Awarded Grants

Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems. Each initiative is an experiment in the use of challenges to focus innovation on making an impact. Individual challenges address some of the same problems, but from differing perspectives.

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Fabric Chips: A Versatile Platform for Low-Cost, Rapid and Multiplexed Diagnostics

Dhananjaya DendukuriAchira Labs Private LimitedBengaluru, Karnataka, India
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
15 Jun 2011

Dhananjaya Dendukuri and colleagues at Achira Labs in Inida are developing weaving as a platform for the manufacture of Fabchips (Fabric chips) that can be used to perform low­cost, rapid and multiplexed diagnostic tests. Textile weaving is a mature process that can help make reagent­functionalized chips in a convenient, affordable and scalable manner.

Sample Collection and Processing for Multiplexed Blood-based Point-of-Care Analysis

Nguyen TrungNational Hospital for Tropical DiseasesHo Chi Minh City, , Vietnam
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
1 Jul 2011

Nguyen Trung and Nguyen Van Kinh of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Vietnam will develop a patient­to­chip microfluidics component for the collection and processing of whole blood into plasma and cells for downstream testing to target highly prevalent tropical diseases.

Brighter Futures

Patricia GarciaUniversidad Peruana Cayetano HerediaLima, Peru
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
2 Jul 2011

Patricia Garcia of Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru will aim to understand the needs for point-of-care diagnostic tests for antenatal and child care in developing countries, and to develop and test a model for enhancing rapid and sustainable uptake of these tests using social and business innovation, which could have a significant impact on maternal and child health globally.

Sample Preparation/Nucleic Acid Extraction from Biological Samples

Chandrasekhar NairBigtec Private LimitedBangalore, Karnataka, India
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
3 Jul 2011

Chandrasekhar Nair of Bigtec Labs in India aims to create a low-cost, reliable, automated sample preparation system that can be interfaced with nucleic acid detection techniques such as real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Loop-Mediated Isothermal PCR (LAMP), thus enabling molecular diagnosis at the point-of-care. The technique involves the creation of a device to extract pathogenic DNA/RNA from biological samples such as blood, sputum, urine, and nasal/throat swabs.

Investigating the Feasibility of a Multi-disciplinary Point-of-Care Laboratory in an Active HIV Treatment Clinic and Determining the Impact of Point-of-Care Testing on Patient Outcome

Wendy StevensWits Health Consortium (Proprietary) LimitedSouth Africa
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
4 Jul 2011
Wendy Stevens of the National Health Laboratory Service and the University of Witwatersrand will lead a multi­ disciplinary team to assess the safety, cost effectiveness and impact on clinical outcome of implementing point­of care testing for HIV and tuberculosis in several different clinical settings in South Africa. The aim is to create a sustainable vehicle for future point­of­care evaluation and expansion and to provide sufficient information to inform national policy decisions, bearing in mind the need for equity, affordability and accessibility.

Development of a Rapid, Inexpensive, Equipment-free Nucleic Acid Extraction System

Qimin YouUstar Biotechnologies (Hangzhou) Ltd.Hangzhou Shi, Zhejiang Sheng, China
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
5 Jul 2011

Quimin You of Ustar Biotechnologies (Hangzhou) Ltd. in China will develop affordable, rapid, and simple nucleic acid extraction devices and an affordable, rapid and simple isothermal nucleic acid amplification assay that can be performed at the village level by minimally trained personnel.

Multi-Pathogen Point-of-Care Diagnostics (MPDx) in East Africa

Achilles KatambaMakerere UniversityKampala, Uganda
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
1 Aug 2011
Achilles Katamba and investigators from Makerere University, Northwestern University, the Indian School of Business and the University of Chicago are pioneering a methodological approach to inform the design of point-of-care diagnostic platforms and create a decision support tool to enable implementation of these platforms once they become available.

Development of a Hand-held, DNA Aptamer-based Surface Enhanced Resonance Raman Scattering (SERS) Biosensor for Direct Identification and Quantitation of Biomarkers and Pathogens in Complex Biological Samples at Point-of-Care

Jonathan BlackburnUniversity of Cape TownCape Town, South Africa
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
25 Aug 2011

Jonathan Blackburn of the University of Cape Town in South Africa will use tuberculosis as a model disease to develop a low-cost, hand-held biosensor that combines the selectivity of antigen-specific DNA aptamers with the exceptional specificity of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in order to reliably quantify pathogen biomarkers present in patient specimens at the point-of-care.

Implementation Research for Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis in India

Pradeep DasRajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical SciencesAgamkuan, Bihar, India
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
24 Oct 2011

Pradeep Das of Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences in India will determine how to ensure that people with Visceral Leishmaniasis, a neglected infectious disease of poverty in Bihar, India, receive the necessary point­of­care diagnosis needed to receive treatment and save lives. Many people die from this disease because they do not receive the available diagnosis and treatment.

Optimization and Evaluation of Flocked Swab Transport Systems for the Identification of Enteric Pathogens

David GoldfarbUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Grand Challenges Canada
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
1 Jan 2012

The objective of this Botswana-based collaboration led by David Goldfarb was to design and evaluate a user-friendly flocked-swab specimen collection system for the identification of enteric infections. This would have immediate impact in much of the world where diarrheal disease remains deadly and for the large part undiagnosed. Using an inexpensive innovation in specimen collection, the team diagnosed previously unrecognized pathogens that had caused the severe diarrhoea of over one-third of children in a group of southern African hospitals. McMaster University researchers designed and tested in Botswana a specially-designed "flocked swab" for collecting samples from children admitted to hospitals with severe diarrhoeal disease. The flocked rectal swab eliminates the wait and biohazard involved in obtaining and transporting a bulk stool (faeces) sample from an infant or child. This efficiency enabled implementation of a randomized clinical trial evaluating same-day diagnosis and treatment for a broad number of pathogens – the first study of its kind anywhere.

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