Description

Challenge Summary

The NOURISH (Nutrition for OUR Immune System Health): Autoimmunity Digital Health Challenge is a crowdsourcing competition to develop an application to facilitate people living with and at risk of autoimmune diseases being able to monitor the impact of their own diets and nutritional changes on their health. This builds upon many of the ideas generated through the first NOURISH Autoimmunity Challenge.

The NOURISH Autoimmunity Digital Health Challenge is a three-phase challenge focused on the development, design and implementation of digital health applications that can provide people living with or at risk for autoimmune diseases with hands-on tools to monitor the impact of their diet and nutrition on their health. With up to $650,000 in total prizes, the NIH is seeking submissions that will provide people living with autoimmune diseases an opportunity to monitor the interplay between diet and symptoms.

Background of the Challenge

Autoimmune diseases affect more than 8% of the United States (U.S.) population, and the prevalence of chronic autoimmunity is rising faster than can be explained by genetics alone.¹ Between 23.5 and 50.0 million Americans are estimated to be living with autoimmune diseases, making autoimmune diseases one of the most common chronic disease entities in the U.S.

The more than 140 different autoimmune diseases affect both adults and children and are recognized as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in women and young people in the U.S.^{2, 3} Men with autoimmune diseases also demonstrate more severe disease course and higher risk of mortality.⁴ The economic impact of autoimmune diseases in the U.S. is also substantial, with estimated costs at over $100 billion per year, even without accounting for associated costs, such as lost productivity, and impact on dependents and society.⁵

Autoimmune diseases can affect almost every organ in the body and can occur at any point across the lifespan. Despite their high prevalence and morbidity, many autoimmune diseases are understudied, and treatment options are limited. 

Findings of the 2022 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report titled Enhancing NIH Research on Autoimmune Disease identified several opportunities to facilitate autoimmune disease research, and to accelerate progress in this area.⁶ In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328) the U.S. Congress directed NIH to establish the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research in the Office of Research on Women’s Health (OADR-ORWH) to accelerate progress in this area. A key initiative of the office, the inaugural NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Autoimmune Disease Research launched on July 21, 2025. 

Challenge Topic Input

In August 2024, responding to language in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill of 2024, NIH convened a NIH-wide workshop on how food and diet shape mucosal immunity in celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other digestive and autoimmune disorders. Cosponsored by the Office of Nutrition Research (ONR), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute on Aging (NIA), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), and NIH Office of Autoimmune Disease Research (OADR-ORWH), the workshop brought together NIH staff, researchers, clinicians, patients, and key interested parties to identify knowledge gaps. The need for collaborative, methodologically rigorous, clinically oriented research on diet and nutrition in autoimmune disease, with greater emphasis on outcomes that matter to patients, was a key opportunity highlighted by the attendees.

In September 2025, OADR-ORWH launched the NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge as an ideation challenge focused on crowdsourcing the autoimmune community to generate a cadre of innovative ideas on how to best integrate diet and nutrition studies into autoimmune disease research with a focus on identifying dietary interventions that are feasible, testable, scalable, and would have broad impact across the broad autoimmune disease portfolio. This challenge yielded many novel ideas, and the winning proposals identified four overarching themes (Table 1).

Table 1: Four overarching themes that were included in the winning proposals to the first NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge.

THEME 1	Effectiveness of Dietary Interventions in Autoimmune Disease	Including submissions suggesting interventional studies testing specific dietary patterns or therapeutic diets
THEME 2	Microbiome, Immune, and Multi-Omics Mechanisms	Submissions focused on mechanistic and biomarker-driven approaches linking diet, the gut microbiome, and immune activity
THEME 3	Personalized, Data-Driven, and Predictive Nutrition	Concepts and submissions that propose the use of innovative data-driven methods for personalization, diet optimization, and real-world, real-time data capture and modeling to improve lived experience for people living with autoimmune diseases
THEME 4	Community Voice, Landscape Assessment, and Patient-Centered Frameworks	Submissions proposing patient centered frameworks that bring lived experience to the forefront of the research paradigm

Participants in the NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge identified, among several opportunities, a shared unmet need for tools and digital health applications that help people living with or at risk for autoimmune diseases track their nutrition and diet alongside symptoms, while also monitoring other aspects of their health through technologies such as:

