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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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DigiMat. Tracking Realtime Immunisation Data (DigiTrack)

Chibuzo OparaDrugStoc E Hub Ltd.Lagos, Nigeria
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 Nov 2018

Chibuzo Opara of DrugStoc E Hub Ltd. in Nigeria will equip vaccine storage and transport sites with calibrated weighing mats (Digimats) that automatically transmit vaccine quantities in real time to better monitor delivery chains in the community and improve supply. Monitoring the movement of vaccines at the national and district level is currently performed by the Nigerian immunization program. However, accurate monitoring at the local level requires alternative, more automated approaches to avoid human error. They will calibrate their Digimats to recognize the weight of specific vaccines, and identify 20 sites across three states, including storage warehouses and trucks, where they will be positioned to automatically transmit data over a period of six months. These data will be collected by mobile tablets and interfaced with the national vaccine delivery dashboard to provide real-time stock counts and resupply alerts.

DNA Vaccines with Strongly Enhanced Potency

Andrew HeathUniversity of SheffieldSheffield, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Andrew Heath of University of Sheffield in the U.K. will research whether the immune responses to DNA vaccines can be enhanced with novel adjuvants.

Dominant Lethal Probes to Investigate Latency in TB

Babak JavidHarvard UniversityCambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Tuberculosis Latency
1 May 2009

Babak Javid of the Harvard School of Public Health in the U.S. will explore the hypothesis that latent bacteria are metabolically active during latency. The physiology of the tuberculosis bacteria during latency is not well understood. The team will use novel genetic probes to determine whether transcription and translation occur in the population of cells that are responsible for re-activation of TB from models of latency.

Drug-Induced Differentiation of Trypanosomes Leads to Lysis

Reto BrunSwiss Tropical & Public Health InstituteBasel, Switzerland
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

Reto Brun (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute) and Isabel Roditi (University of Bern) in Switzerland seek to identify small molecules that prematurely induce African trypanosomes, which are parasites that cause fatal sleeping sickness, to differentiate into the life stages necessary for transmission of the parasite. Forcing this transformation within the mammalian host could be the basis for new methods to kill trypanosomes, and this concept might be applied to other vector-borne disease . In this project’s Phase I research, Brun and Roditi developed a whole-cell assay to identify small molecules that stimulate early differentiation of African trypanosomes. In Phase II, they will perform high-throughput screens for such small molecules, validate active molecules in a suite of assays, and study them in a mouse model of infection.

Drugs That Inhibit Malaria Infection and Block Transmission

Victor NussenzweigNew York UniversityNew York, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Victor Nussenzweig of the New York University School of Medicine in the U.S. seeks to develop a small molecule drugs to inhibit key kinase enzymes in the malaria parasite that are thought to control latency in parasite infections. Such fundamental knowledge may enable new tools to clear the latent forms of P. vivax parasites or block transmission of the disease by targeting sporozoites.

Drugs That Invert Selection for Resistance

Roy KishonyHarvard UniversityCambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

Roy Kishony of Harvard University will seek to identify chemical entities that act as “selection inverters” which actively target antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Selection- inverters could be used in combination with traditional antibiotics to prevent resistance and possibly even drive a drug-resistant bacteria population back to drug sensitivity.

Drugs That Target Multiple Receptors for Anthelmintics

Timothy GearyMcGill UniversityMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

Timothy Geary at McGill University in Canada proposed screening chemicals derived from the biological diversity found in Africa to identify lead compounds for the development of drugs to treat infections caused by parasitic nematode worms. In this project’s Phase I research, Dr. Geary established drug discovery centers at the Universities of Botswana and Cape Town, South Africa to screen for compounds that target a nematode family of peptidergic G Protein-coupled receptors. In Phase II, the team is expanding the screening efforts.

Dual-Mode Binding Inhibitors to Suppress P. falciparum DHFRs

Bongkoch TarnchompooNational Center for Genetic Engineering and BiotechnologyPathumthani, Thailand
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

Bongkoch Tarnchompoo of the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Thailand will attempt to develop and test a novel drug that binds to the two pathways used by the DHFR enzyme in P. falciparum to mutate. By tethering these active sites, the dual-binding drug will suppress the development of resistance to anti-malarial drugs.

Dynamic Evolution of Active and Latent Tuberculosis

Philana LinUniversity of PittsburghPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Tuberculosis Latency
1 May 2009

Philana Ling Lin of the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S. will use imaging technologies such as PET and CT scans to study the biological mechanisms related to the reactivation of latent tuberculosis to better understand the fundamental characteristics of reactivation, as well as provide insight about new ways to induce or limit reactivation of latent tuberculosis. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that a variety of tuberculosis lesions types (with both high and low metabolic activity) are seen during latent infection and lesions with higher levels of metabolic activity were more likely to reactivate under immune suppression. In Phase II, Lin will study how these lesions evolve during early infection to determine what factors may be responsible for the development of active disease and latent infection.

Early Childhood Development Friendly Index: Assessing the Enabling Environment for Nurturing Care in Brazilian Municipalities

Muriel GubertUniversidade de BrasíliaBrasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Data Science Approaches
1 Nov 2018

The study aims to develop an Early Childhood Development friendly index (ECD-FI) based on a core set of evidence-based nurturing care indicators to assess the factors contributing to enabling environments and promote ECD at the municipal level by monitoring and identifying opportunities to scale up ECD programs. The index will be created through machine learning and will run analytical models considering demographic information and risk factors at the municipal level. This disaggregated data is not available in Brazil.

Edible Micro-Balloons for Nutrition Enhancement

Muthupandian AshokkumarUniversity of MelbourneMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Nutrition
1 Nov 2018

Muthupandian Ashokkumar at the University of Melbourne in Australia, along with Francesca Cavalieri, Meifang Zhou, and Srinvas Mettu, will produce edible microballoons made from protein that contain essential nutrients for adding to common foods to combat malnutrition in mothers and infants. Encapsulating the nutrients, rather than adding them directly to food, helps keep them stable and promotes their absorption in the body. It can also mask unpleasant tastes, and control the timing and location of nutrient release, which can increase their performance. They have developed a method that uses ultrasound waves to encapsulate oil- and water-soluble vitamins and minerals within edible shells made from a range of proteins including milk and pea proteins. They will analyze the stability and strength of microballoons made from different materials that contain the recommended daily doses of nutrients for mothers and infants. They will also develop methods to encapsulate water, which could be used to reduce the fat content of fat-rich products.

