David Wang of Washington University in St. Louis in the U.S. will evaluate specific RNA bacteriophage (viruses that infect bacteria) as therapeutics to modulate the bacterial communities in inflammatory conditions such as environmental enteropathy. To date, only DNA phage have been explored as therapeutics despite RNA phage being able to kill a broader range of bacteria. They will test the effect of two prototypical RNA phage on the gut microbe population in a mouse model of intestinal inflammation. They will also use stool samples from children with environmental enteropathy to identify novel resistance genes that block the bactericidal effect of the RNA phage, which will help gauge their value as potential therapeutics.

Bradley Willenberg at the University of Central Florida Research Foundation in the U.S. will design a simple trap that works without electricity to help survey local vector mosquito populations and uses a color change to signal the presence of human disease-causing pathogens. They will develop a formulation based on toxic sugared water to attract specific types of mosquitoes to the trap. The sugar water will be mixed with a stable short nucleic acid sequence known as an aptamer, which they have designed to bind to the chikungunya virus, conjugated to gold nanoparticles. When a mosquito drinks the solution, its abdomen will turn blue if it is carrying this virus, and red if it isn’t, for an easy visual readout. They will test the performance of their device for attracting and killing the Aedes mosquito, and detecting the virus. Their approach could be used to detect other pathogens such as dengue virus and the malaria-causing Plasmodium parasite.

Paul Young of the University of Queensland in Australia will monitor mosquito populations using ultra bright nanoparticles coated with selected monoclonal antibodies to detect associated microbes such as Wolbachia, coupled with a low-cost readout device. The goal is a simple to use, portable platform that can be used in the field. They will develop the assay using a range of infected mosquitoes to identify the optimal antibody and nanoparticle format for rapid and specific detection, and evaluate sensitivity.

Kathleen Colson of The BOMA Project, Inc. in Kenya will investigate, measure and document how participation in BOMA’s Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP)—a holistic two-year program of sequenced interventions—translates to such gender-influenced outcomes as increased household financial decision-making by women, increased education opportunities for girls and increased food security and use of healthcare by the household. REAP is a high-impact poverty graduation program that addresses the geographic and socio-economic context of the arid and semi-arid lands of Africa, where the harsh effects of climate change and endemic extreme poverty persistently undermine the well-being of women and children. The project provides ultra-poor Kenyan women cash grants, business skills training, mentoring and the opportunity to set up their own business to help lift their families out of poverty. Giving women more power over household spending tends to lead to improved family health care and education. They will recruit 750 women living in extreme poverty in pastoral communities to their two-year poverty graduation program. Upon these women exiting REAP, they will analyze its impact on improving the education and social standing of women and girls, and the physical and financial wellbeing of their families.