• Challenge announcement: September 1, 2024
• Submission period opens: November 1, 2024
• Submission period closes: February 28, 2025, 12:59 p.m. ET
• Judging period: April–May 2025
• Awardees announced: July 2025 

The total prize purse is $900,000, with up to nine awards of $100,000 each.

Additionally, information about the winning submissions (taken from the summary provided in the Entry Form [PDF]) will be prominently featured on ODP and CDC websites and publicly disseminated via social media; additional opportunities to be profiled by ODP and CDC may be developed in the future.

Award Approving Official

The Award Approving Official will be David M. Murray, Ph.D., NIH Associate Director for Prevention, and Director, Office of Disease Prevention.  

Payment of the Prize

Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by electronic funds transfer and may be subject to federal income taxes. HHS/NIH will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable.

Winners must be able to provide bank account and routing information in order to receive the cash prize funds and must be prepared to obtain additional documentation or funds transfer information from their financial institution as needed. Organizations participating in this Challenge are encouraged, but not required, to request and obtain a free Unique Entity ID, if they have not already done so, via SAM.gov as this will expedite prize payment. Additional information can be found at sam.gov/content/entity-registration. Each Participant Organization that enters the Challenge is required to identify a Primary Point of Contact (POC) who submits a solution on behalf of the Participant Organization. The Primary POC is responsible for all communications with ODP and CDC. In the event of winning a cash prize, the prize will be paid directly to the Participant Organization, not to the Primary POC.

NIH/ODP and CDC reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to (a) cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge, and/or (b) not award any prizes if no entries are deemed worthy.

All submissions that are responsive and meet the Eligibility and Participation rules will be evaluated and scored by qualified expert employee(s) of the federal government using the criteria and scoring rubric described below. The results of the evaluation will be provided to a Judging Panel composed of NIH and CDC staff. The Judging Panel will select Winners based on the individual and overall evaluation scores. The selected Winners will be submitted to the Award Approving Official (David M. Murray, Ph.D., NIH Associate Director for Prevention, and Director, Office of Disease Prevention) for a final decision. NIH will not make Participants’ evaluation or judging results available to Participants or the public.

The scoring rubric consists of four criteria (Relevance to populations with high levels of menthol cigarette use, Innovation, Evidence of effectiveness, and Potential for sustainability or broader implementation).

1. Relevance to populations with high levels of menthol cigarette use (10 points). To what extent does the community-derived solution address menthol cigarette smoking in populations with high rates of use, including youth, SGM populations, people with lower incomes, and racial and ethnic minority populations? To what extent were members from the populations or communities of focus included in the development, implementation, or evaluation of the community-derived solution?
2. Innovation (5 points). To what extent does the community-derived solution include new or novel programs, policies, or other strategies?
3. Evidence of effectiveness (20 points). Are appropriate and convincing measures or metrics of effectiveness provided that indicate changes in smoking-related behavior? Are data provided that are specific to menthol cigarettes? Are data provided that are specific to individuals or populations with high levels of menthol cigarette use?     
4. Potential for sustainability or broader implementation (5 points). How sustainable is the community-derived solution? To what extent can the community-derived solution be implemented in other locations or settings?

The Challenge is open to any eligible Participant Organization.

To be eligible to win a cash prize under this Challenge, a Participant Organization:

1. Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the NIH as published in this announcement;
2. Shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States;
3. Shall be a registered tax-exempt organization and meet the criteria as defined under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code;
4. Shall not be an institution of higher learning as defined at 38 U.S.C. § 3452(f);
5. Shall not, at the time of submission, be listed as the primary awardee on an active grant, cooperative agreement, or contract award issued by the NIH;
6. Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement;
7. Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment; 
8. Shall not be an employee of the HHS, or any other component of HHS, acting in their personal capacity;
9. Who is employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS, or any other 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 cash prize under this Challenge;
10. 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, step-parent, child, or step-child). 
11. In the case of any individuals participating on behalf of a Participant Organization, shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission

1. A Participant Organization 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.
2. 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.
3. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant Organization 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.
4. 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 Organization participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, 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.
5. A Participant Organization shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant Organization used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participant Organizations participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
6. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant Organization warrants that they are the 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 Organization (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant Organization 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 Organization is aware.
7. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant Organization 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 Organization will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant Organization must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant Organization’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participant Organizations will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participant Organizations must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein.
8. Each Participant Organization agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.
9. Each Participant Organization participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant Organization’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.
10. As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant Organization that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to NIH within 10 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.
     

