FORM
Funds United Kingdom maternal and infant microbiome research to improve long-term health outcomes.
⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
FORM is a $50 million Wellcome Leap program investigating the maternal and infant gut microbiome's role in shaping infant immune and metabolic health outcomes. The program applies Wellcome Leap's ARPA-for-health model — outcome-targeted, multi-team, compressed timeline — to a research area where mechanistic understanding has lagged clinical relevance. Performer teams work on 3-year contracts, with scope covering the relationship between maternal and infant microbiome composition and infant health trajectories from birth through early childhood. Projects addressing Thrust 1A (cohort-based research) required submission of a cohort summary table to form@wellcomeleap.org as part of the application.
The 2025–2026 solicitation ran a two-stage process. Abstracts were due November 14, 2025, followed by a full proposal submission deadline of December 29, 2025 at 11:59 pm ET. Funding decisions were communicated January 28, 2026. Selected performers are now under 3-year contracts, with work commencing approximately 30 days after contract signature. The program is open to applicants from any legal jurisdiction; eligible organizations include universities, research institutions, small and large companies (including venture-backed), and government or nonprofit research organizations. FORM uses a custom Wellcome Leap submission portal rather than the Pegasus portal used by some other programs.
The 2025–2026 solicitation is closed and performers are executing their funded projects. Organizations working on infant microbiome, maternal health, or early-life immune programming should monitor Wellcome Leap for any future FORM solicitation cycles. The milestone-based contract structure is standard across Wellcome Leap programs, meaning funded performers are accountable to defined deliverables and can expect intensive program management from Wellcome Leap throughout the 3-year execution period.
Maternal and infant gut microbiome research examining the relationship between microbiome composition and infant immune and metabolic outcomes, funded as 3-year performer contracts under a $50M program.
Sign up free to see the funding breakdown
Sign up free to see the industries in scope
Sign up free to see the full eligibility
Sign up free to see how to apply
Sign up free to see what you submit
Sign up free to see the timeline