Edumocón Móvil: Taking 21st Century Teacher Training to Rural, Post-Conflict Colombia

Henry MaxCoschoolBogota, Cundinamarca, Colombia
Grand Challenges
Teaching and School Leadership
1 Nov 2018

Henry May of Coschool in Colombia will develop an integrated teaching course including in-person boot camps, mobile learning, and online communities, to equip teachers with advanced skills and tools to promote the wellbeing of themselves and their schools and communities. Teaching 21st century skills can help bridge the wide achievement gap between urban and rural communities in Colombia, and also help peace building in post-conflict territory. Their method focuses on five skills: growth mindset, self-awareness, empathy, critical thinking, and grit. To promote teaching of these skills, they have designed an integrated course that involves a six-hour boot camp for effective face-to-face teaching of large numbers of teachers; a twenty-hour course on a mobile, gamified platform; and monthly webinars for small groups with workshops and interactive learning. They will create the new course content and evaluate it by running the program over nine months with 1,000 teachers in five regions in Colombia.

Efficacy of L-isoleucine Supplemented Food and Vitamin D in the Treatment of Childhood Pneumonia and Diarrhea in Hospitalized Patients: A Novel Therapeutic Approach

Nur AlamInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, BangladeshDhaka, Bangladesh
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Nur Alam of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh will test whether adding L-isoleucine and Vitamin D to food served to hospitalized children will induce secretion of antimicrobial peptides that can aid recovery from acute diarrhea and pneumonia.

Electrical Detection of TB Signals in Breath

William RoyeaNext Dimension Technologies, Inc.Pasadena, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics
1 Nov 2009

William Royea of Next Dimensions Technology, Inc., in the U.S. seeks to develop a point-of-care breath analyzer. The proposed system aims to use an array of chemical films that are sensitive to changes in electrical conduction as a result of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by tuberculosis (TB). In this project’s Phase I research, Royea and his team demonstrated proof-of-concept for detecting breath-based biomarkers of TB in a clinical setting. In Phase II, the team will further develop and test a prototype device that provides higher sensitivity and specificity to not only identify active TB disease in ill patients, but also potentially to distinguish between various drug-resistant strains of the mycobacterium.

Electronic Decision Support System for Accurate Immunization

Ali TurabInteractive Research and Development Global LimitedSingapore, Singapore
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 Nov 2018

Ali Turab of IRD Global Ltd. in Singapore will develop a decision support tool that can be integrated with digital immunization registries to automatically construct optimal appointment schedules for every child that can adjust for missed immunizations and the introduction of new vaccines. A large majority of children, in both developing and developed countries, are not immunized at the recommended times, which can increase the risk of severe diseases. When a vaccination is missed, it is left to the health care professional to work out the best alternative schedule, which is often inaccurate. To help with this, they will design software that incorporates a child's vaccination history and age to automatically construct a new immunization schedule after every appointment, and that can also identify opportunities to vaccinate children even when they are at a clinic for other reasons. The software will integrate with existing health systems in several developing countries. They will conduct a mixed methods study at the Indus Hospital Korangi Campus in Pakistan to validate their approach for generating optimal schedules and assess usability by health workers.

Electronic Nose to Smell Tuberculosis from Breath VOCs

Ranjan NandaInternational Centre for Genetic Engineering and BiotechnologyNew Delhi, , India
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics
1 Nov 2009

Ranjan Nanda and Virander Chauhan of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology in India will gather breath samples from tuberculosis patients and use gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify and track unique molecules such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that might serve as biomarkers to diagnose tuberculosis. The overall goal is to then create a handheld "electronic nose" to diagnose the disease in resource-poor settings. The project's Phase I research demonstrated that although no single VOC could be used as a biomarker to diagnose TB, there are key molecules in breath that do vary based on TB exposure and disease's level of activity. In Phase II, Nanda will refine the biomarker signature to diagnose TB and test the ability of the portable "electronic nose" diagnostic tool equipped with a sensor array to specifically detect these key molecules in TB patients in India.

Elimination of HIV Infected Cells via the Use of Antibody Targeted, Inductively Heated Nanoparticles

Ralph AlbrechtUniversity of WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

Ralph Albrecht of the University of Wisconsin in the U.S. seeks to develop magnetite nanoparticles conjugated to antibodies that will selectively bind to HIV-infected cells. Once bound to the infected cells, the magnetite is heated using an externally applied magnetic field; melting holes in the membrane of the infected cell and killing it.

Endectocides for Controlling Transmission of Mosquito-borne Diseases

Brian FoyColorado State UniversityFort Collins, Colorado, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Brian Foy and Massamba Sylla of Colorado State University will research whether providing endectocides, drugs that kill parasitic worms, to animals and humans will effectively kill mosquitoes which feed on them. Through targeted and spaced drug administration, mosquitoes incubating disease-causing pathogens are expected to die prematurely, thus interrupting disease transmission, but these methods would limit the development of endectocide resistance.

Engineered H. pylori as a Diarrheal Vaccine Platform

Martin BlaserNew York UniversityNew York, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 Nov 2009

Martin Blaser of the New York University School of Medicine in the U.S. proposes to engineer a harmless modification of H. pylori, a bacteria commonly found in the human stomach, to deliver antigens to protect against intestinal pathogens such as cholera and campylobacter. This modified H. pylori can only survive in the presence of an enzyme supplied in special drinking water, allowing those administering the vaccine to regulate its colonization.

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.

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.

Engineering the CD4+ T-Cell Response for Improved Immunity

Samuel LandryTulane UniversityNew Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Samuel Landry of Tulane University will research the use of immune tolerance of dominant HIV epitopes prior to conventional vaccination with an HIV protein in order to stimulate a broader immune response.

Engineers, Pharmacists and Chemists Collaborating on the Development of an Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS) to Remove Antibiotics from Hospital Wastewater

Leonardo MouraUniversidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Drug Resistance Burden
1 Nov 2018

The project proposes to use an aerobic granular sludge (AGS) - a technology based on microbial community - to remove antibiotics and antimicrobial resistant genes from hospital wastewater. AGS is one of the latest innovations and it has not yet been applied for the treatment of hospital wastewater.

Enhanced Group Antenatal Care for Adolescents in Mali

Sarah MurrayJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Sarah Murray and colleagues of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Nursing in the U.S. along with colleagues at the University of Bamako in Mali will develop a group approach to provide better antenatal care to pregnant adolescents in Mali and protect them from common mental disorders such as depression. Over half of adolescent girls in Mali have a child before their 18th birthday, and as a consequence are more likely to live in poverty, be uneducated, and experience violence. Although antenatal health services and support are available, they are limited. To address this, they will develop a group format for more efficient delivery of antenatal mental health care that encourages open discussions and provides social networks and support. This will be done in collaboration with adolescent mothers, their husbands, and health care providers. They will train health care workers to teach relevant coping strategies in a group format using cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, and pilot test their approach on small groups of pregnant adolescents with partners in Bamako, Mali.