• Mobile health apps for tracking symptoms, medications, flares, diet, sleep, and physical activity
• Wearable devices such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, and biosensors that monitor activity, heart rate, sleep, temperature, and other physiological signals
• Continuous monitoring tools such as continuous glucose monitors or other sensor-based technologies that capture real-time health data
• Remote patient monitoring platforms that allow individuals to share health data with clinicians between visits
• Digital symptom diaries and ePRO tools for recording patient-reported outcomes, symptom patterns, and quality of life
• AI-enabled decision support tools that help identify dietary patterns, dietary content of foods, and generate personalized insights based on symptoms, diet, and activity

Accordingly, the NOURISH Autoimmunity Digital Health Challenge was developed to enable the problem solver community to crowdsource the design, development, and implementation of digital health applications that provide people living with or at risk for autoimmune diseases with practical tools to monitor how diet and nutrition affects their immune system health.

Target Audience and Solver Community

The NOURISH: Autoimmunity Digital Health Challenge is open to eligible individuals, teams, and entities and is designed to incentivize a crowdsourced team approach to development of digital health tools to bridge the gaps identified in the first NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge. The target audience and solver community for this challenge will include people living with and at risk of autoimmune disease, autoimmune advocacy groups, caregivers, dieticians, nutritionists, lifestyle medicine experts, physicians, scientists, software developers and engineers. The overarching goal of this three-phase application challenge is to use the wisdom and power of the autoimmune disease community to develop proposals and prototypes for digital health tools to help people living with and at risk of autoimmune disease to monitor their diet and nutrition alongside their symptoms.

Successful submissions will include engagement and collaboration among people living with autoimmune disease, and involve a partnership with patient advocacy groups, caregivers, and/or scientists, driven by a common mission to better understand how dietary factors and nutrition impact autoimmune disease development, progression and recurrence. This initiative is aligned with the mission of OADR and with the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Autoimmune Disease Research FY2026-2030 to coordinate and advance efforts to support rigorous, high-priority, innovative and collaborative autoimmune disease research.

Partners:

This challenge is being led by the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research, Office of Research on Women’s Health within the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives of the NIH Office of the Director, in partnership with the Coordinating Committee for Autoimmune Disease Research, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the Office of Nutrition Research and the Office of Dietary Supplements.

Dates:

Challenge Launch

• September 1, 2026

Phase 1: Prototype Development

• Submission Period: October 1, 2026 - January 8, 2027
• Judging Period: January 14 - February 12, 2027
• Winners Announced: March 2027

Phase 2: Optimization and Testing

• Submission Period: July 2027-December 2027
• Judging Period: January-February 2028
• Winners Announced: March 2028

Phase 3: Live Demonstration and Final Evaluation

• Submission Period: April 2028-August 2028
• Live Demonstration: September 2028
• Final Winners Announced: September 2028

Statutory Authority to Conduct the Challenge:

The NIH Office of Autoimmune Disease Research is conducting this Challenge under the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Reauthorization Act of 2010, as amended [15 U.S.C. § 3719]. The mission of the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research is to support high priority autoimmune disease research, identify emerging areas of innovation and foster collaboration across NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices. This Challenge will advance this mission by fostering collaborative research, and engaging people living with autoimmune diseases, patient advocacy groups, and caregivers in research.

Prizes

Amount of the Prize:

The total prize purse for this Challenge is up to $650,000. It is anticipated that up to 10 prizes of $20,000 each will be awarded at the discretion of the judging panel in Phase 1. Highly meritorious submissions from Phase 1 are permitted to participate in Phase 2. In Phase 2 up to 5 prizes of $30,000 will be awarded. Highly meritorious submissions from Phase 2 will be permitted to participate in Phase 3. In Phase 3 up to 3 awards of $100,000 will be awarded. 

Award Approving Official:

The Award Approving Official will be the Director of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives within the NIH Office of the Director, or as otherwise delegated.

Payment of the Prize:

Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by electronic funds transfer and may be subject to federal income taxes. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)/NIH will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable.

Entities participating in this Challenge are encouraged, but not required, to request and obtain a free Unique Entity ID (UEI), if they have not already done so, via SAM.gov as this will expedite prize payment. Additional information can be found at https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration. NIH reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (a) cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge, or any part of it, for any reason, and/or (b) not award any prizes if no submissions are deemed worthy.

Rules

Eligibility Rules:

To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, a Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity):

1. Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the NIH as published in this announcement.
2. Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement.
3. Each Participant under 18 years of age (and not an emancipated youth) at the time of submission MUST complete and include the signed parent or legal guardian consent form to participate.
4. In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the U.S., and in the case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.
5. Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.
6. Shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity. Individuals employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS) should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge.
7. Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, stepparent, child, or stepchild).

