Advancing Technologies for Spatiotemporal Omics in Live Tissue

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, in collaboration with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network, is launching a new funding opportunity aimed at developing cutting-edge technologies for spatiotemporal omics in live tissues. This initiative seeks to address a critical limitation in current spatial omics techniques, which predominantly rely on frozen or fixed tissue, hindering the study of dynamic biological processes. The goal is to fund pioneering research that enables real-time, high-resolution profiling of proteomic and metabolomic activities within living tissues, with a strong emphasis on applications in immunology and autoimmune diseases. This Request for Applications (RFA) targets innovative projects that integrate minimally invasive instrumentation and advanced analytics to create “instrumented tissue” platforms. These platforms should enable dynamic monitoring of immune responses and cellular behaviors in situ, facilitating the construction of AI-driven biomodels. The technologies developed are expected to provide spatial resolution between 10–100 microns and temporal resolution of 5–10 minutes for metabolomics and under one hour for proteomics. The broader objective is to support scalable, robust tools capable of continuous immune surveillance, offering new insights into inflammation and disease progression. Applications should propose interdisciplinary approaches that merge bioengineering, computational biology, systems biology, and chemistry. Proposals must demonstrate technological novelty, biological relevance, and practical feasibility, including biocompatibility and ease of deployment in real-world settings. Successful projects should also commit to open science principles, including the sharing of data, tools, software, and protocols. The funding will be awarded in two tiers: Focused Projects, providing up to $500,000 over two years for exploratory technology development; and Expanded Projects, providing up to $1 million over two years for comprehensive platform development. Both options include indirect costs up to 15%. Only nonprofit and public institutions are eligible to receive funds, though for-profit organizations may participate without receiving direct funding. Each proposal may list up to three Principal Investigators, including one Coordinating PI, who will manage institutional and administrative responsibilities. The application process begins on September 16, 2025, with proposals due by November 13, 2025, at 5 pm ET. The earliest notifications of award decisions are expected in late February 2026, with funded projects beginning April 1, 2026. Projects will span 24 months, with an opportunity to apply for supplemental funding for an additional two years. All submissions must be made via CZI’s online portal, and questions can be directed to sciencegrants@chanzuckerberg.com.

Focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, real-time live tissue validation, and alignment with autoimmune disease relevance. Emphasize scalability, standardization, and open dissemination of results.