Enhancing Community Food Security in Urban and Rural Areas Through Outreach Youth Champions (EFSOYC)

Lucy Kathuri-OgolaKenyatta UniversityNairobi, Kenya
Grand Challenges
Global Citizenship
1 Nov 2018

Lucy Kathuri-Ogola of Kenyatta University in Kenya will train young people to be outreach youth champions to support local smallholder farming households with low food security in Kenya by teaching them new agricultural practices and building financial and social support networks. They will develop a mobile phone application and training platform and test their approach in selected rural and urban areas in Kenya where many smallholder farming families rely heavily on food relief. Sixteen young people who are leaving university will be recruited as outreach youth champions and intensively trained over three weeks on best agricultural practices, and financial and support services such as farmer saving groups. The trained youths will then each go back into their own communities and work with ten households to improve overall social and economic status. They will use surveys to evaluate the effect of their approach on food security.

Enhancing TB Vaccines with Gene Silencing

Jinhee LeeUniversity of MassachusettsWorcester, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 Nov 2009

Jinhee Lee and Gary Ostroff of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the U.S. will test the idea of delivering small interfering RNA (siRNAs) via glucan particles in an oral TB vaccine formulation. The team will utilize the siRNAs' ability to block immunosuppressive signaling and amplify the immune response.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Vaccines by Targeting to a New Dendritic Cell Molecule

Irina CaminschiThe Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical ResearchVictoria, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Irina Caminschi of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia will test whether a prototype malaria vaccine which targets a newly identified dendritic cell molecule will produce a strong antibody response without the use of adjuvants.

Ensuring Infant Immunization Timeliness and Completion in Urban Slums Through Older Women's Participation

Folusho BalogunUniversity of Ibadan, College of MedicineIbadan, Nigeria
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 May 2018

Folusho Balogun of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria will train older women who are traditionally involved in childcare in Nigeria to ensure infants in their communities are fully immunized. Many young children in Nigeria, particularly those in urban slums, are not fully immunized, or are immunized too late, leading to an unacceptably high under-five mortality rate. This is due in part to the mothers not understanding how critical immunizations are. In many African nations, the care of young children is also overseen by older women in the community such as grandmothers or neighbors. They hypothesize that training these older women to be formally involved in promoting immunizations will help to ensure all children complete the full package on time. They will select five urban slum communities in southwest Nigeria and use focus group discussions to explore the views of the older women on current immunization programs. They will use this to design a manual to train a group of older women who will be associated with pregnant women in the community, and evaluate the effect on immunization of the infants up to nine months.

Eradication of HIV and HIV-Infected cells by Nanoparticle-Activated Autophagy

Johnny HeIndiana University FoundationBloomington, Indiana, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

Johnny He of Indiana University proposes to engineer biodegradable nanoparticles that target active and latent HIV-infected cells by binding to the carbohydrate portion of the protein gp120, which the virus uses to seek out host cells. The “sticky” nanoparticles would then bind HIV, either in the blood, or within cells, killing the virus.

Eradication of Malaria through the Development of Host Directed Therapy

Simon FooteMenzies Research InstituteDarwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
8 Oct 2009

Simon Foote of the Menzies Research Institute at the University of Tasmania in Australia will use "forward genetic screening" approaches identify mutations that confer resistance after exposure to malaria parasites. The team will use this powerful information to develop drug therapies that target the human host and mimic these protective genetic effects.

Evaluation of an Infusion Monitoring Device as a Cost-Effective Way to Increase Safe Access to Oxytocin and Magesium Sulfate

Beth KolkoShift Labs, IncSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Mar 2018

Evaluation of an Infusion Monitoring Device as a cost-effective way to increase safe access to oxytocin and magesium sulfate

Evolutionary-Based Host Target Therapeutic Approach Sidesteps HIV/AIDS Drug Resistance

Walter MessierEvolutionary GenomicsLafayette, Colorado, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

While humans and chimpanzees share an overwhelming similarity between genes, primates exhibit a resistance to AIDS. Walter Messier of biotechnology company Evolutionary Genomics in the U.S. will research the mechanisms of eight genes that have adapted in chimps to identify how viral suppression works.

Excreting HIV Using Antibodies

Edward DolkUtrecht UniversityUtrecht, Netherlands
Grand Challenges Explorations
Mucosal Immunity
6 Oct 2009

Edward Dolk of Utrecht University in the Netherlands proposes using two-sided antibodies, which bind to HIV and to transport receptors in the epithelium. Binding these receptors will cause excretion of the HIV particles outside of the body, thereby reducing viral load.

Exosomes as a Novel M. tuberculosis Vaccine

Jeff SchoreyUniversity of Notre DameNotre Dame, Indiana, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

Jeff Schorey of the University of Notre Dame in the U.S. will evaluate the use of exosomes, which are small membrane vesicles released from macrophages infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as a new platform for TB vaccines. Exosomes contain proteins and glycolipids that can elicit a robust innate and acquired immune response.

Experimental Human Carriage of Pneumococci

Stephen GordonLiverpool School of Tropical MedicineLiverpool, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

Because human carriage of pneumococcus usually results in improved immunity to future infections without any development of disease, Stephen Gordon of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom will use an intranasal inoculation with a safe strain of the bacteria to study the mechanisms of mucosal immunity in the lungs and to explore the potential for a vaccine based on his findings. In this project's Phase I research, Gordon successfully demonstrated that human carriage of pneumococcus provides improved immunity to future infections, and that nasal inoculation immunizes the lungs against the pathogen. In Phase II, Gordon will work to assess the reproducibility of his model to ensure its robustness as a candidate for a pneumococcal vaccine.

Expression of Multiple Anti-Viral Molecules Within the Mucosal Milieu via Bacteriophage-Mediated Plasmid Transduction of Endogenous Mucosal Bacterial Populations

Leonard DamelinNational Health Laboratory ServiceJohannesburg, South Africa
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

Lactobacillus bacteria, typically found in the cervix and vagina of healthy women, have been found to provide a natural barrier against HIV infection. Dr. Leonard Damelin will investigate whether anti-HIV molecules can be introduced via bacteriophages into existing Lactobacillus populations to further fortify this protective barrier.

Fermentation Based Mosquito Repelling Device

Peter YigaAdhocWorks CCJohannesburg, South Africa
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Peter Lubega Yiga of AdhocWorks Foundation in South Africa will test the efficacy of small household containers in which a non-toxic formulation is mixed with water, releasing carbon dioxide and alcohol vapors as a way to repel mosquitos. The investigators will test the device in independent field trials to optimize its usefulness as an alternative to insecticides.

