John Brassil of Functional Circulation LLC in the U.S. will augment the bowls used by women to transport cassava roots to market by incorporating pest controlling elements and passive communicating elements such as radio-frequency identification (RFID). Pest repellant materials will be molded into the inner surface of the bowls or applied post-processing. Bowls will also be fitted with communication devices such as RFID that could be used in epidemiological and agricultural studies.

Spyridon Tsakas of Eulysis UK Limited in the United Kingdom will test an innovative single vial system (SVS) technology that allows for easier transport, reconstitution, and storage of vaccines with lyophilized components. Data gathered on its packaging, transportability and in situ lyophilization potential will help optimize the technology for safe vaccine delivery to the developing world.

Kathleen Bongiovanni of Seattle Children's Hospital in the U.S. will test whether oral fluids routinely suctioned from newborns mouths immediately after delivery – instead of fluids collected by amniocentesis or aspiration – can be used in a surfactant foam stability test to diagnose lung immaturity and predict respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The non-invasive sample collection would enable skilled birth attendants in developing countries to detect lung immaturity in premature babies and reduce RDS-associated morbidity and mortality.

Hossam Haick of Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Israel is developing a sensing plaster that can be stuck on the chest to detect volatile biomarkers emitted through the skin for self-diagnosis of tuberculosis even at early stages. The presence of tuberculosis will be signaled by colored LEDs. In Phase I, they evaluated different materials and selected non-toxic nanomaterial-based sensors. They also performed a study of healthy people and tuberculosis patients and identified several candidate volatile compounds that could be detected by the sensors. In Phase II they will further optimize the plaster to improve wearability and detection, and perform field tests at tuberculosis clinics in South Africa, India and China.