PUnCh

PUNCH

PUnCh is back to fund more of your boldest ideas to improve health. We’re offering over $1 million to support another round of high-risk, high-reward research that challenges the status quo.

White PUnCh Logo with "The Pitt Un-Challenge" descriptor below it

Welcome to The Pitt Un-Challenge (PUnCh) Program!

We are breaking the mold of traditional funding with the launch of the Pitt Un-Challenge (PUnCh)—a bold new initiative designed to fund the unconventional, the uncharted, and the unprecedented across disciplines.

Traditional funding models often reward incremental progress over big leaps. PUnCh exists to change that. Whether it’s a radical new approach to a long-standing problem, an unexpected collaboration, or a research concept that challenges conventional thinking, PUnCh is here to fund what others won’t.

Graphic of wireframe image of a trophy on top of a bright yellow/green silhouette that resembles the asterisk shape mark in the PUnCh logo

OFFERING SUSTAINED SUPPORT

Phase 1: Problem Validation (Up to $12k / 6 months), Phase 2: Solution Development (Up to $100k / 12 months)

Award Details

Got an idea that’s too Uncharted, Unconventional, or Unprecedented for the usual funding pipelines?

Bring it un. We’ve got over $1 million waiting for the boldest solutions to today’s toughest health problems.

How It Works

Phase 1 - Prove It (Up to $25k, 6 months)

Your idea sounds wild? Show us why it’s worth betting on.

Phase 2 - Build It (Up to $100k, 12 months)

Take that radical idea and turn it into something real.

No Boring Proposals.

Want in? Write a press release that envisions the world after your project succeeds.

Tell us how you’ll shake things up.

Application Materials:

Apply by 10/17/25 11:59 p.m.
Contact Us

Whether you’re refining a proposal or exploring a new project, we’re here to help bring your vision to life. 

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Total Funding Awarded: $255,000

  • Arc2Heart: A human-centered path to mental health and patient safety | Grace Lim, MD, MS
  • CareWise: AI co-pilot support for dementia family caregivers | Yong Choi, PhD, MPH
  • Foresight: Eye screening to prevent cancers | Jay Chhablani, MD
  • Frail Guard: Development of a transdermal cream that will reduce frailty and the risk of falls in the elderly | Stephen Meriney, PhD
  • MEMBRAiN: A platform to predict neuroimmune risk | Smita S Iyer, PhD, MS
  • Milk Match: Developing a data-driven solution for safe and optimal human milk sharing | Jill Demirci, PhD, RN, IBCLC, FAAN
  • Precision VAI: Improving diagnosis of ventilator-associated infections to reduce
    antibiotic resistance | Glenn Rapsinski, PhD, MD
  • PriSM: Molecular diagnostics for movement disorders | Edward Burton, MD, DPhil, FRCP
  • PROXIMO: A platform that combines a generative AI-powered chatbot with online
    peer-support groups to increase teen access to mental health support and services | César Escobar-Viera MD, PhD
  • SliceFree: Virtual Biopsy with Light, replacing the slice with sight | Shaohua Pi, PhD
  • WARMTH: Warming Adaptive Real-time Medical Therapeutic Heater | Francesco Egro, MBChB, MSc, MRCS