Andrew Prentice of the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom will conduct a phase II clinical trial to test the ability of a unique nano iron compound to safely and more effectively treat iron-deficiency anemia in children. Iron-deficiency anemia is a common condition particularly in women and children in resource-poor settings and can be deadly. Current iron supplements have limited effects in these settings and undesirable side effects including increasing the risk of infectious diarrhea in children which causes severe morbidity and mortality. They previously developed a compound iron hydroxide adipate tartrate that acts like dietary iron as it can be directly absorbed in humans keeping it away from any resident intestinal pathogens that also use it as a nutrient source. They will perform an intervention study with 600 iron-deficient anemic children in The Gambia and compare their compound with the current supplement to see if it can normalize iron levels without the side effects.

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.

Lauren Hendricks and team at CARE in Uganda will analyze whether motivating women to use mobile financial technology increases their involvement in making household financial decisions, and subsequently improves family health and education. They will develop mobile money subwallets for specific purposes such as school fees and pregnancy so that women can more securely manage their savings. They will also work with influential members of a subset of households to help promote gender equality and develop a consensus towards a household financial action plan.