Finding Malaria Relapse Using Liver Function Tests

A. NagVivekananda International Health CentreKolkata, West Bengal, India
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Abani Nag and Amiya Hati of Vivekananda International Health Centre in India will test the hypothesis that ultrasound measurements of the liver and spleen, as well as functional liver enzyme tests, will to help differentiate cases of relapse versus re-infection of malaria, leading to more appropriate treatment and drug therapies.

Folic Acid and Iron: Next Generation Nutrition in Uganda

Lorraine WeatherspoonMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Nutrition
1 Nov 2018

Lorraine Weatherspoon of Michigan State University in the U.S. will develop a blended instant bean sauce in an edible pouch that provides a culturally-acceptable iron and folic acid supplement for low-income pregnant women in Uganda. Iron and folic acid are particularly important during pregnancy as they reduce the risk of low birth weight and neural tube defects amongst many other morbidities and mortalities also for the mothers. Supplements provided as tablets are available, but have not been widely accepted. They are developing a more appealing iron and folic acid supplement by combining it with a commonly used product: a bean and silver fish sauce that can be made with local ingredients. They are using dried namulonge beans as they have high yields and a desirable taste, mixed with roasted, milled silver fish and micronutrients, packaged in an edible film to protect the food during storage and transport. The food is cooked in hot water and eaten with traditional foods such as cooking banana or rice. They will assess the nutritional composite of the product and acceptability by the target group. Their product will then be tested in a randomized controlled trial with teenage women at different stages of pregnancy at an antenatal clinic in Kampala to determine its effect on nutrition during pregnancy and the overall health of the mother and child at birth.

Food-Derived Nutraceutical Encapsulation System for Food Fortification

Joachim LooNanyang Technological UniversitySingapore, Singapore
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Nutrition
1 Nov 2018

Joachim Loo of Nanyang Technical University in Singapore will develop techniques to encapsulate micronutrients such as iron for food fortification using okara, which is a nutritionally-rich pulp that is made as a wasted by-product during the production of soybean products. Micronutrient malnutrition affects two billion people globally. Providing micronutrients in the diet is difficult because they are unstable by themselves, and so need some form of protection, for example by encapsulating them in a stable, digestible material. Okara is produced in large quantities during the production of soybean products like tofu and soya milk, leading to high environmental and economic costs for disposal. They will determine whether okara can be repurposed as an encapsulation material for micronutrients by developing and testing drying and sterilization methods and designing protocols to encapsulate vitamin A and iron. They will then evaluate the ability of the okara microcapsules to release bioactive micronutrients when exposed to artificial gastric and intestinal fluids.

FREo2 Solar: Battery-Free Solar-Powered Oxygen System for Small Health Facilities

Bryn SobottFRE02 FoundationMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Mar 2018

FREO2 Solar: Battery-free solar-powered oxygen system for small health facilities

Gene Locking: Sequence-Specific Targeting of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Samantha SampsonImperial College LondonLondon, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

Samantha Sampson of Imperial College London proposes introducing short strands of modified DNA into tuberculosis cells for direct and highly specific targeting of DNA sequences. If successful, it will effectively “lock” DNA, obstruct replication and transcription, and prevent bacterial growth and survival.

Generation of an Ethnically Diverse Panel of Pluripotent Stem Cells for Drug Screens

Jeanne LoringBurnham Institute for Medical ResearchLa Jolla, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

Manipulation of skin cells can now create pluripotent cells which can proliferate and differentiate into many human cell types. This new technology will be employed by Jeanne Loring of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research to generate pluripotent cell lines for ethnically diverse populations to be used a genetically appropriate model to develop more specific and appropriate therapies against infectious disease.

Generation of Influenza-Resistant Chicken by Triple Combination Lentiviral Vector-mediated Genetic Modification

Chen YangchaoThe Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong, China
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

Chen Yangchao of the Chinese University of Hong Kong proposes developing a lentiviral vector that targets the entry and replication of influenza viruses in domestic chickens. The team plans to test the ability of these modified chickens to be resistant to various influenza viruses in an effort to reduce the frequency of flu epidemics in poultry and, ultimately, in humans.

Genetic Fossils Used As Vaccine Targets for HIV

Jonah SachaOregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, Oregon, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 Nov 2009

Because HIV infection activates naturally-dormant endogenous retroviruses (ERV) in human cells, Jonah Sacha will target T cells against these ERV antigens. Such targeting to eliminate HIV infected cells could be the basis for new host-directed vaccines. In this project’s Phase I research, Sacha and collaborators demonstrated that ERV-specific antibodies are specifically triggered by infection with an exogenous retrovirus like SIV or HIV. In Phase II, Sacha, now at the Oregon Health & Science University in the U.S., will investigate whether ERV-specific antibodies can block transmission of AIDS viruses in animal models, leading to their potential use as a therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine.

Genetic Modification of Bacteria to Rapidly Generate Economical Vaccines for Bacterial Infections

Allan SaulNovartis Vaccines Institute for Global HealthSienna, Italy
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Allan Saul of the Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health in Italy will genetically modify gram-negative bacteria to generate large quantities of their outer membranes, which can be loaded with antigens that stimulate immune responses. This technology could prove to be a reliable and economic platform for generation of new vaccines.

Genetic Resistance to HIV in Human African Forest Populations?

Alfred RocaBoard of Trustees of the University of IllinoisChicago, Illinois, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

Using genome scans, Alfred Roca of the University of Illinois will test the possibility that isolated African populations have been repeatedly exposed to chimpanzee immunodeficiency viruses, and have evolved resistance to HIV. Ascertaining whether they display resistance to HIV could lead to new ways to fight HIV in other populations.

Genetically Programmed Pathogen Sense and Destroy

Ron WeissPrinceton UniversityPrinceton, New Jersey, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Saurabh Gupta and Ron Weiss of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. proposed creating sentinel cells that can detect the presence of a pathogen, report its identity with a biological signal, and secrete molecules to destroy it. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that commensal bacteria can be engineered to detect and specifically kill the model bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In Phase II, Gupta and Weiss will engineer the human microbiota to specifically detect and destroy the gut pathogen Shigella flexneri, which is responsible for high mortality rates in children.

Genetically-Encoded Technologies that Support the Design of Molecular Sensing-Regulatory Systems for Targeted Disease Treatment Strategies

Christina SmolkeStanford UniversityStanford, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Christina Smolke proposes to develop synthetic RNA devices that can process and transmit molecular input signals in hopes that this technology will result in more effective, targeted strategies for detecting and protecting against infectious disease.

Ghost HIV Virus to Stimulate the Immune System

Paul KimJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 Nov 2009

Paul Kim of Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. will modify HIV by removing the viral genome and replacing the outer domain of the gp120 protein, used by the virus to invade host immune cells, with receptors normally used by gp120 to bind to host cells. When this modified ghost virus encounters native HIV during an infection, hidden epitopes are exposed to the host immune system, stimulating antibodies to clear the infection.

