{
  "signal_id": "SIG-2026-015",
  "observed_date": "2026-07-23",
  "category": "Digital Health + Clinical Research",
  "title": "FDA opens funding opportunity to study digital health technologies in drug development",
  "what_changed": "FDA announced a funding opportunity open July 20–August 20, 2026 for selected applicants to explore digital health technologies such as actigraphy, photography, and contactless sensors in drug development.",
  "why_it_matters": "FDA is actively investing in how digital measures can support clinical research, which can strengthen evidence pathways for sensor-enabled endpoints and decentralized measurement.",
  "affected_actors": [
    "FDA",
    "drug developers",
    "DHT developers",
    "researchers",
    "trial sponsors"
  ],
  "decision_implication": "Track funded projects, measure-validation methods, endpoint acceptability, and resulting guidance or precedents relevant to healthspan and remote measurement.",
  "status": "Funding opportunity",
  "evidence_class": "E5 — official FDA source",
  "impact": 4,
  "immediacy": 5,
  "relevance": 5,
  "novelty": 5,
  "adoption_leverage": 4,
  "priority_score": 91,
  "sources": [
    "https://www.fda.gov/science-research/science-and-research-special-topics/digital-health-technologies-dhts-drug-development"
  ],
  "public_slug": "/signal/2026-07-23-fda-dht-drug-development/",
  "watch_conditions": [
    "Awardees",
    "selected DHT modalities",
    "endpoints",
    "validation results",
    "new FDA guidance."
  ],
  "last_verified": "2026-08-08",
  "version": "1.0"
}