New Investments Back Eight Research Teams Tackling Pressing Challenges

Can purpose-built AI tools close the gap between people and the systems meant to serve them? What evidence do governments need to make smarter policy decisions about evolving social needs? How can research enable health systems to deliver better care? 

These are among the questions driving the eight Stanford-led research teams recently awarded funding from Stanford Impact Labs (SIL).

As social scientists and policymakers know all too well, pressing social challenges rarely suffer from a lack of promising ideas as to how to address them. More often, what is missing is rigorous evidence about which approaches work, for whom, and under what conditions. SIL works to help fill that gap by investing in research designed not only to advance scientific understanding, but to generate knowledge that can be put to practical use.

This year's investments support research teams from Stanford’s School of Humanities & Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine, and Stanford Law School working across the United States, South Asia, and Europe. Each project draws upon various fields and tackles different real-world needs, yet they share a common approach: partnering with collaborators beyond the university to generate evidence that can inform consequential decisions, enhance programs, and ultimately improve people's lives. 

We are thrilled to introduce the eight research projects selected for Stage 1 and Stage 2 investments in 2026. To learn about each one, click on the project names below to read descriptions and meet the Stanford scholars and collaborators driving the work.

Stage 1 Investments

Leveraging AI to Inform American Voters: Americans are already turning to AI to help with voting decisions, yet general-purpose chatbots were not designed for this. Building on a study showing that voters trust support at the polls grounded in nonpartisan election data, this team will test whether a purpose-built AI assistant can give voters the knowledge they need to make informed choices, and how it compares to other tools people use to learn about elections. 

Improving Medical Care for People Affected by Incarceration: Healthcare in U.S. jails is dangerously inconsistent, and deaths behind bars are far too common. A randomized trial showed that healthcare accreditation in jails can significantly reduce mortality. This project will scale an accreditation model to bring better oversight and care to jails across the country.

Leveraging Crop Insurance to Improve Climate Resilience: In Odisha, India, extreme weather is battering farming families. A nearly-free government crop insurance program exists to help, yet enrollment remains stubbornly low. This team is running a randomized trial across hundreds of villages to test whether building awareness can close the gap.

Reversing Trends in Diabetes-Related Disability: Diabetic nerve damage affects many millions and can lead to amputation, but clinicians often can't tell which patients are most at risk until it's too late. Partnering with a health system, this team is generating evidence to identify high-risk patients earlier and translate that insight directly into clinical practice.

Fostering Healthier Digital Lives Among Children: Governments worldwide are moving to limit children's screen time, but few have solid evidence on what actually works. By studying the rollout of sweeping digital-media policies in Sweden using population-wide data, this project will explore how policy change affects kids' sleep, mental health, and school performance.

Preventing Blindness in Coastal Bangladesh: Rising seas and land loss are making basic eye care particularly hard to access in coastal Bangladesh, where many severe eye conditions are treatable if caught early. This team will expand an existing community-based, AI-assisted model designed to address this need while researching eye disease rates in the region.

Stage 2 Investments

Fortifying Families through Digital Access to Justice: Most people facing eviction in the U.S. don't have a lawyer, and many lose their case simply because the paperwork is too confusing to navigate. Working with the nation’s largest trial court, this team built tools to address that. New funding will put these tools to work through a real-world randomized trial.

Evidence for AI-Enabled Women's Health Care: Millions of women in India face major barriers to reproductive health care, and many lack the ability to leave home or make their own care decisions. This team is testing whether an AI chatbot can help close that gap by running a series of experiments to find out which design choices prompt women to seek care.