Giving Malaria Mosquitoes a "Head Cold" to Stop Odor-Driven Feeding on Humans

Thomas BakerPennsylvania State UniversityUniversity Park, Pennsylvania, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 May 2009

Thomas Baker, Matt Thomas and Andrew Read of Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. will infect malaria mosquitoes with an insect-specific fungus to determine if the infected mosquitoes' sense of smell is suppressed and their ability to find human hosts and transmit malaria is reduced.

GP63-Targeted Conjugate for Photodynamic Therapy of Visceral Leishmaniasis

Tayyaba HasanGeneral Hospital CorporationBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 Oct 2008

Tayyaba Hasan of Harvard University in the U.S. will work to design a conjugate which will attach to the GP63 enzyme of the Leishmania parasite. This therapy will consist of a lightactivatable, non-toxic chemical that will be activated by a light source, killing the parasite but leaving surrounding cells intact.

Granuloma Grafting: A New Model for Mycobacterial Latency and Reactivation

Matyas SandorUniversity of WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Tuberculosis Latency
1 Oct 2008

Matyas Sandor of the University of Wisconsin will graft granulomas, nodules that form as a result of long-term inflammation, to study the role they play in TB latency and reactivation.

Green Fluorescent Protein as a New Universal Vaccine Against Influenza?

Huan NguyenInternational Vaccine InstituteSeoul, South Korea
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Huan Nguyen of the International Vaccine Institute in Korea will explore whether green fluorescent protein is endowed with unique immunological properties which could be used to develop a universal flu vaccine.

High-Quality Fish-Powder for New Cambodian Ready-To-Use Food

Lyndon PaulVissot Co LtdPhnom Penh, Cambodia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Nutrition
1 Nov 2018

Lyndon Paul of Vissot Co Ltd in Cambodia will reduce production costs for their nutritional wafer biscuits, which are made from a micronutrient-fortified fish powder, to help treat severe acute malnutrition in children and prevent malnutrition in young children and pregnant women in Cambodia. Acute and chronic malnutrition are a major public health concern in Cambodia. They previously developed a fortified fish powder and showed that it could replace milk in food for infants and was effective at reducing malnutrition. However, unstable supply and variable quality of the inland fish used to make the wafers have led to fluctuating prices. To address this, they will set up an optimized supply chain to reduce production costs by 60%. They will train workers in five communities where the fish are caught to sort, clean and pack the fish for transport to their factory in Phnom Penh. There, the fish will be processed into fish meal with acceptable taste and texture. They will evaluate the supply chain by collecting data from the fishers to the final product and evaluate quality and food safety.

High-Throughput Electrical Detection of Malaria Infection in Single RBCs under Low Parasite Density

Gautam SoniRaman Research InstituteBangalore, , India
Grand Challenges India
India-GCE
12 Feb 2018

Gautam V. Soni from Raman Research Institute in India will develop a Resistive Pulse Technique (RPT) for malaria detection based on the established fact that the Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (RBCs) are about 3 to 10 times stiffer than the normal RBCs, depending on the stage of parasite growth. Therefore, flow velocities of stiffer (infected) and softer (normal) RBCs can be easily distinguished in a simple fluidic channel using RPT. In this project, the difference in these flow velocities would be electrically measured across a spatial constriction to accurately determine the infected stage of individual RBCs. Various aspects of the device would be optimized for high throughput detection, ultimately yielding a portable electrical device capable of high sensitivity detection of one infected RBC per microliter of blood. They will also identify a clinical partner to work with infected blood samples from patients.

Highly Sensitive TB Detection using a Paper Cup

Scott PhillipsPennsylvania State UniversityUniversity Park, Pennsylvania, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics
1 Nov 2009

Scott Phillips, of Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. proposes to develop a polymer reagent to be deposited at the bottom of a small paper cup used to collect a sputum sample, where it will detect proteins secreted by tuberculosis and turn indicate TB-positive samples by changing color.

Highly Sensitive, Low-Cost Malaria Test

Juan SantiagoStanford UniversityStanford, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics
8 Oct 2009

Juan Santiago of Stanford University in the U.S. will develop small, disposable diagnostic device that utilizes isotachophoresis, a technique that separates charged particles, to concentrate a key biomarker of malaria parasites. The goal of this technique is to provide test results within three minutes at a sensitivity much greater than current tests, allowing for detection of malaria at much earlier stages of infection and in asymptomatic individuals.

HIV Incidence Testing in Hair

Christopher PilcherUniversity of California San FranciscoSan Francisco, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics
6 Oct 2009

Christopher Pilcher of the University of California, San Francisco in the U.S. will test the theory that HIV proteins, nucleic acids and antibodies to HIV can be detected in shafts of hair. This possible approach may provide a low-cost tool to determine the timing of HIV infection, which is essential to establish incidence rates in populations.

HIV Protease-Dependent Activation of a Cytotoxic Prodrug

Craig CrewsYale UniversityNew Haven, Connecticut, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 May 2009

For viral replication, HIV viruses are dependent upon proteins, called proteases, to appropriately cleave peptides and form functional viral particles. Craig Crews of Yale University in the U.S. will attempt to exploit these proteases by designing a drug that will cleave only to HIV protease and release a cytotoxin that results in programmed cell death.

Homing Endonucleases for the Cure of Latent HIV Infection

Keith JeromeUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

Keith Jerome of the University of Washington in the U.S. will utilize a class of proteins called homing endonucleases, which have the ability to cut DNA sequences, to target the DNA sequences unique to HIV, thus disabling the virus from making any more copies of itself. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that homing endonucleases can find a model virus hidden in the genes of infected cells. In Phase II, Jerome's team is now modifying these proteins in hopes of producing several that can specifically target and destroy HIV within infected cells.

Host Targets in Mtb Infection

Nigel SavageLeiden University Medical CenterLeiden, Netherlands
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

Because tuberculosis manipulates host cells to resist the immune response and current drug therapies, Nigel Savage of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands will utilize RNAi analysis to identify the essential pathways used by the bacteria to modify its host cell. By discovering these pathways, novel therapies can be developed to counteract this host manipulation without directly targeting the pathogen and causing the development of resistance.

How and When: Disentangling Cash and Care Effects of Conditional Cash Transfers on Birth Outcomes

Cecilia MachadoFundação Getúlio VargasRio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Data Science Approaches
1 Nov 2018

Seeks to understand the impacts of the Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer on birth outcomes (e.g., birth weight, gestational weeks, etc). The proposed design will disentangle the measured effects into two components: one that is associated to the cash transfer; and another related to prenatal care assistance. Moreover, this strategy will allow the researchers to determine the window of opportunity where CCT interventions exhibit highest impacts on birth outcomes, recognizing heterogeneous impacts according to how early in the pregnancy the CCT intervention starts.