Terms and conditions

Disqualification

• Submissions may be disqualified for plagiarism, falsification of any information submitted, use of copyrighted material without permission, and use of profanity, violent images, or nudity. ODP and CDC are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, or misdirected entries, which will be disqualified.

Payment of the prize

• Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by electronic funds transfer and may be subject to federal income taxes. HHS/NIH will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable.
• Winners must be able to provide bank account and routing information in order to receive the cash prize funds and must be prepared to obtain additional documentation or funds transfer information from their financial institution as needed. Organizations participating in this Challenge are encouraged, but not required, to request and obtain a free Unique Entity ID, if they have not already done so, via SAM.gov as this will expedite prize payment. Additional information can be found at sam.gov/content/entity-registration. Each Participant Organization that enters the Challenge is required to identify a Primary Point of Contact (POC) who submits a solution on behalf of the Participant Organization. The Primary POC is responsible for all communications with ODP and CDC. In the event of winning a cash prize, the prize will be paid directly to the Participant Organization, not to the Primary POC.
• NIH/ODP and CDC reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to (a) cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge, and/or (b) not award any prizes if no entries are deemed worthy.

• Read the full Eligibility and Participation rules bove or on Challenge.gov. 
• Only one entry may be submitted per Participant Organization. Submissions must not include the HHS logo or official seal or the logo of NIH or any of its components and must not claim federal government endorsement.
• Each Participant Organization that enters the Challenge is required to identify a Primary Point of Contact who submits a solution on behalf of the Participant Organization. The Primary Point of Contact is responsible for all communications with ODP and CDC. In the event of winning a cash prize, the prize will be paid directly to the Participant Organization, not to the Point of Contact.
• Completed Submission Packages must be emailed to [email protected] between November 1, 2024, and February 28, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Each submission for the ODP and CDC Quit & Thrive Challenge requires a complete Submission Package consisting of the following documents saved as PDF files: (1) Entry Form (PDF), (2) Description of the Community-Derived Solution, (3) References, and (4) Additional Collaborating Organizations/Agencies (if applicable).

1. Entry Form (PDF)
   • Contact information for the Participant Organization
   • Contact information for the Primary Point of Contact
   • Names and contact information for any collaborating institutions or agencies
   • Title and brief summary (no more than 500 characters) of the community-derived solution
   • Signature of the Primary Point of Contact and date, indicating agreement to the rules of the Challenge
2. Description of the Community-Derived Solution: The Description of the Community-Derived Solution document is limited to 10 single-spaced pages, using 11- or 12-point font, including any figures, images, graphs, or tables. This document should be submitted as a PDF and include the following sections:
   • Overview of the community-derived solution 
     • The type of solution (e.g., is it a program, policy, or other strategy?)
     • When and where the solution has been implemented
     • What populations are the focus of the solution  
     • Who developed and/or delivers the solution
     • How the implementation, delivery, or enforcement of the solution is funded
     • The role of the Participant Organization in developing, implementing, delivering, or enforcing the solution
     • The role of any collaborating agencies or organizations in developing, implementing, delivering, or enforcing the solution, if applicable
   • Relevance to populations with high levels of menthol cigarette use
     • How the solution reaches or impacts populations with high levels of menthol cigarette use 
     • How the community-derived solution specifically addresses menthol cigarette smoking
     • How members from the population have been included in the development, implementation, or evaluation of the community-derived solution
   • Innovation
     • How the community-derived solution is different from previous or other current efforts to reduce menthol cigarette smoking or cigarette smoking in general
     • Any novel or creative strategies used to develop, implement, deliver, sustain, or evaluate the solution
   • Evidence of effectiveness
     • The process for collecting evidence of effectiveness of the community-derived solution, including:
     • The metrics, tools, or measures used (Reminder: Measures of smoking-related knowledge or attitudes of individuals can be included, but they are not sufficient to show effectiveness of the solution.)
     • How and when the data were collected or obtained before and after implementation of the community-derived solution
     • How the data were compiled or analyzed
     • How the collected data show the community-derived solution produced changes in smoking-related behavior, including:
     • How the changes can be attributed to the community-derived solution versus other factors
     • How the changes are specific to or inclusive of populations with high levels of menthol cigarette smoking
     • How changes are specific to or inclusive of menthol cigarette smoking
   • Potential for sustainability or broader implementation
     • How the community-derived solution can be maintained or sustained in the future.
     • How the community-derived solution can be delivered in other locations or settings.
3. References: List citations using APA or MLA format for any sources referenced in the Description of the Community-Derived Solution document, including journal articles, reports, webpages, or data resources. This document should be submitted as a PDF.
4. Additional Collaborating Organizations/Agencies (if applicable): If a submission involves more than three Collaborating Organizations/Agencies, please list the additional organizations/agencies and their respective POCs in a separate document and include it in the final Submission Package. This document should be submitted as a PDF.
    