Participation Rules:

1. Participants (whether individuals, groups of individuals, or entities) may not use federal funds from a grant award or cooperative agreement to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
2. Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
3. Each individual may participate in only one submission, whether as an individual, team member, or on behalf of an entity.
4. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) agrees to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the federal government and its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.
5. Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility, or agree to indemnify the federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities in order to participate in this Challenge.
6. A Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
7. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) warrants that they are sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original with the Participant (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and improve), and that the submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware.
8. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the submission on the web or elsewhere. Participation in the Challenge constitutes the Participant’s consent to NIH and authorized employees, contractors and authorized representatives’ use of the winner’s name, likeness, photograph, voice, and submission details for promotional purposes in connection with the NOURISH: Autoimmunity Digital Health Challenge, in any media, without further payment or consideration. Participants who wish to opt-out of promotional activities will need to request this in writing by contacting [email protected]. Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein.
9. Each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.
10. Each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.
11. Each Participant under 18 years of age (and not an emancipated youth) at the time of submission MUST complete and include the signed parent or legal guardian consent form to participate and accept a cash prize on their behalf if awarded prize funds.
12. For Participants under 18 years of age who are emancipated youth, the requirement for parent or legal guardian consent is waived. Emancipated youth MUST self-certify their status as an emancipated youth with their submission using the Emancipated Youth Self Certification form. If a Participant who is an emancipated youth is selected as a winner, they will need to provide documentation of their status prior to award.
13. As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to NIH within 20 business days of formal notification. Failure to return all required verification documents by the date specified in the notification may be a basis for disqualification of a cash prize winning submission.
14. The use of AI tools in development of submission for the NOURISH: Autoimmunity Digital Health Challenge is permitted, provided that all AI usage is fully disclosed in the submission materials. Participants should demonstrate their individual contributions to the development and testing of the application and are advised to pay careful attention to the judging criteria to ensure development involves engagement with community members with lived experience. Source code may be requested for validation and evaluation purposes but will not be publicly released.

Judging Criteria

Basis Upon Which a Winner Will be Selected.

It is essential that all proposals address key considerations related to privacy and data security, accessibility, interoperability, and long-term sustainability. While tools that operate on either iOS or Android platforms are eligible for submission to phase 1, there is an expectation that proposals that advance to phase 2 will be capable of operating on both iOS and Android platforms.

Submitted proposals will be evaluated by a panel of federal employees serving as competition judges and final decision is subject to the Award Approving Official. Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria, with each criterion weighed equally:

Phase 1: Prototype Development

1. Understanding of the Problem, Scientific Rationale, and Scope of the Solution:
   To what extent does the proposed digital health prototype enable individuals living with or at risk for autoimmune disease to track and monitor dietary or nutritional interventions alongside both disease-specific and general symptoms? Does the prototype clearly and adequately describe which autoimmune disease outcomes and/or rigorous immune system measures will be tracked, and provide a strong rationale for their inclusion? Does the prototype incorporate validated, evidence-based metrics—such as standardized disease activity indices and biomarkers—and are these measures supported by prior research?
2. Engagement: How effectively has the submission incorporated interdisciplinary perspectives and expertise into the design and development of the application? To what extent does the proposal demonstrate meaningful engagement with people living with autoimmune disease, patient advocacy organizations, scientists, clinicians, dieticians, caregivers, and other relevant constituents? Is there evidence that end-user needs, preferences, and lived experience have informed the prototype’s design, usability, and intended application?
3. Potential Impact: What is the potential of the proposed prototype to improve health monitoring, self-management, research participation, or quality of life for people living with autoimmune disease? Is the proposed solution well designed, practical, and supported by a clear and credible strategy for implementation? Has beta testing, pilot testing, or other user testing been conducted with relevant end users, and if so, how were those findings used to refine and strengthen the prototype? Does the proposal demonstrate a realistic path toward meaningful real-world use and sustained impact?
4. Feasibility: How feasible is the proposed prototype for continued development, implementation, and broader dissemination across autoimmune disease research and care populations? Does the proposal demonstrate a realistic and achievable plan for advancing the prototype beyond its current stage, including technical development, integration into research or care workflows, user adoption, and ongoing maintenance? Is the approach adaptable and scalable across diverse autoimmune conditions, patient populations, and research and other care settings? Does the proposal address key considerations related to interoperability, privacy and data security, accessibility, and long-term sustainability?
5. Innovation: How novel, creative, and forward-looking is the proposed idea relative to existing digital health tools and approaches? Does the prototype introduce new or meaningfully improved ways to study, track, or understand the relationship between diet, nutrition, and autoimmune disease outcomes? How well does the proposed approach advance the field by generating actionable insights, improving the collection and interpretation of dietary and symptom-related data, or supporting more personalized monitoring and self-management? Does the prototype have the potential for broad applicability across people living with or at risk for a range of autoimmune diseases, and could it meaningfully inform future research, clinical practice, or patient-centered care?