How to Break B Tolerance and Induce HIV-Protective Antibodies to CCR5

Lucia LopalcoSan Raffaele Scientific InstituteMilano, Italy
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

HIV uses the CCR5 co-receptor protein found in mammals as a major pathway to enter target cells. Because some patients who are exposed, yet resistant, to the virus, or have HIV but do not ever progress to AIDS can exhibit the presence of CCR5 internalizing antibodies, Lucia Lopalco of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Italy will attempt to generate “anti-self” antibodies against CCR5 to knock out protein's co-receptor and effectively block HIV entry.

HSV-2 Vaccine Vector to Encode Multiple HIV T-cell Epitopes

Lynda MorrisonSaint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, Montana, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

Lynda Morrison of St. Louis University in the U.S. will develop a vaccine vector based on a prototype vaccine for herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) that encodes multiple CD8 T cell epitopes from HIV proteins, and test its ability to stimulate a robust CD8 T cell response against HIV.

Human Genetics of Tuberculosis Infection

Alexandre AlcaisINSERMParis, France
Grand Challenges Explorations
Tuberculosis Latency
1 Oct 2008

Alexandre Alcais of French National Institute for Health and Medical Research will study whether there is a genetic basis for innate resistance to TB infection through genome-wide linkage analysis of TB-specific T-cell phenotypes.

Human Polyomavirus BKV as a HIV Vaccine Vector

Simon LaceyBeckman Research Institute of the City of HopeDuarte, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

BK virus is a very common and non-pathogenic virus that persists in specific organs for long periods of time. Simon Lacey of Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope in the U.S. proposes using an engineered BK virus as a vaccine vector to introduce HIV polyepitope sequences in hopes of inducing a strong and long- lasting immune response against HIV.

Human-in-the-Loop Machine Learning and Improved Immunization Data

Benjamin FelsMacro-Eyes, Inc.Fall City, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 Nov 2018

Benjamin Fels and Suvrit Sra of Macro-Eyes, Inc. in the U.S. will engage with frontline health workers in immunization centers and combine their knowledge with existing supply chain and immunization data using machine learning to better predict vaccine demand and thereby improve immunization coverage. Vaccine supply levels in Ethiopia are predicted using data that may be inaccurate or outdated. These low-confidence data could be enhanced with the unique insights of frontline health workers by using machine learning, which is a valuable statistical method for increasing the accuracy of predictions. They will test this at three health centers in Ethiopia by exploring approaches such as WhatsApp to engage health workers and collect relevant information on vaccine stocks and demand in the clinics. These data, along with available supply data, will be used to train so-called classifiers, or algorithms, that transform the input data into more accurate predictions of monthly vaccine use. They will test whether their method improves the accuracy of predictions compared to the original methods.

Humanized Mouse Model for Malaria Research

Moriya TsujiThe Aaron Diamond AIDS Research CenterNew York, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Moriya Tsuji of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in the U.S. will test whether the human malaria parasite can infect mice engineered with humanized livers and red blood cells by producing human erythropoietin. The goal of this project is part of a larger effort to create a mouse model capable of supporting the full malaria life cycle for use in preclinical testing of new anti-malarial therapies and vaccines.

Humanized Mouse: Recapitulate P. falciparum/vivax Cycle

Joseph VinetzUniversity of California, San DiegoSan Diego, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Joseph Vinetz of the University of California, San Diego in the U.S. will attempt to create a new mouse model that mimics both human liver and blood cell function. These new mouse models should allow human malaria parasites to complete their full life cycle in the models and provide a new tool for testing anti-malarial strategies, including drugs and vaccines.

Hybrid Value Chain for Vulnerable Populations

Gloraia PenaCooperativa Multiactiva De Madres Del Valle CoomacCali, Colombia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Nutrition
1 Nov 2018

Gloraia Pena of Cooperativa Multiactiva De Madres Del Valle Coomac in Colombia will implement a hybrid value chain business model to leverage collective purchasing power in a community of low-income families in Colombia to reduce the price of nutritious local foods. Current food prices are relatively high for low-income families because they buy in small volumes. They will combine collective purchasing power with a hybrid value chain model, which incorporates the needs and roles of the public and private sectors, to increase access to nutritional foods. They will collect social and economic data from an existing group of 9,000 families in a poor neighbourhood in Colombia to understand how their approach should be implemented. This will include the numbers of participants needed to reduce the cost sufficiently to encourage people to buy the healthier foods and ultimately produce a positive long-term impact.

Hydrocarbon-Stapled GP41 Immunogens

Loren WalenskyDana-Farber Cancer InstituteBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

Loren Walensky of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the U.S. will apply a new chemical technology to engineer structurally stable HIV-1 antigens for vaccine development. Walensky will test whether preserving the critical biologically active shape of HIV-1 polypeptides will yield neutralizing antibodies upon vaccination with his laboratory's synthetic immunogens.

Identification of Anti-Dengue Viral Proteins from Mosquito Cells Co-Infected with Wolbachia Endosymbionts

Pattamaporn KittayapongMahidol UniversitySalaya, Thailand
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Pattamaporn Kittayapong of Mahidol University in Thailand will study how Wolbachia, a symbiotic bacteria which infects many species of insects, may to limit dengue virus infection in mosquitoes.

Identification of New Drug Targets by Linking HIV Function to Protein Interaction Pathways

Judith KleinCarnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

HIV uses protein interaction pathways to force host cells to make more HIV copies. Judith Klein of Carnegie Mellon University aims to use advanced computational methods to predict parallel pathways that can be found and used to circumvent the points of HIV interception.

Identification of Small RNA Molecules Capable of Eliciting Cellular Immunity During RNA Virus Infection

Andrew FireStanford UniversityStanford, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

With evidence that RNA interference is a component of virus infection resistance, Andrew Fire of Stanford University will seek to understand how RNAi can function as a natural antiviral mechanism, and how such analysis can enable the design of antiviral interventions.

Identification of Surface Structures Common to Gram-Negative Bacteria that are Suitable for Vaccine Development

Dirk LinkeMax Planck Society for the Advancement of Science EVBerlin, Germany
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Dirk Linke of the Max Planck Society in Germany seeks to identify and classify all the molecules that make up the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria, which causes a major portion of infectious diseases. By recognizing common elements among these molecules, a broad-range vaccine could be developed to protect against a number of these diseases.

Identifying Drugs to Block Transmission

Matthias MartiHarvard UniversityCambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Matthias Marti of the Harvard School of Public Health in the U.S. will utilize a newly developed transgenic malaria parasite that expresses GFP indicating when the parasites are ready to be transmitted to mosquitoes. He will use this technology to screen for compounds that can prevent the development of these gametocytes.

