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The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) Research Fund is a vital initiative aimed at driving research in the field of mosquito control and related topics. As a nonprofit organization dedicated to public health enhancement through mosquito suppression, AMCA recognizes the critical role that research plays in developing innovative tools and strategies. With the ultimate goal of protecting the public from mosquito-borne diseases and discomfort, the AMCA Research Fund invites new pre-proposals each year.

The AMCA Research Fund is devoted to funding research that will lead to new tools and strategies for mosquito surveillance and control and ultimately protect the public from mosquito-borne disease and discomfort from mosquito bites.

Annual Proposal Process

Each year, AMCA publishes a Research Fund request for proposals including goals, priority areas, official timelines, criteria, funding details, and requirements.

The general timeline for each year is as follows:

  • Annual RFP Published – Early April
  • Pre-Proposals Due – Mid-June
  • Notification for Full Proposal Requests – August
  • Full Proposals Due – Mid-September
  • Awardees Notified – December 1st
  • Funding Awarded – By January 15th

AMCA Research Fund 2025 Call for Pre-Proposals

The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) Research Fund invites new pre-proposals for research on mosquito control and related topics for funding for the calendar year 2025.

AMCA® is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to providing leadership, information, and education leading to the enhancement of public health and quality of life through the suppression of mosquitoes.

While proposals related to any aspect of mosquito control are welcome, this year’s AMCA Research Fund will prioritize funding research related to mosquito and arbovirus surveillance. This can be broadly defined as any tool or strategy that will improve prediction, detection, or operational decision-making related to arboviruses and/or target mosquito species. Priority will be given to proposals that highlight how these tools will directly assist control personnel and/or researchers to track and suppress disease transmission or proliferation of problematic mosquito populations. Collaborations with mosquito control agencies are highly encouraged. 

Example topics include but are not limited to:

  • Use of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline operational surveillance activities and decision-making
  • Development of aerial imaging technologies or visual algorithms that improve detection, identification, or quantification of target mosquito species or breeding habitats
  • Enhancement of arbovirus identification and monitoring (improving detection workflow, increasing testing capacity, reducing cost, reducing time, etc.)
  • Comparative evaluation of surveillance technologies for targeted operational goals (new species detection, characterization of neglected species, utility in challenging environments, etc.)
  • Operational evaluation of new devices or workflows that significantly improve mosquito/arbovirus surveillance or detection
  • Surveillance of invasive mosquito species (for use in predicting, tracking, suppressing, and/or eliminating their populations)

Pre-proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Does the proposal meet the current research priorities of the AMCA RF for a given year?
  • Does the project involve a young/early career professional as a project lead or a trainee of the grant?
  • Is the work being done in collaboration with a mosquito control district?
  • Will the project lead to an important contribution to the field?
  • Are the background, methods, and objectives sections well-thought-out and well-supported?
  • Does the research team have sufficient expertise to carry out the proposed work?

Submission Process

To submit a pre-proposal for the 2024 AMCA Research Fund Cycle you must complete the official form here and send it by email to mmacnee@mosquito.org no later than 5 pm PT on Friday, June 21st.

If you have questions regarding the process you may contact AMCA Executive Director Megan MacNee at mmacnee@mosquito.org.

Eligibility

The AMCA Research Fund will consider pre-proposals from public and private universities, mosquito abatement districts, qualified private research institutions, independent researchers, and small companies.

Early career researchers including those at the Assistant Professor rank, Post Docs, PhD candidates, and researchers at local, county, state, and federal government institutions with fewer than 10 years on the job are especially encouraged to apply.

Graduate students working to obtain a Master’s degree are also eligible to apply.

No more than 2 pre-proposals per researcher per grant cycle will be accepted.

Principal Investigators and pre-proposals must be from or directly affiliated with institutions based within the United States; i.e., AMCARF funds can only be disbursed to US institutions.

