Ann Vinckier and colleagues at QIAGEN in the U.S. propose to further improve their commercially available small fluorescence tube scanner for its use at the point-of-care in developing countries, and also investigate probe-­based isothermal amplification technologies for the development of fast, sensitive, specific and robust detection of nucleic acids in point­-of-­care diagnostic tools.

Robert Moritz and colleagues at the Institute for Systems Biology and Seattle Biomed in the U.S. will use ultra­-sensitive targeted assay technology to identify, quantify, and validate a library of biomarker candidates specific to both active and latent TB infection. Moritz and his team hope to discover highly specific proteins that could help determine disease status at the point of care and inform appropriate treatment.

John Belisle of Colorado State University in the U.S. will assess the feasibility of using small molecules created by the metabolic processes of host or pathogen cells, as well as lipids and fatty acids produced by the TB bacterium, as biomarkers of active disease.

Karen Dobos of Colorado State University in the U.S., along with Jeff Schorey of the University of Notre Dame and their partners at the University of San Francisco, seek to identify and validate protein signatures on exosomes, which are small vesicles secreted by M. tuberculosis-­infected host cells, for use as biomarkers to diagnose TB. These protein signatures seem to be concentrated by exosomes in such a way that they could be used as highly sensitive indicators of disease in diagnostic tests.

David Anderson of the Macfarlane Burnet Institute in Australia will examine a unique aspect of the host antibody response that may better differentiate current and past tuberculosis infections. If successful, this approach could be readily incorporated in simple, disposable blood test formats that are currently used for diagnosis in resource-poor settings.

Robert M. Kennedy of the Vestaron Corporation in the U.S. will develop synthetic chemical mimics of selectively insecticidal natural peptides.

Barry Beaty of the Colorado State University in the U.S. will develop an innovative and robust, platform-­based approach for sustainable insecticidal control of Anopheline mosquitoes.

Luke Lee of the University of California, Berkeley in the U.S. proposes to develop a microfluidic sample preparation module using electrical and physical methods that will be compatible with different sample inputs and downstream analytical techniques to provide both plasma and cellular biomarkers for the parallel diagnoses of infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. The device will not require external reagents, will have low power consumption, and can be operated on­-site with minimal training.

Robert (Bruce) Cary of Mesa Tech International, Inc. in the U.S. proposes to develop nucleic acid purification systems that use a novel configuration of lateral flow materials to bind and wash nucleic acids to yield amplification-­ready samples. These devices could provide purified samples from clinical specimens within minutes without user intervention, instrumentation, electricity or costly materials.

Donald Chickering and a team at Seventh Sense Biosystems in the U.S. are developing its Touch Activated Phlebotomy (TAP) platform to enable one­-step blood collection in a safe, painless, and convenient manner. The device uses an integrated system of microneedles and vacuum capture of a blood sample for downstream analysis. TAP has the potential to expand access to diagnostic testing into underserved and hard-­to-­sample populations, while also improving safety and ease of collection.

Ross Durland and colleagues at AM Biotechnologies, LLC in the U.S. propose to develop X-­aptamers for detecting and quantifying protein biomarkers for neglected diseases. X­-aptamers are modified nucleic acids that tightly bind to specific targets and remain stable at high temperature and humidity. AM Biotech will enhance its process for rapidly identifying X-­aptamers that will be integrated into a point­-of-­care platform for diagnosing many diseases.

Rebecca Richards-­Kortum and Tomasz Tkaczyk of Rice University in the U.S. propose to develop a plug­-and-­sense read-out and signal transduction (ROST) component for point­-of-­care devices that will be palm­-sized, producible for under $10, and with new interrogation units can be rearranged within the universal fixture to accommodate new sample platforms.