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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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"Coffee Ring Stain" Diagnostics for Malaria

David WrightVanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tennessee, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics
1 Nov 2009

David Wright of Vanderbilt University in the U.S. will develop a new low-cost diagnostic tool in which a droplet of malaria-infected blood deposited on a glass slide will, based on fluid dynamics, leave a ring-like pattern as the blood evaporates. The slide will be prepared with a solution that will interact with a particular protein of the malaria parasite to visualize this "coffee ring stain," allowing for easy interpretation and ready diagnosis.

"Help, the Mother Is Bleeding!" An Interactive Voice-Controlled Virtual Mentor to Support Birth Attendants in Resource-Constrained Settings

Tiffany LundeenPreterm Birth Initiative East AfricaSan Francisco, California, United States
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Mar 2018

"Help, the Mother is Bleeding!" An interactive voice-controlled virtual mentor to support birth attendants in resource-constrained settings

"Just-Add-Water" Nucleic Acid Amplification

Apostolos AlissandratosThe Australian National UniversityActon, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics Systems
1 May 2018

Apostolos Alissandratos of the Australian National University in Australia will develop a biotechnology platform for the low-cost production of simple, just-add-water diagnostic tests for the early detection of infectious diseases in resource-limited settings. Diagnosis of infectious diseases generally involves detecting pathogen-specific nucleic acids in human samples, which requires unstable reagents, costly procedures, and skilled workers. They have engineered a safe bacterium that produces the biochemical reagents needed to detect the pathogenic nucleic acids as an extract. They will develop a method to freeze-dry this extract so that it is stable at room temperature, simplifying production and storage, and a protocol for incorporating it into a reaction mixture that only requires the addition of water to an individual tube for a diagnostic polymerase chain reaction. They aim to reduce the cost per test by at least 100-fold, and will evaluate their approach for detecting a malaria-causing pathogen.

"Krik Krak": Mental Health for Pregnant Haitian Teens

Guitele RahillUniversity of South FloridaTampa, Florida, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Guitele Rahill and Manisha Joshi of the University of South Florida in the U.S. will harness the Haitian tradition of storytelling to produce online videos, brochures, and posters that support pregnant teenagers in Haiti who are at high risk of depression. There has been an increase in unplanned teenage pregnancies since the 2010 earthquake, due in part to the loss of parents, and a rise in transactional sex and sexual assaults facilitated by very limited resources. Pregnancy places a substantial additional stress on these children, which in turn causes long-term difficulties for their children. In Haiti, to tell a story you announce "Krik?", and to hear it you respond "Krak!" They will use this familiar story-telling framework and actors who resemble the target group to teach pregnant teenagers about childbirth, motherhood, and how to cope with depression. They will conduct two focus groups of six pregnant teens to identify the specific challenges they face, and use their feedback to help ensure the approach will work.

10+10+30 Infant Vaccines Communication via Radio in Ethiopia

Bernard AppiahTexas A&M School of Public HealthCollege Station, Texas, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 May 2018

Bernard Appiah of Texas A&M School of Public Health in the U.S. will produce a one-hour community radio program to be aired twice per week comprising a 10-minute radio drama serial on infant vaccines, a 10-minute panel discussion by community health workers, and a 30-minute phone-in by listeners, to improve on-time childhood vaccinations in Ethiopia. In 2016, on-time and full immunization coverage in Ethiopia was only achieved for 39% of children between one and two years of age, despite long-term efforts to improve it. One of the main reasons for this was lack of communication with mothers about immunizations. To address this, they will harness the popularity of community radio in Ethiopia. They will engage mothers, community health workers, and radio actors to help design a radio drama incorporating relevant topics on childhood immunizations, and train 20 health workers to be part of radio panel discussions. They will air the radio program for six months in two districts, and determine its impact on timely immunization coverage in a selected cohort of mothers with infants.

A Blended Intervention: Digital Mental Health Game and Mentoring for Treatment of Common Perinatal Mental Disorders in Adolescent Refugee Mothers

Rebecca DempsterHIASSilver Spring, Maryland, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Rebecca Dempster of HIAS in the U.S. will develop an online game- and mentorship-based intervention to improve the mental health of refugee adolescent mothers in Kenya that integrates into their daily lives and helps them develop new skills. Digital games can help treat mental health disorders such as depression particularly in young people because they have a natural appeal and are easy to access from home. They will recruit ten young mothers, a psychologist, and software programmers to design a mental health game so that it can be used to identify those with mental health disorders and connect them with counselors, and provides interactive challenges to help treat and protect against those disorders as well as build relevant life skills. They will then train these young mothers to act as mentors to support the online game, and pilot test their approach on a sample of 15 refugee adolescent mothers over three months to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and effect on maternal depression.

