Advancing Technologies for Spatiotemporal Omics in Live Tissue

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invite applications for two-year initial research projects that merge cutting-edge engineering with deep biological inquiry to illuminate the dynamic molecular landscape of health and disease, unlocking new frontiers in high-precision interventions. This RFA represents a strategic investment in transformative research with the potential to drive breakthroughs that significantly advance our health.

Objectives of the RFA

This RFA invites applications proposing to:
● Develop novel, minimally invasive technologies for real-time spatial profiling of proteomic and metabolomic landscapes in live tissues, including in vivo and complex immune-competent ex vivo systems.
● Engineer and validate “instrumented tissue” systems enabling dynamic proteomic and metabolomic sensing in live tissues for continuous molecular interrogation and mapping the immune dynamics in health and immune-mediated disorders.
● Advance integrated sampling and detection platforms capable of capturing dynamic molecular changes with high spatial and temporal resolution in intact, living biological systems. Ideally, platforms will enable spatial resolution of at least 10-100 microns and temporal resolution of 5-10 minutes for metabolomics and < 1 hour for proteomics.
● Enable serial and longitudinal analysis of tissue microenvironments to monitor immunological processes, including immune activation, progression, suppression, and physiological adaptation over time.
● Establish standardized performance metrics for evaluating spatial, temporal, and molecular resolution, sensitivity, biocompatibility, and longitudinal stability of new technologies.
● Incorporate advanced computational and data modeling approaches to support real-time data integration, spatial mapping, and systems-level interpretation of multi-omics data.
● Demonstrate utility in a relevant biological model(s) (e.g., organoids, human explants, immune competent animal models), with a focus on immunology and autoimmune diseases.
● Foster interdisciplinary collaboration among engineers, biologists, chemists, and computational scientists to drive innovative platform development.
● Promote scalability, robustness, and reproducibility, enabling broad adoption of the technologies across diverse biological systems and research settings.
● Support dissemination and sharing of tools and raw data, including open source hardware/software, protocols, metadata standards, and reference datasets, to maximize impact and accessibility across the biomedical research community.

Eligibility Requirements

● Applications may be submitted by domestic and foreign nonprofit organizations, including public and private institutions, such as colleges, universities, hospitals, laboratories, units of state and local government, and eligible agencies of the federal government. For-profit organizations are not eligible to receive funding, but may be involved in projects as collaborators. All grants will be awarded to institutions, not individuals.
● An organization may submit more than one application.
● Each application should designate one Principal Investigator (PI) as the Coordinating Principal Investigator (Coordinating PI). The Coordinating PI will act as the administrative contact between us and all other PIs on the grant (Co-PIs). The Coordinating PI must submit the application on behalf of all PIs. The Coordinating PI must be affiliated with the institution submitting the application, and grant funds will be awarded to that institution, which will take responsibility for distributing funds to any other institution. Note that institutions outside the U.S. may not subcontract to U.S. institutions, so please be mindful when selecting the Coordinating PI/institution.
● Teams may include a total of three PIs. Each application must have one Coordinating PI, but may designate up to three total PIs (one Coordinating PI and up to two Co-PIs).
● Principal Investigators may only apply to join and serve as Coordinating PI or Co-PI on one application. Participation in multiple projects as an unfunded collaborator is allowed and encouraged.
● PIs/Co-PIs on one application may be employed at the same or different institutions.
● PIs and Co-PIs must each be permitted to receive grant support from the organization they are applying with. This criterion may be defined differently in different types of organizations. Examples of eligible positions are:
○ Tenure track faculty;
○ Non-tenure track faculty or staff scientists who lead a lab or are engaged in academic activities and are permitted to apply for grants by their institution;
○ Researchers with expertise in the relevant areas who are affiliated with or supported by an institution and permitted to apply for grants; and
○ Co-PIs from for-profit companies are permitted as long as no funds are requested to support them or their work.
● Early-career investigators are strongly encouraged to apply as Coordinating PIs and Co-PIs.

Application Instructions

We use SurveyMonkey Apply as our grants management portal. All applications must be submitted through this portal (https://apply.chanzuckerberg.com). SMApply is configured to work best using the Google Chrome browser. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with this portal well in advance of any deadlines. Deadline extensions will not be granted.

To complete and submit an application:
1. Go to https://apply.chanzuckerberg.com.
2. Register and/or log in.
3. Click on the Programs link in the upper right corner.
4. Find the Advancing Technologies for Spatiotemporal Omics in Live Tissue RFA and click More.
5. Click the green Apply button in the upper right corner.
6. Enter the title of your application. The project title is limited to 60 characters, including spaces.
7. Complete the sections described below and submit by no later than 2 p.m. Pacific Time / 5 p.m. Eastern Time on November 13, 2025.

The application consists of the following sections (called tasks in the grants portal): Coordinating PI Details, Organization Details for Coordinating PI, Project Details, Project Proposal, Budget, Biosketches for Coordinating PI and Co-PIs, and Letters of Commitment (optional).