individual NAMs approaches is a “combinatorial NAM.”

The Reduction to Practice Prize will task innovators in an open competition to accelerate technological development of NAMs platform and translate their products into practice. The goal of this challenge is to accelerate and catalyze near-ready combinatorial NAMs to a practicable form that can be submitted to the Complement-ARIE Validation and Qualification Network (VQN), managed by the Foundation for NIH. 

This challenge has three phases:

• Phase 1: Proof of Concept and Feasibility Studies: Phase 1 submissions will include a clear description of intended use for the proposed combinatorial NAM solution. Solvers will submit a research plan that demonstrates feasibility of completing the entire RTP Challenge within its 3-year timeframe.
• Phase 2: Prototype Development and Milestone Achievements: Phase 2 will be milestone-driven. Solvers will demonstrate:
  • Milestone 1: Progress toward meeting the initial performance and testing requirements of the NAMs platform in a specific context-of-use and successful construction and scaling of the NAMs platform according to fit-for-purpose needs.
  • Milestone 2: Progress toward internal validation of the NAMs platform using reference standards/compounds/agents and demonstrated within-laboratory reproducibility of results.
• Phase 3: Prototype Delivery for Validation and Qualification: Top-scoring submissions will be delivered to the Complement-ARIE VQN for validation and qualification.

The total cash prize purse for this competition is $7,000,000 to be shared among winners. 

Submit your ideas by Mar 01, 2026 at 11:59PM ET

To accept the challenge, visit: https://bit.ly/3Wbow3C   

Do you have questions? Reach out by email: [email protected]