Immune Reinforcing Attenuated Whole-Sporozoite as Vaccine

Guang-hong TanHainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical MedicineHaikou, China
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

Guang-hong Tan of Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Medicine in China seeks to create a next-generation malaria vaccine by deleting a gene responsible for parasite development in the liver adding a new gene which attracts dendritic cells to the infection site. Using this modified sporozoite in a vaccine could produce a limited infection that, at the same time, induces a strong immune response against malaria.

Immunological Targeting of APOBEC Proteins in HIV

Douglas NixonUniversity of California San FranciscoSan Francisco, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 Oct 2008

Douglas Nixon of the University of California at San Francisco will test his hypothesis that APOBEC proteins, which have been found to restrict replication of HIV, can be used to as an immunogen to stimulate a T cell response which would act against HIV infected cells.

Immunotherapy with iPS Derived From HIV-1 Specific B-Cells

Irvin ChenUniversity of California, Los AngelesLos Angeles, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 May 2009

HIV destroys helper T cells, which are essential to activation of B-cells. Irvin Chen of UCLA in the U.S. will utilize inducible pluripotent stem cell technology to generate a constant, self-renewing source of antigen-specific B-cells, which target conserved HIV epitopes to eliminate HIV-infected cells.

Improving Immunization Coverage by Scaling-Up a Regional Data Platform

Michael NunanTupaia (Beyond Essential Systems)Thornbury, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 Nov 2018

Michael Nunan of Beyond Essential Systems in Australia will build on their existing data platform to collect and analyze vaccine data in real-time to provide an early warning of areas or facilities with low immunization coverage. The platform integrates data from various sources, including vaccine supply and healthcare infrastructure such as equipment and staff. They will further develop it to record actual vaccine administrations from health workers entering details on mobile phones, and to produce local estimates of vaccine demand and actual coverage and provide alerts. They will also integrate real-time monitoring of the cold supply chain using sensors. Their system will be evaluated in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu by comparing it with current methods for estimating vaccine demand and coverage.

Improving Process Efficiencies: Assessing and Improving Immunization Clinic Workflows Using an Electronic Immunization Registry

Samantha DolanUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 Nov 2018

Samantha Dolan and Peter Rabinowitz of the University of Washington in the U.S., and Ian Njeru of I-TECH Kenya, will improve digital data collection and monitoring of childhood immunizations at Kenyan health facilities by optimizing workflows. Using electronic tools to track immunizations has the potential to improve the accuracy of data collection and reporting, identify children who have not been vaccinated, and free up time for health care workers. To fully realize this potential, workflow patterns need optimizing for different types of health facilities. They will use an iterative approach with so-called Lean methods to maximise value while reducing waste, and time-motion study techniques to evaluate current workflows and identify bottlenecks that reduce efficiency. These workflows will then be redesigned and tested across different sizes and types of facilities in Kenya. They will also compare the efficiency and performance of electronic registries with paper-based registries.

Improving the Immunogenicity of HIV Envelope Glycoproteins

Michel GilbertNational Research Council of CanadaOttawa, Ontario, Canada
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
7 Oct 2009

Michel Gilbert of the National Research Council Canada will use the single-celled microorganism T. acidophilum to produce HIV proteins with unique sugar residues found only in archaebacteria such as T. acidophilum. By modifying these glycan structures to ones not recognized by humans, Gilbert hopes to elicit a stronger immune response against the virus.

Increasing Vaccination Efficacy with ACE Inhibitors

Julio ScharfsteinUniversidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

Julio Scharfstein of Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will study whether a pre-dose of captopril, an established angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and anti-hypertension drug, can increase the potency of vaccines by increasing the activation of dendritic cells.

Indigenous Communities Mobilize for Adolescent Girls' Healthy Minds

Anne Marie ChomatMcGill UniversityMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Anne Marie Chomat of McGill University in Canada will design an intervention to overcome the mental health problems faced by young mothers in Guatemala by engaging them, along with their partners and fathers, elders, and adolescents in their communities, in order to address the complex factors affecting maternal health. Women in Maya indigenous areas of Guatemala, which has recently faced a civil war, experience particularly high rates of poverty, gender inequality, adolescent births, and mental health disorders. This in turn harms their children, with over 50% suffering from severe developmental delays. They recognize that community members are best placed to find solutions to their own problems and can better promote community-level change. So, they will engage community members from multiple generations and positions, including traditional healers and spiritual leaders, to co-develop an intervention. Their project will take place in four communities in two rural regions of Guatemala, and the community groups will work together to define the problems and contribute to designing and implementing the intervention.

Inducing Autophagy in Dendritic Cells By DNA Delivery

Tanapat PalagaChulalongkorn UniversityBangkok, Thailand
Grand Challenges Explorations
Mucosal Immunity
9 Oct 2009

Tanapat Palaga of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand seeks to create a novel DNA vaccine delivery system that targets dendritic cells in GI mucosal tissues. Using chitosan nanoparticles to encapsulate DNA plasmid and protect it from stomach acid, this potential vaccine construct will contain both an antigen and an autophagy- inducing gene to enhance the vaccine's efficacy.

Induction of HIV Protective Mucosal Antibodies

Claudia PastoriFondazione Centro San Raffaele del Monte TaborMilan, Italy
Grand Challenges Explorations
Mucosal Immunity
1 Nov 2009

Claudia Pastori of Fondazione S. Raffaele del Monte Tabor in Italy seeks to induce mucosal immunity against HIV by using a bacterial adhesive protein to target antigens to specific cells. The goal of this approach is to present conserved epitopes of HIV in their natural form to elicit the production of protective antibodies in the tissues where these antibodies will be effective.

Induction of Immune Priming in Vectors of Dengue and Malaria in Latin America: A New Strategy to Prevent and Block transmission

Humberto Lanz-MendozaInstituto Nacional de Salud PúblicaMexico City, Mexico
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

Humberto Lanz-Mendoza of Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica will test whether mosquitoes can become resistant to dengue and malaria by the introduction of non-virulent pathogens, which might stimulate immune priming and protect against subsequent infections.

Inexpensive, Dry, Heat-Stable, Vaccine Skin Patch

Tycho SpeakerTransDerm, Inc.Santa Cruz, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 Nov 2009

Tycho Speaker of Transderm Inc. in the United States, along with Juvaris Biotherapeutics, will test the efficacy of a dry microneedle skin patch loaded with malaria antigens and a novel adjuvant for its ability to stimulate a robust immune response. If successful, this painless, low-cost, no-refrigeration vaccine delivery system could increase vaccine access to at-risk populations.

