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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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Imaging Healthy Infant Brain Myelination

Sean DeoniBrown UniversityProvidence, Rhode Island, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Brain Function/Gestational Age
21 Oct 2014

Sean Deoni of Brown University in the U.S. will evaluate whether mapping myelination in the infant brain can predict their subsequent levels of cognitive ability such as language and motor functioning, which emerge later in childhood. Myelin is a lipid that is deposited around neuronal axons during development. Twenty-four infants between four and six months old will be recruited to a controlled pilot study. At six and 12 months the children will be evaluated for brain myelin content, using magnetic resonance imaging and neurocognitive functions, to link specific myelination levels with cognitive ability. In the future, this approach could also be used to measure the impact of the environment, such as diet, on brain development.

Voices that Count

Steff DeprezVredeseilandenLeuven, Belgium
Grand Challenges Explorations
Agricultural Programs
21 Oct 2014

Steff Deprez of Vredeseilanden in Belgium will develop an approach utilizing pattern detection software (SenseMaker) to translate feedback from smallholder farmers directly into quantitative data that can be easily queried by agricultural development program managers and evaluators. They will test their approach on rice, passion fruit and coffee smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan African to evaluate whether they should be included in modern markets. A so-called signification framework will be developed that comprises specific questions for the farmers in a format that allows them to supplement their feedback with additional narrative to facilitate conversion into statistical data. Participatory feedback sessions will also be organized. The entire approach will be cost-effective and designed for up to 3000 participants.

Newborn Face and Foot Analysis to Determine Gestational Age

Don SharkeyUniversity of NottinghamLoughborough, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Brain Function/Gestational Age
20 Oct 2014

Don Sharkey of the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom will develop a software-based analysis tool to automatically calculate gestational age from simple videos of newborn faces and feet. Knowing the gestational age, particularly for babies born preterm, is critical for ensuring their healthy development. However, current dating procedures are expensive and/or require trained personnel, and as such are often unavailable in low-middle income countries. They will create a face and foot video database of newborns with known gestational ages of between 23 and 42 weeks, and use automated methods to extract specific features and generate a gestational algorithm. This algorithm will then be validated in a separate group of newborns.

Gestational Dating at Birth by Metabolic Profile

Laura Jelliffe-PawlowskiUniversity of California San FranciscoSan Francisco, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Brain Function/Gestational Age
16 Oct 2014

Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski of the University of California, San Francisco in the U.S. is developing an algorithm to measure gestational age from metabolic markers taken during routine newborn screening. Measuring accurate gestational age is important for assessing infant health such as brain development, but it is challenging in developing countries without specialized equipment and expertise. In Phase I, they developed a statistical model using data on 51 metabolic markers from around 730,000 newborns in the U.S. that predicted gestational age at birth within around an average of one week margin of error. In Phase II, they will further adapt and test their algorithm for use in Malawi and Uganda by using existing data from 500 pregnancies in Malawi and 1000 in Uganda, and also determine its value for identifying newborns at risk of neonatal death or complications.

Low-cost Quantitative Assessment of Brain Maturation

Vasily YarnykhUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Brain Function/Gestational Age
16 Oct 2014

Vasily Yarnykh from the University of Washington in the U.S. will test whether measuring myelin content in the brain using a low-cost magnetic resonance imaging method can act as a reliable biomarker for brain maturation. They will build on a method involving the measurement of the macromolecular proton fraction by magnetic resonance. This method will be converted to a non-image-based and non-localized method that can be more easily and inexpensively used to measure myelin content in developing countries. The new method will be tested for accuracy compared to the standard method, and used on children of a range of ages to see if it can differentiate brain maturation level.

Using Eye Movements To Assess Functional Brain Development in Infants

Shannon Ross-SheehyEast Tennessee State UniversityJohnson City, Tennessee, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Brain Function/Gestational Age
16 Oct 2014

Shannon Ross-Sheehy of East Tennessee State University in the U.S. will study whether simply monitoring eye movements in infants can be used to measure their neural development. During the first year of life, infant's brains are highly plastic and thus potentially more amenable to the correction of any developmental defects. However, these defects are often only detected in childhood, which may be too late. They will study the changes in eye movement patterns in infants over time at ages four, seven and ten months, and in parallel measure cognitive development to identify links between the two. This method would be relatively inexpensive and quick to perform, and therefore be suitable for use also in developing countries.

Gestational Age, Metabolic Markers, and Academic Achievement

George WehbyUniversity of IowaIowa City, Iowa, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Brain Function/Gestational Age
16 Oct 2014

George Wehby and colleagues at the University of Iowa in the U.S. will evaluate newborn metabolic biomarkers for their ability to predict gestational age, and identify associations between them and long-term academic achievement. They will analyze existing newborn metabolic profiles and academic tests from almost one million children in Iowa born between 1980 and 2006 to identify the most predictive biomarkers. In the future they will expand their method to developing countries to help estimate gestational age and identify newborns at risk of neurodevelopmental defects. Being able to accurately determine gestational age is critical in preterm birth, which is the leading cause of child death worldwide. And knowing which regions have the highest incidence of preterm births would help better target prevention strategies. In Phase I, they identified candidate biomarkers that can be detected by tandem mass spectrometry using existing dried blood spot samples and based on around 150,000 children born between 1980 and 2006 in Iowa, they developed a predictive model for gestational age. In Phase II, through a grant awarded to Kelli Ryckman, their model will be tested using around 2,000 cord blood samples from newborns in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Tanzania, and refine it to improve accuracy by measuring additional biomarkers such as hemoglobin.

Childhood Malnutrition and Enteric Infections

Linda SaifOhio State UniversityColumbus, Ohio, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Enteric Disease Models
15 Oct 2014

Linda Saif from Ohio State University in the U.S. will develop a pig model to recapitulate the vicious cycle of malnutrition and repeated enteric infections seen in young children in developing countries in order to study the underlying biology and identify effective treatments. Childhood malnutrition is rife in impoverished regions, and causes substantial mortality and disabilities. It impairs gut function and immunity, and leads to increased enteric infection rates. They will explore the relationship between malnutrition and enteric infections using piglet models of malnutrition and multiple pathogen-associated enteropathy, and analyze the effects on the cellular and microbial composition of the gut, and the immune response. They will also test whether specific diets and supplements such as tryptophan can restore healthy gut function.

HIV Projection Mapping with Crack Users in Mexico City

Alice CepedaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Behavior Change
15 Oct 2014

Alice Cepeda from the University of Southern California in the U.S. will project short 3-D messages given by crack users on selected walls and buildings to illustrate the dangers of crack use on HIV risk, and to promote healthy behavior and testing in local communities. Mexico has seen a recent increase in crack cocaine consumption, which is associated with an increased risk of HIV. They will focus on a vulnerable community in Mexico City, and select message content and ideal sites and times to project the messages. During the projections, they will provide trained individuals to offer additional health advice and on-site HIV testing. The effects will be evaluated on the behavior of 50 local crack users.

Using Mobile Phone for Transparent School Feeding Tendering

Lesley DrakeImperial College LondonLondon, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Agricultural Programs
15 Oct 2014

Lesley Drake of Imperial College London in the United Kingdom will develop a mobile phone-based platform to increase the participation of smallholder farmers in the Kenyan government's homegrown school meals program. The technology will enable schools to report their food requirements, and the Ministry to advertise tenders to registered sellers including smallholder farmers, all via mobile phone. This approach will lower the cost of making school feeding contracts and make the process transparent, as well as providing a new market for local farmers. They will develop and pilot test the platform with 48 schools in two counties in Kenya.

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