Phase 2: Optimization and Testing

Highly meritorious submissions from Phase 1 will be invited to further develop and refine their digital health tool, with a focus on tool optimization and beta-testing. During this phase, participants will be expected to conduct and document user testing, including feedback from intended end users and any iterative improvements made accordingly.

Submissions to Phase 2 will likely be evaluated using the following criteria, however final evaluation criteria will be provided to submitters at the beginning of Phase 2:

1. Beta Testing and Tool Functionality: Based on beta-testing, how well do the submitters adapt the digital health tool to enable individuals living with or at risk of autoimmune disease to track and monitor dietary or nutritional interventions alongside disease-specific and general symptoms?
   
   Judges will consider:
   • How submitters have refined the tool’s core functions in response to end user input
   • Whether the tool is cross-platform compatible
   • Whether the tool allows users to track diet, nutrition, symptoms, flares, and other relevant health information in an easy, accurate, and integrated way
   • Whether the application includes autoimmune disease outcomes and/or rigorous immune system outcome measures
   • Whether tracked outcomes are evidence-based, and clearly explained for end users
   • The overall functionality, usability, responsiveness, and intuitiveness of the application
      
2.  Engagement and User-Centered Design: How effectively has the participant incorporated interdisciplinary experience and expertise into the testing, usability assessment, and refinement of the proposed application?
   
   Judges will consider:
   • The extent to which people living with autoimmune disease, advocacy organizations, scientists, clinicians, caregivers, and other relevant constituency groups were involved in beta-testing and refinement of the tool
   • Whether end users contributed meaningfully to testing the application’s usability and functionality
   • How clearly the Participant describes the beta-testing and input received from key parties, and how this information was incorporated into design or refinement of the digital health tool
   • The degree to which the tool reflects user-centered design principles and addresses real patient needs and experiences
      
3.  Potential Impact: What is the potential of the proposed application to improve the lives of people living with autoimmune disease?
   
   Judges will consider:
   • The likely value of the tool for improving self-management, awareness of symptom patterns, and disease activity
   • Whether the application could help users understand the relationship between diet, nutrition, and autoimmune disease outcomes
   • Whether the proposed strategy is sound, practical, and appropriate for the intended users
   • Whether the application is functional, easy to use, and likely to support ongoing engagement
   • The potential for the application to facilitate research participation, data collection, or patient-centered care
   • The clarity and credibility of the participant’s vision for real-world use and impact
      
4. Feasibility and Scalability: Can the proposed tool be realistically implemented in research settings and potentially scaled to other autoimmune disease populations?
   
   Judges should consider:
   • Whether the tool or application is technically feasible and sufficiently developed to support future implementation
   • The practicality of using the application within research programs focused on autoimmune disease, diet, and nutrition
   • Whether the approach could be adapted for broader autoimmune disease populations or multiple autoimmune conditions
   • Whether the application adequately addresses privacy, and security in data collection and can build trust with the autoimmune disease community
   • Whether the application demonstrates strong accessibility, ease of maintenance, and if necessary, seamless integration with other digital tools
   • The strength of the participant’s plan for further development, deployment, and scaling
   • Whether there are clear next steps for validation, adoption, or integration into research workflows
5. Innovation: How novel and innovative is the proposed tool, and how well could it advance the study of diet and nutrition in autoimmune disease?
   
