Johnson and Johnson launch research challenge to help improve child health

Johnson and Johnson has announced the launch of the Next-Gen Baby Box QuickFire Challenge, a child health-focused research initiative.

The company's pharmaceuticals division Janssen is allying with several partners in Finland to create a new approach to designing baby boxes, which are starter kits for new mothers that have been distributed in Finland for 80 years.

Partnering with the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Johnson and Johnson's new challenge calls on participants to create a concept for what a next-generation baby box would look like.

Selected finalists will receive up to $350,000 (274,600) in funding, plus structured mentorship support, to help develop and pitch their ideas. The key goals will be to promote child health, detect childhood illness and disease earlier, and facilitate healthy parenting.

This may be achieved through encouragement of breastfeeding, promoting better sleep habits, making it easier to pick up conditions such as type 1 diabetes, or simply aiding the bonding process between parent and child.

Ben Wiegand, global head of the World Without Disease accelerator at Janssen Research and Development, said: "We believe that great science can happen anywhere and look forward to seeing the proposed innovations from the scientific community as we collaborate with our Finnish partners to work toward creating a world free from disease."

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