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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Untimely Triggering of the Fusion Mechanism Used by Viruses for Entry: A New Antiviral Approach Using Engineered Microparticles

Anne MosconaCornell UniversityIthaca, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

Anne Moscona of Weill-Cornell Medical College will investigate a new approach to treating respiratory viral disease by using artificial cell-like structures to present molecules that would attract the virus and activate the fusion mechanism it uses to enter cells. By triggering this mechanism prematurely, viruses can't enter target cells and cause infection.

Engineering High Affinity, Broadly Specific T cell Receptors to Target HIV-1 Variants

Marilyn FernandezAltor BioScience CorporationMiramar, Florida, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

Marilyn Fernandez of Altor Bioscience Corporation in the U.S. will engineer single chain T cell receptors (TCR) to deliver immunotherapies to HIV-infected cells. These TCRs will be engineered to recognize known viral variants to linked to the emergence of drug-resistant HIV mutations.

Strategies to Disable Hypermutagenesis in Malaria Parasites

Pradipsinh RathodUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

To fight emergence of drug and vaccine resistance in rapidly evolving parasites, Pradipsinh K. Rathod of the University of Washington in the U.S. will identify the parts of the malaria genome which contribute to rapid increases in mutations, and will screen for small molecules that inhibit these mechanisms. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that hypermutagenesis does play a strong role in the development of drug resistance. In Phase II, Rathod's team is continuing to isolate the genetic drivers of hypermutagenesis with the aim of developing a way to disable the process and improve success rates of anti-malarial drugs.

Multiplex Tetramer Analysis of Vaccine Responses

Mark DavisStanford UniversityStanford, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Mark Davis of Stanford University in the U.S. will develop a new method to assess specific T cell responses to vaccinations. Using combinations of labeled tetramers to identify many types of T cell responses, Davis hopes to create better and more comprehensive assessments of immunity generated by vaccines. This project's Phase I led to the development of a new way to color-code T cells as a way to visually quantify immune response to an influenza vaccine. In Phase II, Davis and his team are extending this approach to quantify immune response to other vaccines in an effort to reduce the time needed to determine if a vaccine is working.

P. falciparum Sexual Reproduction in Vitro and High-Volume Infectious Sporozoite Production for Whole Cell Vaccines

James KublinFred Hutchinson Cancer Research CenterSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

To generate the large numbers of infective malaria sporozites needed for use in an effective vaccine, James Kublin of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the U.S. will use high throughput screens to develop a library of media compounds needed to optimize in vitro production.

The Eye as a Source of Novel Broad-Spectrum Anti-Infectives

Suzanne FleiszigUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Suzanne Fleiszig of the University of California, Berkeley will attempt to decipher the molecular mechanisms that maintain broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of the healthy eye, which could lead to innovative strategies to combat infectious disease in general.

VACAS: Vaccinating Adjuvant Core Antigen Shell Nanoparticles

François BaneyxUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

François Baneyx of the University of Washington in the U.S. will synthesize nanoparticles consisting of an inorganic adjuvant core surrounded by a three-dimensional antigen shell. The particles will target lymph node dendritic cells that play a key role in initiating immune responses to infectious diseases.

Engineered Nanoparticle (Liposome) to Target Viral Genetic Material Through Fusion

Nikita MalaviaChildren's Hospital BostonBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Nikita Malavia of Boston's Children's Hospital has teamed up with MIT's Robert Langer to engineer nanoparticles that mimic host cells in an attempt to deceive viruses into releasing genetic material which is rendered useless by viral inhibitors.

Molecular Engineering of Erythrotropic Bacteria for Treatment and Prevention of Human Malaria

Joseph DeRisiUniversity of California San FranciscoSan Francisco, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Joseph DeRisi of the University of California at San Francisco proposes to engineer naturally occurring erythrotropic bacteria to target malaria infected red blood cells to serve as a potential prophylactic and treatment for malaria in humans.

Preventing Malaria Transmission via Mosquito Sensory Damage/Disorientation

Szabolcs MarkaColumbia UniversityNew York, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Optical information, temperature gradients, trace gases and volatile odors are key sensory inputs for mosquitoes. To mitigate the transmission of malaria, Szabolcs Marka of Columbia University in the U.S. will research how optical irradiation might be used to physically disrupt mosquitoes' sensory systems such that they can't find human hosts. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that insects are repelled or change their flight behavior in response to different infrared light gradients. In Phase II, Marka's team will build on this research to design a prototype device that can deter insect vectors from human hosts.

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