   Judges will consider:
   • The originality of the concept relative to existing digital health tools
   • Whether the application introduces a new or meaningfully improved way to track diet, nutrition, symptoms, and autoimmune disease outcomes
   • The extent to which the proposed idea could advance research on diet and nutrition in autoimmune diseases
   • Whether the application has broad relevance for people living with or at risk for a range of autoimmune diseases
   • The potential for the tool or application to generate new insights, improve data capture, or support more personalized monitoring and self-management
   • Whether the innovation is both scientifically meaningful and practically useful

Phase 3: Live Demonstration and Final Evaluation

Highly meritorious submissions from Phase 2 will be invited to further develop and refine their digital health tool, with a focus on improving functionality, usability, and real-world applicability such that the tool is ready for detailed demonstration. During this phase, participants will be expected to harness information gleaned from the beta-testing and make appropriate iterative improvements. Final judging will include a live presentation and demonstration of the tool to the judging panel, along with a summary of user testing results, highlighting key features, evidence of usability, effectiveness, and potential for broader implementation. This presentation event will take place in August-September 2028, on or near the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. Submitters will be encouraged to participate in person, however accommodation will be made for virtual (i.e., remote) participation if necessary. Submitters will be responsible for their own travel and lodging. NIH will not provide coverage or reimbursement of any expenditure or associated costs. Further details on the logistics, timing, location, and format of the presentations will be provided at the launch of Phase 3 in March 2028.

In person demonstrations will be evaluated by a panel of judges with scientific, technical, clinical, regulatory and other relevant expertise from the NIH and other organizations. Presentations will likely be evaluated using the following criteria, however final evaluation criteria will be provided to submitters at the beginning of Phase 3:

1. Application Demonstration and Functionality: How well does the demonstrated digital health tool enable individuals living with or at risk of autoimmune disease to track and monitor dietary or nutritional interventions alongside disease-specific and general symptoms?
   
   Judges will consider:
   • How clearly and effectively the participant demonstrates the tool’s core functions
   • Whether the tool is cross-platform compatible
   • Whether the tool allows users to track diet, nutrition, symptoms, flares, and other relevant health information in an easy, accurate, and integrated way
   • Whether the tool or application includes autoimmune disease outcomes and/or rigorous immune system outcome measures
   • Whether tracked outcomes are appropriate, evidence-based, and clearly explained
   • The overall functionality, usability, responsiveness, and intuitiveness of the application during the live demonstration
   • Whether the tool or application appears ready for real-world use in a research or self-monitoring context
      
2. Engagement and User-Centered Design: How effectively has the participant incorporated interdisciplinary experience and expertise into the testing, usability assessment, and refinement of the proposed application?
   
   Judges will consider:
   • The extent to which people living with autoimmune disease, advocacy organizations, scientists, clinicians, caregivers, and other relevant constituency groups were involved in development, testing and refinement of the tool
   • Whether end users contributed meaningfully to testing the application’s usability and functionality
   • How clearly the participant describes the input received from key parties, and how this information was incorporated into design or refinement of the digital health tool
   • The degree to which the tool reflects user-centered design principles and addresses real patient needs and experiences
3. Potential Impact: What is the potential of the proposed tool or application to improve the lives of people living with autoimmune disease?
   
   Judges will consider:
   • The likely value of the tool for improving health monitoring, self-management, awareness of symptom patterns, or quality of life
   • Whether the application could help users understand the relationship between diet, nutrition, and autoimmune disease outcomes
   • Whether the proposed strategy is sound, practical, and appropriate for the intended users
   • Whether the application is functional, easy to use, and likely to support ongoing engagement
   • The potential for the application to contribute to research participation, data collection, or patient-centered care
   • The clarity and credibility of the Participant’s vision for real-world use and impact
     ​​​​​​​
4. Feasibility and Scalability: Can the proposed application or digital health tool be realistically implemented in research settings and potentially scaled to broader autoimmune disease populations?
   
   ​​​​​​​Judges should consider:
   • Whether the application or digital health tool is technically feasible and sufficiently developed to support future implementation
   • The practicality of using the application or digital health tool within research programs focused on autoimmune disease, diet, and nutrition
   • Whether the approach could be adapted for broader autoimmune disease populations or multiple autoimmune conditions
   • Whether the application adequately addresses privacy, and security in data collection and can build trust with the autoimmune disease community
   • Whether the application demonstrates strong accessibility, ease of maintenance, and if necessary, seamless integration with other digital tools
   • The strength of the Participant’s plan for further development, deployment, and scaling
   • Whether there are clear next steps for validation, adoption, or integration into research workflows
     ​​​​​​​
5. Innovation: How novel and innovative is the proposed application or digital health tool, and how well could it advance the study of diet and nutrition in autoimmune disease?
   
