Office of Research
Polyphonic™ AI Fund for Surgery QuickFire Challenge
To help accelerate the use of AI in surgery, Johnson & Johnson MedTech has launched the Polyphonic™ AI Fund for Surgery QuickFire Challenge. Researchers and innovators in the Surgical Data Science field worldwide are invited to submit ideas for AI technologies that have the potential to improve surgical decision-making, strengthen data management & governance processes, and drive surgical efficiency across the connected operating room (OR).
Selected applicant(s) will have the opportunity to receive grant funding up to $100,000 and mentorship from experts across Johnson & Johnson.* Awardees may also be eligible to receive computing tools and technologies to help advance their innovations, including access to: GPUs and related software for accelerated computing, cloud platform and application services, Machine Learning (ML) and AI modeling toolkits and other Software Development Kits (SDKs).
Innovators around the world are invited to submit ideas for AI technologies with the potential to enhance surgical care and improve patient outcomes across the following categories:
- Submissions should have a path to commercialization.
- Surgical decision support: Perioperative AI that augments delivery of care throughout the procedure, reduces cognitive load and has the potential to serve as a surgeon co-pilot.
- Data management & governance processes: Efforts pursuing breakthroughs in data infrastructure, privacy & consent management, labeling frameworks, and regulatory research.
- Surgical efficiency: AI that boosts coordination across care teams, amplifies care team proficiency and improves patient management all towards enabling seamless delivery of perioperative care.
- Specific surgical areas of interest include: Soft tissue surgery including but not limited to colorectal, bariatric, thoracic, urology, gynecology and general surgery.
Potential solutions will be evaluated by a panel of reviewers based on the following criteria:
- Clinical relevance and impact
- Patient safety and ethical considerations
- Feasibility and implementation
- Innovation and scalability
- Team expertise and collaboration
- Additional considerations related to regulatory compliance, cost effectiveness and patient-centered design
Application Instructions
Please submit as one combined pdf labeled with PI’s Lastname, Firstname:
- A one‐page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach.
- If the final application requires a statement of broader impacts, please summarize your plans to address the specific requirements on an additional page.
- CV (not biosketch) of the PI including past grant funding.
to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Proposals are due to the sponsor 8/22/2025 so you will need to have your materials in to the Office of Sponsored Programs by 8/13/2025 if given the go‐ahead by the Limited Submissions review committee.
Inquiries and Contact Information
Investigators who identify a grant, award or fellowship program that restricts the number of applications that can be submitted from an Institution should immediately contact their Chairperson, Associate Dean for Research (or Dean, if no ADR) and the Office of Research (see below) if they intend to prepare a response. Failure to do so, or to meet the deadlines for submission of pre-proposal, will preclude submission of the application through the Office of Sponsored Programs.
For general inquiries, or to request a listing of a limited submission opportunity that should be but is not already listed, please email us at limitedsubs@uw.edu.