Scientists Without Borders and Johnson & Johnson Challenge: Increasing Global Diagnosis and Treatment of Unipolar Depression and Anxiety

Although often overlooked when addressing global health priorities, mental disorders pose a significant global development concern.  Within this larger context, unipolar depressive disorders are of special concern because they are one of the most common and debilitating mental disorders.  Accordingly, Scientists Without Borders and Johnson & Johnson are partnering to request Solvers propose ideas to increase the utilization of community-based and comprehensive mental health services for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of unipolar depression and anxiety disorders among patients residing in low-resource settings.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Although often overlooked when addressing global health priorities, mental disorders pose a significant global development concern.  Within this larger context, unipolar depressive disorders are of special concern because they are one of the most common and debilitating mental disorders.  Accordingly, Scientists Without Borders and Johnson & Johnson are partnering to request that Solvers propose ideas to increase the demand for, and utilization of, community-based and comprehensive mental health services for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of unipolar depression and anxiety disorders among patients residing in low-resource settings.

This is an Ideation Challenge, which has the following unique features:

• There is a guaranteed award.  The awards will be paid to the best submission(s) as solely determined by the Seeker. The total payout will be $10,000, with at least one award being no smaller than $5,000 and no award being smaller than $2,000.

• The Solvers are not required to transfer exclusive intellectual property rights to the Seeker.  Rather, by submitting a proposal, the Solvers grants to the Seeker a royalty-free, perpetual, and non-exclusive license to use any information included in this proposal, including for promotional purposes.

After the Challenge deadline, the Seeker will complete the review process and make a decision with regards to the Winning Solution(s). All Solvers that submitted a proposal will be notified on the status of their submissions; however, no detailed evaluation of individual submissions will be provided.

Scientists Without Borders

Scientists Without Borders, a program of the New York Academy of Sciences, is a web-based collaborative community that generates and advances innovative and effective science- and technology-based solutions to global development challenges. To learn more about Scientists Without Borders, please visit www.scientistswithoutborders.org

Johnson & Johnson

The involvement of Johnson & Johnson in this project is related to the company’s Healthy Minds Initiative, launched in 2011 by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, which strives to accelerate progress in the fight against brain disorders — through basic discovery, clinical translation, and multi-sector collaboration — and to help educate people about brain disorders and reduce the stigma that is associated with them.

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson have a longstanding history of advancing neuroscience research. Over the last half century, Janssen has discovered, developed, and launched many innovative treatments for brain and central-nervous-system conditions.  Globally, Janssen contributes annually to public and professional education sponsorships and philanthropy in the field of neuroscience and mental health, as part of its Healthy Minds Initiative.