Infinite-Epitope Virus-like Particle Vaccines for HIV/AIDS

George DicksonRoyal Holloway, University of LondonSurrey, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

One hypothesis of why protective immunity to HIV in the general population is very low is that the virus can exist in a hidden form in the body and can mutate very quickly to escape immune destruction. George Dickson of Royal Holloway University of London will design and evaluate so-called "infinite-epitope" vaccines for their potential to provide simultaneous and broad protective immunity to the many variant forms of HIV.

Influenza in Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes in the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region: the INFLUEN-SA Study

Aldo LimaUniversidade Federal do CearáFortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Data Science Approaches
1 Nov 2018

Studies show that seasonal influenza in Ceará, in the Northeast region of Brazil, occurs 2 to 3 months earlier than in the South and Southeast, which guides the national calendar of vaccination. By using data science approaches, the study will test if Brazil's current national policy targeting vaccination only during the months of April and May inadequately protects against the harmful maternal-fetal effects of influenza in the Semi-Arid and northern regions of Brazil. If the hypothesis confirms, the study has the potential to change policy and modify the vaccination calendar.

Infrared Signature of Malaria Infection

Wei LuUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics
1 Nov 2009

Wei Lu of the University of Michigan in the U.S. will test the theory that red blood cells infected with malaria have significantly different characteristics when subjected to light in ultra-far infrared spectrum. Using these techniques, this project aims to develop a non-invasive tool to scan capillaries near the body surface and diagnose malaria.

Inhibition of Octopamine Biosynthesis in Invertebrates

Mark AlkemaUniversity of MassachusettsWorcester, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

The neurotransmitter octopamine is unique to the invertebrate nervous system and plays a crucial role in invertebrate behavior and fertility. Mark Alkema of the University of Massachusetts in the U.S. will attempt to design drugs to disrupt the biosynthesis of octopamine as a new strategy to interfere with the lifecycle of invertebrate parasites.

Innovation Bridge: Linking Biotech Breakthroughs to Emerging Vaccine Manufacturers

Matthew DavisUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 Oct 2008

With a team of researchers, economists and physician-scientists, Matthew Davis of the University of Michigan will establish a program to link new vaccine discoveries with vaccine manufacturers in developing countries while simultaneously evaluating ways to help these manufacturers purchase rights to these innovative candidates.

Innovative Tuberculosis (TB) Sputum Collection Container

Chris de VilliersSinapi Biomedical (Pty). LtdStellenbosch, South Africa
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics Systems
1 May 2018

Chris de Villiers of Sinapi Biomedical in South Africa will produce an improved sample container that ensures sputum samples are of sufficient quantity and quality to diagnose tuberculosis (TB). South Africa has one of the highest burdens of TB, and has implemented a rapid testing program that diagnoses the disease from sputum. However, over 8% (around 218,000) of sputum samples cannot be tested, largely due to insufficient volumes or leaky sample containers. This causes additional costs and leaves many sufferers undiagnosed. In collaboration with clinical, academic, and commercial partners in South Africa and the U.S, they used an iterative design process to develop a new container. They will finalize this design by testing different versions in the laboratory and clinic, and producing two prototypes along with an instruction manual and other training materials. In collaboration with their clinical partner, they will also produce a protocol ready for a large-scale clinical trial that will evaluate the reliability of sputum collection with their new container and collect user feedback.

Integrated Platform for Effective Surveillance

Christopher GilliganUniversity of CambridgeCambridge, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Crop Disease Surveillance
1 Nov 2018

Christopher Gilligan of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom will develop a data collection and analysis platform for crop diseases that uses Bayesian modelling frameworks to better integrate data from diverse sources and identifies cost-effective pest and disease control solutions for small-holder farmers. Current crop disease surveillance programs generally collect data from limited sources and lack the capacity to use the data to advise farmers how to manage any disease outbreaks. By integrating a wider variety of data, including meteorological data, and grower and market behaviour such as household nutrition, their approach can predict much broader consequences of crop diseases on individual households and thereby provide more valuable solutions. They will focus on pests and diseases of maize, wheat, and cassava in East Africa and pilot test their SMS and smart phone platform by holding training workshops for participants, testing data analytics and validating the results.

Integrated Support Program Against Anti-Vaccine Narratives

Allya Paramita KoesoemaMasyarakat Elektronika Kesehatan & Telemedika IndonesiaBandung, Jawa Barat, Indonesia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 May 2018

Allya Paramita Koesoema of the eHealth and Telemedicine Society in Indonesia will develop a pro-vaccination campaign to counteract the widespread negative views of vaccinations in Indonesia by engaging religious leaders and health workers in local communities to directly address misconceptions. Anti-vaccination narratives, many based on religious misconceptions, have spread through the country, largely via social media, leading to a decrease in child vaccination coverage. Health workers often do not have the knowledge to explain away these misconceptions to mothers when they refuse to have their children vaccinated. To address this, they will engage stakeholders to identify the anti-vaccination messages and build a database of effective reasoning to directly challenge those messages that can be accessed by health workers and other respected, senior community members. They will perform a randomized controlled trial in different districts in Indonesia, and supplement the pro-vaccination messengers with vaccination reminders and schedules sent directly to mothers via mobile phone. They will test the usability of their approach and its effect on the willingness of the mothers to vaccinate.

Interruption of Latency and In Vivo Adenovirus-Mediated Elimination of Macrophages Infected with M. Tuberculosis

Dmitry ShayakhmetovUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Tuberculosis Latency
1 Oct 2008

Pulmonary macrophages are the principal host of tuberculosis, where it can remain latent and inaccessible to current TB drug therapies. Dmitry Shayakhmetov of the University of Washington will study whether infecting these host cells with adenovirus will induce rapid cell death, reducing TB load and blocking the re-infection cycle.

Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase to Treat and Prevent Diarrhea

Madhu MaloGeneral Hospital CorporationBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Mucosal Immunity
1 Nov 2009

Madhu Malo of Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the U.S. will investigate whether maintaining the normal intestinal commensal bacteria using oral supplementation of intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), a small intestinal brush-border enzyme, will prevent or cure infection by pathogenic bacteria. A successful project would generate a universal prophylactic and therapeutic strategy against diarrheal diseases.

Introducing Capacity Building and Mentorship Program

Ashenafi TazebewUniversity of GondarGondar, Ethiopia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 May 2018

Ashenafi Tazebew of the University of Gondar in Ethiopia will develop a training and supervision program whereby medical and nursing staff working at local health science colleges in Ethiopia are trained to teach and mentor local health care workers to improve their skills, and the quality and safety of immunizations, thereby increasing uptake. They will develop supervisory and mentorship guidelines and tools, and train college workers how to coach primary health care providers and review their performances. They will conduct a randomized field trial over six months to evaluate the quality of the mentorship and its impact on the knowledge and skills of the health workers.

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