   ​​​​​​​Judges will consider:
   • The originality of the concept relative to existing digital health tools
   • Whether the application or digital health tool introduces a new or meaningfully improved way to track diet, nutrition, symptoms, and autoimmune disease outcomes
   • The extent to which the proposed tool or application could advance research on diet and nutrition in autoimmune diseases
   • Whether the application has broad relevance for people living with or at risk for a range of autoimmune diseases
   • The potential for the application or digital health tool to generate new insights, improve data capture, or support more personalized monitoring and self-management
   • Whether the innovation is both scientifically meaningful and practically useful

How to Enter

Registration and Submission Process:

The NOURISH: Autoimmunity Digital Health Challenge is open to eligible individuals, teams, or entities and is designed to incentivize a crowdsourced team approach to a complex and understudied problem in autoimmune disease. The target audience and solver community for this challenge will include people living with autoimmune disease, autoimmune advocacy groups, caregivers, dieticians, nutritionists, lifestyle medicine experts, physicians, scientists, software developers and engineers. Please see the Eligibility Rules for further information. 

Registration

Participants must register for the challenge through link on nourishchallenge.org

Submission Requirements Phase 1:  

The submission package for Phase 1 includes the registration form and submission narrative and video demonstration of the phase 1 prototype, and all three components are required to successfully complete the phase 1 submission process. The completed submission package must be submitted via nourishchallenge.org by December 11, 2026. Narratives must be no longer than 6 pages long, with one-inch margins. Font size must be no smaller than 11-point Calibri. All submissions must be in English. Participants must not use the HHS logo or official seal or logo of the NIH or OADR in the submission and must not claim federal government endorsement. Participants should ensure that both the written proposal and the video demonstration are clear, concise, and well organized; address all five review areas; present a prototype that is grounded in scientific rationale and responsive to user needs; and demonstrate the relevance of the proposed solution to people living with or at risk for autoimmune disease.

Phase 1: Narrative Proposal

The narrative proposal should describe the prototype, its scientific rationale, intended users, and potential impact. Participants are advised to organize the narrative to address the following five areas:

1. Understanding of the Problem, Scientific Rationale, and Scope of the Solution: Describe the unmet need your prototype is intended to address and explain how it will support people living with or at risk for autoimmune disease.
   
   Please include:
   • A clear description of the problem or gap the prototype is designed to address
   • How the prototype enables users to track and monitor dietary or nutritional interventions alongside both disease-specific and general symptoms
   • Which autoimmune disease outcomes and/or immune system measures will be tracked
   • The scientific rationale for selecting these outcomes or measures
   • Whether the prototype incorporates validated, evidence-based metrics, such as standardized disease activity indices, biomarkers, or other established measures
   • A summary of the prior research or evidence supporting the measures included in the prototype
      
2. Engagement: Describe how interdisciplinary expertise and end-user perspectives informed the design and development of the prototype.
   
   ​​​​​​​Please include:
   • The roles of team members and their relevant expertise, if applicable
   • How people living with autoimmune disease, patient advocacy organizations, scientists, clinicians, caregivers, and/or other relevant constituents were engaged
   • How end-user needs, preferences, and lived experience informed the prototype’s design, usability, and intended application
   • Any co-design, advisory input, interviews, focus groups, or testing activities conducted during development​​​​​​​
      
3. Potential Impact: Describe the anticipated impact of the prototype on people living with autoimmune disease and the broader autoimmune disease community.
   
   ​​​​​​​Please include:
   • How the prototype could improve health monitoring, self-management, research participation, and/or quality of life
   • Why the proposed solution is practical and meaningful for intended users
   • The strategy for implementation and real-world use
   • Whether beta testing, pilot testing, or other user testing has been conducted
   • If testing has occurred, what was learned and how those findings were used to refine the prototype
   • The potential for the prototype to achieve sustained use and meaningful benefit over time
     ​​​​​​​
4. Feasibility: Describe the readiness of the prototype for continued development and broader use in autoimmune disease research and care settings.
   
   Please include:
   • The current stage of development
   • A realistic plan for advancing the prototype beyond its current form
   • Plans for further technical development, validation, deployment, and maintenance
   • How the prototype could be integrated into research studies, care workflows, or patient self-management
   • Whether the approach is adaptable across multiple autoimmune diseases, patient populations, and settings
   • Considerations related to interoperability, privacy and data security, accessibility and usability, and long-term sustainability and scalability
     ​​​​​​​
5. Innovation: Describe what is new, distinctive, or meaningfully improved about the prototype.
   
