NOURISH (Nutrition for OUR Immune System Health): Autoimmunity Challenge

Join the NOURISH Autoimmunity Challenge integrating nutrition in autoimmune research

Overview

Challenge Summary
The NOURISH (Nutrition for OUR Immune System Health): Autoimmunity Challenge is a crowdsourcing competition focused on generating 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 will have broad impact across the broad autoimmune disease portfolio. With up to $150,000 in total prizes, the NIH is seeking ideas for new ways of studying diet and nutrition in autoimmune disease research, including the role diet plays in the autoimmune prodrome and autoimmune disease inception, how diet and nutrition contribute to autoimmune disease progression and flares, and the role that diet may play in symptom management.

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. 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 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. Men with autoimmune diseases also demonstrate more severe disease course and higher risk of mortality, emphasizing the importance of understanding sex as a biologic variable. The economic impact of autoimmune diseases in the U.S. is also substantial. Data from 2012 estimated costs at over $100 billion per year, even without accounting for associated costs, such as lost productivity, and impact on dependents and society.

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 identified several opportunities to facilitate autoimmune disease research, and to accelerate progress in this area. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 () the U.S. Congress directed NIH to establish the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research to accelerate progress in this area.

Challenge Topic Input
In August 2024, and in response to language in the of 2024, NIH convened a scientific workshop focused on better understanding the impact of food and diet on the development of mucosal immunity with reference to celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis as well as other digestive and autoimmune or immune-mediated diseases. 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) cosponsored this NIH-wide workshop. This broad engagement reflects a strategic refocusing on the importance of nutrition in the development and function of intestinal mucosal immunity and its relevance to the work of virtually every component of NIH. The workshop brought together NIH staff, research scientists, clinicians, people living with digestive diseases, and advocacy groups, with the goals of identifying knowledge gaps.

One of the identified gaps was the need to build an ecosystem of collaborative teams partnering to conduct state of the art research into the role of diet and nutrition in autoimmune diseases using clear and validated methods with the goal of clinical translation. In particular it was noted that research to date has not sufficiently focused on key outcomes that matter to patients living with autoimmune disease.

Target Audience and Solver Community
The NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge is open to eligible individuals, teams, and entities and is designed to incentivize a crowdsourced team approach to a complex and understudied problem in autoimmune disease. Research is not shaped by scientists alone; science belongs to everyone. 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 and scientists. The overarching goal of this approach is to use the wisdom and power of the autoimmune disease community to ideate on how to best identify the most critical studies needed to advance our understanding of how dietary factors and nutrition impact autoimmune disease development, progression and recurrence.

Successful submissions will likely involve engagement and collaboration among people living with autoimmune disease, patient advocacy groups, caregivers, and 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 to coordinate and advance efforts to support rigorous, high-priority, innovative and collaborative autoimmune disease research.

Through this initial single-phase ideation challenge the NIH Office of Autoimmune Disease Research is seeking ideas for novel approaches to the study of diet and nutrition in autoimmune disease research, including:

The role diet plays in the autoimmune prodrome and autoimmune disease inception
How diet and nutrition contribute to autoimmune disease progression and flares
The role that diet may play in autoimmune disease symptom management.

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. This Challenge is cosponsored by the NIH Office of Nutrition Research and the Office of Dietary Supplements.

Dates:

Challenge Launch: September 2, 2025
Informational Webinar: September 30, 2025 at 01:30 PM ET register at www.tinyurl.com/nourishchallengewebinar
Submission Start/End: September 23, 2025 /December 4, 2025
Judging Start/End: January 1, 2026/ February 5, 2026
Winner Announced: March 2026

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.

Timeline

09/23/25 09:00 AM EDT: NOURISH Autoimmunity Challenge Registration and Submission Opens

09/30/25 01:30 PM EDT: NOURISH Autoimmunity Challenge Webinar

12/04/25 11:59 PM EST: NOURISH Autoimmunity Challenge Submission Closes

Prizes

Total cash prizes
$150,000

Prize descriptionThe total prize purse for this Challenge is up to $150,000. It is anticipated that up to 15 prizes of up to $10,000 each will be awarded at the discretion of the judging panel. 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 requirements

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

Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the NIH as published in this announcement.
Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement.
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.
Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.
Shall not be an employee of the 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.
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

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.
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.
By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, 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.
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, group of individuals, 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.
A Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, 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.
By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, 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.
By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the submission on the web or elsewhere, and a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice, or have practiced for or on its behalf, the solution throughout the world. 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.
Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.
Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, 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.
As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, 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.

