All winners were recommended by a judging panel composed of federal employees from across NIH. Eight Phase 1 winners were awarded $100,000 each and exclusively invited to Phase 2. Four Phase 2 winners were awarded an equal share of the $4 million Phase 2 prize pool and exclusively invited to Phase 3. Phase 3 will have a first, second, and third-place prize.

Phase 2 Winners

Phase 1 Winners

Anthony F. DiMarco, M.D.
High-frequency spinal cord stimulation reduces respiratory tract infections and improves bowel management in people with neurological impairment.

BIOS Health
The Autonomic Therapy Initiative, data-driven stimulations of the vagus nerve using neural biomarkers, modulates cardiac function and minimizes side effects on off target organs.

GE Research in collaboration with Northwell Health and Yale University
A single, image-guided ultrasound treatment induces a response in the gut-brain sensory pathway to provide sustained remission in Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Juniper Biomedical (formerly RBI Medical)
Highly precise, micro-implantable neuromodulation to treat stress urinary incontinence, overactive bladder and fecal incontinence.

NPR Lab at the University of Connecticut
Synchronized pulse and sinusoidal stimulation of sacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and nerve roots relieves chronic visceral pain in the lower abdominal organs by selectively blocking C-fiber neural transmission.

University of Louisville Research Foundation Inc.
StimXS, neuromodulation of the lumbosacral spinal cord, automatically regulates cardiovascular, respiratory, and urinary systems after spinal cord injury.

University of Pittsburgh Department of Urology
A novel multichannel implantable device for sacral-pudendal neuromodulation to treat bladder, bowel, and sexual disorders.

Warren Grill & collaborators, Duke Biomedical Engineering
Electrical recording and stimulation of the sacral nerve with closed-loop bioelectronic control restores bladder and bowel function.