   ​​​​​​​Please include:
   • How the prototype differs from existing digital health tools or approaches
   • What makes the concept novel, creative, or forward-looking
   • How the prototype advances the study of diet, nutrition, and autoimmune disease
   • Whether it generates actionable insights, improves data collection or interpretation, or supports more personalized monitoring and self-management
   • Its potential applicability across a broad range of autoimmune diseases and populations
   • Its potential relevance for future research, clinical practice, or patient-centered care

Phase 1: Video Demonstration

Participants must also submit a 3–5-minute video demonstration of the prototype. The video should visually and clearly demonstrate the proposed digital health tool and should complement the written narrative. The video should address the same core areas outlined above, with a particular focus on how the prototype functions in practice. The video does not need to be highly produced, but it should be clear, legible, and easy for reviewers to follow.

The video should include:

• Name of the Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) and the title or name of the proposed digital health application.
• A brief overview of the problem being addressed
• A demonstration of the prototype’s key features and user workflow
• Examples of how users would track:
  • diet or nutrition
  • disease-specific symptoms
  • general symptoms or health measures
  • autoimmune disease outcomes and/or immune-related measures, if applicable
• A description of the intended users and use case(s)
• A concise explanation of what makes the prototype impactful, feasible, and innovative

How to Upload your Phase 1 Submission Package

To access the submission portal, navigate to the Submission tab of the www.nourishchallenge.org website. You will be asked to create an account and log in. You will then be able to provide all parts of your submission package. Follow the directions below to enter your submission package: 

• Title field: Enter the Title for your submission. 
• Brief Description field: Enter a brief description of your idea
• To complete submission package and submit:
  • ​​​​​​​ Step 1: Check the box for Acknowledgement of Rules, Terms & Conditions to confirm you have read all content on the Rules tab for this Challenge.
  • Step 2: Click the Review and Submit button at the bottom of the page.
  • Step 3: Upload the full submission package following the prompts on the website (including a PDF copy of the completed registration form, a PDF copy of the narrative proposal, and the video demonstration.)
  • Step 4: After confirming that your submission package is complete, use the Submit button to submit the proposal.

Submission Requirements Phase 2: Optimization and Testing

Only highly meritorious submissions from phase 1 will be eligible to enter phase 2 of this competition. They will be invited to further develop their digital tool, document beta testing and incorporate iterative feedback. Submission to Phase 2 will likely end in December 2027 with judging completed by Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month in March 2028. Specific timing, requirements and evaluation criteria for Phase 2 of this challenge will be announced at the initiation of phase 2 and will be guided by the portfolio of digital health tools that were awarded prizes in Phase 1. The submission package for Phase 2 will include the phase 2 registration form, phase 2 submission narrative, and phase 2 video demonstration. Submitters should complete beta-testing of their digital health tool during Phase 2 and can anticipate that their submission will be assessed on the following criteria:

Phase 2: Narrative Proposal

The narrative proposal for Phase 2 should describe the beta testing and iterative development of the digital health tool. Participants are advised to organize the narrative to address the following five areas as outlined in the judging criteria above:

1. Beta Testing and Functionality: What beta testing has been completed for the tool, and how did submitters adapt the digital health tool to enable individuals living with or at risk of autoimmune disease to track and monitor dietary or nutritional interventions alongside disease-specific and general symptoms? Are tracked outcomes appropriate, evidence-based, and clearly explained?
2. Engagement and User-Centered Design: What interdisciplinary experience and expertise has been incorporated during testing and refinement of the proposed application? Does the tool reflect user-centered design principles and address real patient needs and experiences?
3. Potential Impact: How could the tool help users understand the relationship between diet, nutrition, and autoimmune disease outcomes? Is the proposed strategy sound, practical, and appropriate for the intended users? Is the application functional, easy to use, and likely to support ongoing engagement? Does the application have potential to contribute to research participation, data collection, or patient-centered care?
4. Feasibility and Scalability: Can the proposed tool be realistically implemented and scaled to broader autoimmune disease research populations? Are there plans for further development, deployment, and scaling? What are the next steps for validation, adoption, or integration into research workflows?
5. Innovation: How novel and innovative is the proposed application, and how well could it advance the study of diet and nutrition in autoimmune disease? Does the tool generate new insights, improve data capture, or support more personalized monitoring and self-management? Is the tool both scientifically meaningful and practically useful?

