By bringing together clinicians, basic scientists, engineers, data scientists, entrepreneurs, and industry, we can have more powerful “Aha!” moments and then wrap them around resources that Weil and the Grand Challenge process offers.
— Kevin Ward, MD, Executive Director, Weil Institute; U-M Professor of Emergency Medicine

The Weil Institute Grand Challenge is a powerful funding avenue for multidisciplinary critical care research teams. This unique program addresses the barriers between concept & realization by providing dedicated tools and resources to experts from medical, engineering, data, and industry backgrounds to help bring their biggest and best ideas forward. 

The Grand Challenge supports high-impact proposals by funding milestone-driven research over a 12-month timeframe. This intensive process includes:

  • Education sessions

  • Two rounds of proposal submissions

  • Project reviews and collective feedback from top thought leaders and field experts from across the University of Michigan, industry, and the Department of Defense

And we don’t stop there. The Weil Institute focuses on continuously moving research along the pathway from the laboratory to licensing to getting desperately needed solutions into practice. Our specialized labs, clinical research services, big data resources, and commercialization coaching allow Grand Challenge teams to quickly and effectively transform academic discovery into impactful critical care products and solutions that will save millions of lives. 


The Grand Challenge Process