Héctor Morbidoni of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina proposes to develop a biosensor to detect bacterial pathogens using modified bacteriophages and an isothermal DNA amplification process. Commercial scale manufacturing of the biosensor should be possible due to the simplicity of their components.

Linda Broadbelt and Keith Tyo of Northwestern University in the U.S. propose to use a computer-aided design (CAD) tool to identify new metabolic mechanisms of action in priority drugs for the developing world. Understanding of these pathways could help optimize methods to produce low-cost versions of these therapeutics in microbes.

To improve rural health care for expecting mothers and newborns, Diagnostics For All (DFA) proposes to develop two accurate, low-cost (<$0.10) postage stamp-sized paper-based diagnostics for expecting mothers and newborns that will be used to detect - and enable proper treatment of - (i) anemia and hyper/hypoglycemia and (ii) hypertensive disorders. These point-of-care diagnostics require only a drop of blood or urine and require no additional steps beyond applying the sample. This means that they can be utilized by minimally-trained individuals in communities or clinics in rural settings to prevent unnecessary deaths during pregnancy and childbirth and improve the health of mothers and newborns through early detection of high-risk pregnancies and better patient management.

This project will involve the development of a novel aerosol delivery system for oxytocin that can be inhaled by patients from a simple, disposable device immediately after childbirth. This approach will remove the need for sterile conditions and trained health workers for administration of oxytocin. It will eliminate the risk of needle-stick injuries, transmission of blood-borne viruses and the costs associated with disposal of sharps and biohazard waste materials, as well as provide a more stable formulation of the drug that does not require cold-chain storage. This project will lead to increased access to proven evidence-based strategies for the prevention and treatment of post-partum hemorrhage for women in remote, rural communities. The product will be low-cost and have an immediate, substantial impact on maternal mortality and is not dependent on material resources, electricity, clean water or transportation to hospitals.

Mark van Raaij of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at the National Center for Biotechnology in Spain will work to build a library of engineered bacteriophages that can recognize, infect, and kill a range of enterobacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli.

Mark Prausnitz of Georgia Institute of Technology and Steve Oberste of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. will test the feasibility of using microneedle patches to deliver the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) instead of using intramuscular vaccine shots. This new method is designed to lower the required dose, simplify vaccination procedures, and eliminate dangers associated with hypodermic needles.

Alistair McEwan of The University of Sydney in Australia will develop a simple, low-cost electronic device built from recycled LEDs and microcontrollers to measure subcutaneous fat levels and thereby determine nutritional status in infants. Current methods are expensive or require a trained health worker, and as such are unsuitable for use particularly in developing countries. In Phase I, they performed several design iterations leading to the production of a low-cost prototype that was used for a small trial in newborns. The results revealed a good correlation with the gold standard method for measuring body fat percentage. In Phase II they will expand this trial and further optimize the device design. In addition, they will develop an algorithm to display the result using simple colored lights for use by untrained individuals.

Blanca Jimenez Cisneros of Mexican Autonomous National University in Mexico will develop software to automatically identify and quantify parasitic helminth eggs in wastewater. The software could provide a rapid and low-cost method for untrained personnel to test wastewater before its reuse in agriculture, thereby reducing parasitic infections in local populations. In Phase I, Cisneros generated an image database of a variety of common helminth species and developed an algorithm that could effectively identify helminth eggs from seven different species in two different water quality conditions. In Phase II, she will expand the image database to cover more species, and upgrade the software protocol to identify eggs in water with higher solid contents, such as fecal sludge and excreta. Cisneros will also develop a simple software platform and a strategy for worldwide distribution to both low- and high-income countries.

Sergio Botero of Rockefeller University in the U.S. will build and test a library of yeast cells that express olfactory receptors encoded with a reporter gene that can react to various metabolic and infectious diseases. Such yeast cells could be used in a diagnostics platform to detect multiple diseases at a time.

Taber Hand of Wetlands Work! in Cambodia will field test a waste water treatment system that uses floating “pods” similar to children's wading pools that are filled with wetland plants and moving water and sit directly under the toilet of houseboats in floating villages in Southeast Asia. Bacteria that reside in the plant roots create a biofilm which traps organic matter and begins a food chain which breaks down the waste and cleans the water.

Yinjie Tang at Washington University in St. Louis in the U.S. proposes to develop a genetically engineered fungal species that can convert fecal sludge to butanol, a high-energy biofuel similar to gasoline. The fungal species could not only produce biofuels, but also kill pathogenic microorganisms in fecal sludge.

Jessica Fanzo of Bioversity International in Italy and colleagues at Save the Children UK will analyze the nutritional value and local acceptability of wild and neglected foods in Kenya to help introduce these underutilized foods and significantly reduce the costs of a nutritious diet for mothers and children in the region.