Phase 2: Video Demonstration

Participants must also submit a new 3–5-minute video demonstration of the refined prototype. The video should visually and clearly demonstrate the proposed refined digital health tool and should complement the written narrative. The video should address the same core areas outlined above, with a particular focus on how the submitters iterated on the prototype design in response to user input. The video does not need to be highly produced, but it should be clear, legible, and easy for reviewers to follow.

The video should include:

• Name of the Participant (whether an individual, team, or entity) and the title or name of the proposed digital health application.
• A brief overview of the problem being addressed
• A demonstration of the prototype’s key features and user workflow
• Beta-testing insights that informed the prototype and how it was adapted
• A concise explanation of what makes the new design impactful, feasible, and innovative

How to Upload your Phase 2 Submission Package

To access the submission portal, navigate to the Submission tab of the nourishchallenge.org website. Using your prior login, you be able to provide all parts of your submission package. Follow the directions below to enter your submission package: 

• To complete Phase 2 submission package and submit:
  • ​​​​​​​ Step 1: Check the box for Acknowledgement of Rules, Terms & Conditions to confirm you have read all content on the Rules tab for this Challenge.
  • Step 2: Click the Review and Submit button at the bottom of the page.
  • Step 3: Upload the Phase 2 submission package following the prompts on the website (including a PDF copy of the completed Phase 2 registration form, a PDF copy of the narrative proposal, and the video demonstration.)
  • Step 4: After confirming that your submission package is complete, use the Submit button to submit the proposal.

Submission Requirements Phase 3: Live Demonstration and Final Evaluation

Only highly meritorious submissions from phase 2 will be eligible to enter phase 3 of this competition. They will be invited to further develop and test their digital health tool with a focus on improving functionality, usability, and real-world applicability such that the tool is ready for detailed demonstration. During this phase, participants will be expected to harness information gleaned from the beta-testing and make appropriate iterative improvements. and deliver a live (in-person or virtual) presentation and demonstration of their digital health tool in August-September 2028. More detailed timing, requirements and evaluation criteria for Phase 3 of this challenge will be announced at the initiation of phase 3 and will be guided by the portfolio of digital health tools that were awarded prizes in Phase 2. The submission package for Phase 3 will include the phase 3 registration form which will be submitted in August 2028 and the live demonstration which will be scheduled in September 2028.

The presentation event will take place in September 2028, on or near the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. Submitters will be encouraged to participate in person, however accommodation will be made for virtual (i.e., remote) participation if necessary. Submitters will be responsible for their own travel and lodging. NIH will not provide coverage or reimbursement of any expenditure or associated costs. Further details on the logistics, timing, location, and format of the presentations will be provided at the launch of Phase 3 in March 2028.

Live demonstrations will be evaluated by a panel of judges with scientific, technical, clinical, regulatory and other relevant expertise from the NIH and other organizations. Submitters can anticipate that they will be assessed on the following criteria as outlined in the judging criteria above:

1. Application Demonstration and Functionality: In a demonstration setting, does the digital health tool enable individuals living with or at risk of autoimmune disease to track and monitor dietary or nutritional interventions alongside disease-specific and general symptoms? Are tracked outcomes appropriate, evidence-based, and clearly explained?
2. Engagement and User-Centered Design: Has the Participant incorporated user-centered design principles and addressed patient needs and experiences?
3. Potential Impact: Will the tool be useful for improving health monitoring, self-management, and awareness of symptom patterns in people living with autoimmune disease. Does the application have potential to contribute to research participation, data collection, or patient-centered care?
4. Feasibility and Scalability: Can the proposed application be realistically implemented in research settings and potentially scaled to broader autoimmune disease populations?
5. Innovation: Does the application have broad relevance for people living with or at risk for a range of autoimmune diseases? Is the tool both scientifically meaningful and practically useful?

How to Upload your Phase 3 Submission Package

To access the submission portal, navigate to the Submission tab of the nourishchallenge.org website. Using your prior login, you be able to provide all parts of your submission package. Follow the directions below to enter your submission package: 

• To complete Phase 3 submission package and submit:
  • ​​​​​​​ Step 1: Check the box for Acknowledgement of Rules, Terms & Conditions to confirm you have read all content on the Rules tab for this Challenge.
  • Step 2: Click the Review and Submit button at the bottom of the page.
  • Step 3: Upload the Phase 3 registration form following the prompts on the website
  • Step 4: After confirming that your submission package is complete, use the Submit button to submit the proposal.
  • Step 5: You will be contacted by email to schedule your live demonstration.

Additional Information

For Further Information Contact: [email protected]

References

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