No. NAP-AX-26-001 · Office of the National Coordinator
Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information Technology
At a glance
AI summaryThis program funds Leading Edge Acceleration Projects in health information technology to address barriers to interoperable health IT and advance new research, standards, methods, and techniques. ONC expects one cooperative agreement award for each of three areas: up to $1 million for agentic AI in clinical care or clinical trials, and up to $500,000 each for Lantern API monitoring and laboratory interoperability, for a total of up to $2 million in fiscal year 2026. The initial award has a two-year project and budget period, though applicants may submit budgets based on three years and year-three funding may be available if funds, progress, and ONC priorities allow. Applicants must make all developed software open source, and the notice says the projects are expected to be independently implementable and based on non-proprietary approaches. The announcement says ONC may issue future awards under this NOFO to other eligible applicants for future areas of interest.
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What it funds
Official description from grants.gov
While working to implement Cures Act provisions, ONC identified gaps with respect to leveraging EHR data to support population-level analyses and delivery of services, as well as integrating clinical knowledge into routine clinical practice. The reasons for these gaps range from a lack of data standards and interoperability to the digitization, integration, and presentation of new evidence into clinical workflows in safe, useful, and useable ways. Therefore, this funding opportunity will support innovative and breakthrough solutions critical to maximize the potential of health IT and achieve the goal of a transformed health care delivery system through various methods, such as:• Determining the fundamental questions, the answers to which will identify barriers to nationwide interoperability and electronic exchange of health data.• Engaging the health IT industry, along with academic researchers, to identify and develop innovative solutions that address barriers to interoperability.• Disseminating findings from research while fostering collaboration, advancement, and implementation of solutions and lessons learned with the health IT industry.
Who can apply
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Others
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- State governments