Conflict of Interest

Members of the AMCA Board of Directors, the AMCA Science and Technology Committee Chair (Jennifer Henke), and the AMCA Research Fund Subcommittee Chair (Edmund Norris) are ineligible to participate as principal or co-principal investigators.

We ask that you review your connection and working relationship with these individuals at the time of submitting your pre-proposal. A relationship will not preclude you from consideration. Should a relationship be indicated, the Director or Chair will be asked to verify that they are not involved in the proposed project. For the purposes of this policy, a relationship includes previous or ongoing scientific collaborations that involve financial contributions; official mentor/mentee relationships; and employer/employee relationships.

Criteria

Pre-proposals will be evaluated on their scientific merit and relevance to the outlined priority areas.

Pre-proposals are reviewed by a committee appointed by the AMCA Board of Directors that will consist of at least three leaders in the mosquito and vector control industry, three district personnel, three university personnel, and three government (local, state, federal) public health personnel.

All pre-proposals must conform to local, state, and federal regulations including those governing the use of humans and non-human animals in scientific research and all environmental regulations.

Pre-proposals will be reviewed from 22 June 2024 to 31 July 2024.  Principal Investigators of proposals selected for a full proposal will be notified on 01 August 2024.  Full proposals from selected pre-proposals will be due by 13 September 2024 with notification of award by 01 December 2024.

Principal Investigators for those projects selected for full proposals will be provided guidance on the requirements of a full proposal.

Funding

Funding will be provided to awardees by 13 January 2024, and awardees will be publicly announced at the 2025 AMCA Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico and published in the Annual Meeting Program.

Funding awarded may be up to $55,000 per one year of a project; however, preference will be given to projects that request less than $55,000.

Funds should be spent within 12 months of the award date; unspent funds will be revoked and replaced into the AMCARF pool for the next funding cycle. Requests for extension beyond 12 months must be submitted to the AMCARF no later than 1 month before the expiration date.

AMCARF does not make multi-year funding commitments. However, AMCARF will make a single-year commitment for a multi-year project. For multi-year projects, the year for which support is being requested must be indicated (e.g., “Year 2 of a 3-year project”).

AMCARF is committed to funding small projects and cannot fund university or government overhead costs or administrative fees.

Reporting

AMCARF awardees are expected to attend, actively participate in, and conduct an oral presentation at the AMCA Annual Meeting to promote the impact of their research and AMCARF’s role in that research. Depending on the number of AMCARF-funded projects, an AMCARF Research Symposium may be scheduled. At a minimum, oral presentations of AMCARF-funded research will be slotted in the relevant sessions and specifically marked as AMCARF research in the AMCA Annual Meeting program.

Specific details on funding for attending the AMCA Annual Meeting must be included in the budget.

A Progress Report will be required to be submitted by 30 July 2025.

An Annual Report will be required to be submitted by 18 December 2025.

More information on AMCARF

Find the 2024-2025 AMCA Policies & Procedures here.

Read the AMCARF Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) here.

AMCA Research Fund 2023 Awardees

Julieanne Miranda-Bermúdez, PhD., “Infrastructure to evaluate community engagement efforts for an Integrated Vector Management Program.” Puerto Rico Vector Control Unit.

Emily Mader, “Analysis of perceived risks and benefits of mosquito abatement and person protection strategies.” Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, Cornell University

Find all AMCA Research Fund Awardees here and their annual reports here.

Contribute to the AMCA Research Fund

2024 AMCARF AWARDEES CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE AMCARF ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED! 

The AMCA Research Fund is currently accepting contributions for future research on mosquito control and related topics. 

Contributions can be made online or by check payable to:

AMCA Research Fund
One Capitol Mall, Suite 800
Sacramento, CA  95814

AMCA WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTORS (SINCE FEBRUARY 23, 2018):

  • ADAPCO
  • Animas Mosquito Control District
  • Anonymous Contribution
  • Canyon County Mosquito Abatement District
  • Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District
  • Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District
  • Michigan Mosquito Control Association
  • Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District
  • Schools First Federal Credit Union
  • Valent BioSciences