Judging

Submitted ideas will be evaluated by a panel of judges based on the following criteria, with each criterion weighted equally:

Understanding of the Problem and Scientific Rationale: How clearly does the submission describe the idea or the proposed dietary or nutritional intervention, and the background to support the intervention(s)? Does the submission sufficiently and clearly describe autoimmune disease outcomes or rigorous immune system outcome measures?
Engagement: How well does the submission describe the interdisciplinary experience or expertise that was sought out to inform the ideation process, including people living with autoimmune disease(s), patient advocacy groups, scientists and caregivers?
Potential Impact: How impactful could the idea be on people living with autoimmune disease(s)? Is the proposed intervention and strategy sound?
Feasibility: Can the proposed idea be developed into a feasible research program and scaled to broader autoimmune disease research populations?
Innovation: How novel and innovative is the proposed idea? How will the proposed idea advance the study of diet and nutrition in autoimmune diseases and have broad applicability to the population living with and at risk for autoimmune diseases?

How to enter

Registration and Submission Process:

The NOURISH: Autoimmunity 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 and scientists. Please see the Eligibility Rules for further information.

Registration:

Participants must register by completing and submitting the specific to this Challenge. Applications that have not completed the Challenge Registration Form will not be judged.

Submission Requirements:

A complete submission package must include both:

The , and
The Submission Narrative (uploaded as a PDF to Challenge.gov).

Both components are required. The registration Microsoft Form must be submitted, and the submission narrative must be uploaded to the Challenge.gov portal no later than December 4, 2025.

Submission Narrative:

Participants must provide a PDF copy of their submission narrative as part of the submission package. Narratives must be no longer than 6 pages long, with one-inch margins. Brevity is valued. 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.

Submission narratives must include the following six required sections:

Participant Name and Title of Proposal: Enter the name of the registered Individual, Team or Entity and the title of your submission.
Scope of Idea and Scientific Rationale: Explanation of the idea including the proposed dietary or nutritional intervention and the background to support this intervention. The scientific rationale for the proposed intervention and measured autoimmune or immune system outcomes should be well-described with rigorous outcome measures identified.
Description of Submitting Individual, Team, or Entity and Community Engagement in the ideation process: Description of the submitting individual, team, or entity. Description of the engagement of interdisciplinary experience or expertise including perspectives from individuals living with autoimmune disease(s), patient advocacy groups, physicians, allied health professionals, scientists and caregivers.
Potential Impact: Description of the potential impact of the proposed idea or the dietary or nutritional intervention on people living with autoimmune diseases.
Feasibility: Description of how the proposed idea or intervention is designed to advance autoimmune disease research and how it might be scaled to broader autoimmune disease populations.
Idea Innovation: Description of the novelty and innovation of the proposed idea and approach

How to Upload your Submission Package:

To access the Challenge.gov submission portal, click on the orange "Apply for this Challenge" button. 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.
Description field: Enter "see uploaded files and external URL."
To load a file for submission: Step 1: Drag your file or click the "Choose from folder" link to load a file from your computer (Allowed file types: .pdf, .txt, .csv, .jpg, .png or .tiff). Step 2: Rename your file (required). Step 3: Click the blue "Attach File" button to attach your file to the submission. Step 4: Complete steps 1-3 for any additional files.
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: Click the Submit button. Step 4: Confirm that was electronically submitted.

Additional information:

For Further Information Contact: oadrinfo@nih.gov

Resources

FAQ

Learn more about the work of the .

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See the list of more than in OADR's scope.

For Further Information Contact: oadrinfo@nih.gov

Monitor the NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge website:

Contact

Contact: oadrinfo@nih.gov

Winners

Winners will be announced following judging of submissions.

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