Submission Instructions

The Primary Point of Contact should email the Completed Submission Packages (consisting of the following documents saved as PDF files: Entry Form, Description of the Community-Derived Solution, References, and Additional Collaborating Organizations/Agencies [if applicable]) to ODP at [email protected] between November 1, 2024, and February 28, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET, following the steps below:

1. Download, complete, and sign the Entry Form (PDF). You can print and complete the form or open and complete it electronically using software like Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.
2. Save the completed and signed Entry Form as a PDF. Use the file name: “Organization Name [acronym is acceptable]_Entry”
   • Example file name for entry form submitted by Acme, Inc.: Acme, Inc_Entry
3. Save the Description of the Community-Derived Solution document as a PDF. Use the file name: “Organization Name [acronym is acceptable]_Description”
   • Example file name for Community-Derived Solution document submitted by Acme, Inc.: Acme, Inc_Description
4. Save the References document as a PDF. Use the file name: “Organization Name [acronym is acceptable]_References”
   • Example file name for References document submitted by Acme, Inc.: Acme, Inc_References.
5. Save the Additional Collaborating Organizations/Agencies document as a PDF. Use the file name: “Organization Name [acronym is acceptable]_Collaborators”
   • Example file name for Additional Collaborating Organizations/Agencies document submitted by Acme, Inc.: Acme, Inc_Collaborators.
6. Attach the completed and signed Entry Form, Description of the Community-Derived Solution, and References PDFs to an email and send it to [email protected] by 11:59 p.m. ET on February 28, 2025. Use the subject line “ODP and CDC Quit and Thrive Challenge: Organization Name [acronym is acceptable]”
   • Example email subject line for Challenge submission package from Acme, Inc.: ODP and CDC Quit & Thrive Challenge: Acme, Inc.

ODP and CDC are 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]. ODP, through its NIH-wide ADVANCE (Advancing Prevention Research for Health Equity) initiative, supports the development of new prevention interventions and of strategies to deliver existing evidence-based interventions and preventive services in populations that experience health disparities.

In accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 282(f) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, the mission of ODP is to improve public health by increasing the scope, quality, dissemination, and impact of prevention research supported by NIH. As a coordinating office in the NIH Office of the Director, ODP fulfills this mission by providing leadership for the development, coordination, and implementation of prevention research in collaboration with NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices, and other partners.

This Challenge supports the mission of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) to protect the public’s health from the harmful effects of tobacco use. A key activity of OSH is to reduce tobacco-related health disparities, death, and disease. Relevant to both ODP and CDC, this challenge directly aligns with the HHS Framework to Support and Accelerate Smoking Cessation 2024 (PDF). Ultimately, this Challenge will inform the efforts of ODP and CDC to reduce health disparities and increase national focus on supporting and accelerating smoking cessation. 

Email ODP at [email protected] with any questions about the Challenge, rules and requirements, or help submitting your materials.