A Cell-Based Screen for Discovery of a Macrofilaricide

Kelly JohnstonLiverpool School of Tropical MedicineLiverpool, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
8 Oct 2013

Kelly Johnston and others from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom will develop a cell line from a parasitic filarial nematode worm that can proliferate continuously in vitro to enable high-throughput screening of candidate anti-filarial drugs. Current drug screening efforts are limited by the complex life cycle of the worms and the difficulties of obtaining sufficient numbers of worms. They will isolate worm cells from various life cycle stages and use a high-content screening approach to monitor thousands of cells cultured under different conditions to increase the probability of detecting a stably growing cell line. Once one or more stable cell lines have been produced, they will establish optimal culture conditions for drug screening assays.

A Continuous in vitro Culture System for Cryptosporidium

L. David SibleyWashington University in St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Human and Animal Health
10 Oct 2013

L. David Sibley at Washington University in St. Louis in the U.S. is developing a long-term in vitro intestinal epithelial culture system for the intracellular parasite Cryptosporidium, which causes severe diarrheal disease in both humans and animals, and is refractory to many anti-parasitic drugs. Currently, Cryptosporidium can only be grown in infected calves or in short-term in vitro cultures, which cannot be used for the high-throughput chemical screens needed to identify new drugs. In Phase I, they optimized the in vitro culture of isolated intestinal stem cells from human and mouse biopsies, and identified factors to control their differentiation into primary epithelial monolayers, which can better support the growth of intestinal pathogens. This led to around a five-fold increase in the rate of asexual replication of Cryptosporidium, which was enough to successfully test a chemical growth inhibitor. In Phase II, they will further improve culture conditions to support longer-term in vitro growth of Cryptosporidium, which will then be tested for stability and infectivity. They will also develop antibodies against specific developmental stages to help identify culture conditions that enable the parasite to undergo a complete life cycle, which will be valuable for culturing and screening efforts.

A Crowd-Sourcing Approach to Large-Scale Monitoring of Pests by Smallholder Farmers

Menale KassieInternational Centre of Insect Physiology and EcologyNairobi, Kenya
Grand Challenges Explorations
Crop Disease Surveillance
1 Nov 2018

Menale Kassie of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya along with Ram Fishman and Opher Mendelsohn from Tel Aviv University in Israel will take a community-based crowdsourcing approach to crop protection of smallholder farms in low-resource settings by developing a simple software platform for basic feature phones to monitor pest incidence. Human-based monitoring of crops is the most accurate way to identify pests, but there are too few public monitoring agents in low-resource settings, leaving the majority of farms unprotected. Engaging the smallholder farmers to monitor their own crops is a promising solution, but most of them lack sophisticated equipment like smart phones and have low technical knowledge, so simpler solutions are needed. Therefore, they will adapt commercially-available software that collates and analyzes pest incidence data for basic feature phones and, together with smallholder farmers, design simple interfaces for SMS communication. They will test their approach by performing a pilot study to monitor wheat and maize, covering one to two counties in Kenya, and teach smallholder farmers and government agents how to use the monitoring system and compare the data with that collected by expert field agents.

A Decoy Artificial Snail Host (DASH) to Control S. mansoni

Edwin RoutledgeBrunel UniversityLondon, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
9 Oct 2013

Edwin Routledge of Brunel University in the United Kingdom will work towards developing an artificial snail decoy to attract the parasite Schistosoma mansoni, which causes chronic disease. The parasites first develop inside aquatic snails, which they locate via chemical cues (chemoattractants), before they can infect humans. Routledge will identify the relevant chemoattractants by isolating and fractionating chemicals from the snails, and test the ability of these chemicals to attract the parasites. Effective chemoattractants will be characterized and ultimately incorporated into a biodegradable matrix to generate an artificial snail that is easy to deploy in the field and can trap and destroy the parasites, thereby reducing human transmission.

A Digital Platform for 21st Century Education

Saurabh AgarwalDeeper Learning Innovations Private LimitedLucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Grand Challenges
Teaching and School Leadership
1 Nov 2018

Saurabh Agarwal of Deeper Learning Innovations Private Limited in India will build an interactive, digital teaching platform using advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence algorithms to enable teachers across the globe to more effectively teach life skills to every child. Teaching standards in developing countries suffer from limited access to quality content, restricted teaching methods for teachers, and a lack of ways to transfer knowledge and skills to other teachers and parents. Life skills such as problem solving and communication that are needed to address 21st century challenges such as health, wellness, and gender equality are far better learned by experience and reflection, rather than reading and lectures. They will build the platform and incorporate life skills modules designed by learning experts and teachers containing multi-lingual and contextualized content for global access, a teacher's discussion forum, and a module designed by teachers to help parents support their child's education. The goal is to make the platform freely available and accessible to all teachers across the globe.

A Fortified School Meal Product to Deworm School Children

Elijah SongokKenya Medical Research InstituteNairobi, Kenya
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
8 Apr 2013

Elijah Songok of the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Kenya will design and test a fortified school meal product with deworming properties for treating soil transmitted helminths (parasitic worms) among schoolchildren in developing countries. Schoolchildren are most at risk of infection-associated morbidities such as stunting and chronic dysentery. However, current mass drug administration strategies are associated with the development of drug resistance, and may not be sustainable long term. They will fortify cornflour with seed extracts of the tropical fruit, Carica papaya (pawpaw), which can significantly increase clearance of the parasite, and use it to make porridge, which is cheap and a common school meal snack in developing countries. They will test its efficacy in a randomized pilot study in six elementary schools in rural Kenya.

A Human Powered Precision Seeder

Ricardo Capúcio de ResendeUniversidade Federal de ViçosaViçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Grand Challenges Explorations
Women Farmers
17 Oct 2013

Ricardo Capúcio de Resende of Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil will design and test a new machine to enable women smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to more efficiently and effectively plant seeds. He has designed a new seeder concept using only two rotating parts, which is light, easy to use and maintain, and can simultaneously plant two crops. He will query local manufacturers and users to further develop the design, and then produce prototypes that will be bench- and field-tested for manufacturability and performance. The results will be used to produce the final seeder design, and this design concept could be applied to other agricultural machines.

A Lexicon of HIV-RNA Interactions

Alice TelesnitskyUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

Alice Telesnitsky of the University of Michigan in the U.S. seeks to define and characterize HIV interactions with host RNA. The team will attempt to determine whether disrupting or mimicking essential interactions with host RNAs may lead to antiviral strategies to which HIV cannot readily develop resistance.

A Low-Cost, Electricity-Free Oxygen Concentrator

Bryn SobottUniversity of MelbourneMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
16 Dec 2013

Our proposal will provide this life-saving treatment to isolated, extremely resource poor people by obviating the need for electricity. This will be achieved by applying recently developed hydrological engineering approaches to extract the pressure differential required for the adsorption process exploited by Oxygen concentrators. This project aims to develop and test an electricity free Oxygen concentrator suitable for a developing world health facility. This represents a major paradigm shift, as to-date the problem has been interpreted as how to supply electricity to an Oxygen concentrator. In comparison with solar and generator based approaches the prototype will require significantly less capital cost and maintenance. Further, construction out of locally available components will empower the community to independently and sustainably access this life-saving treatment.

A Mobile-Based Training Platform for ASHA workers

Pushpendra SinghIIIT-DelhiNew Delhi, Delhi, India
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 May 2018

Pushpendra Singh of IIIT Delhi in India will develop interactive training and mentoring sessions for community health workers in India (ASHAs) using mobile phones and interactive voice response systems so they can provide better public healthcare in rural communities. Current training programs are run by medical professionals and require the workers to visit a health center, which may be inconvenient. The lack of medical experts has also reduced the frequency of these programs. These limitations could be overcome with online sessions whereby one expert trains multiple health workers remotely. They have already developed the format of the sessions, which involves an expert delivering a defined curriculum to groups of health workers followed by a question and answer session, and shown that it improved the knowledge and confidence of the health workers in a pilot test. They will now scale up the testing to 500 health workers, and also evaluate the platform as a peer-to-peer learning mechanism for health workers to share their experiences and learn from each other without the need for an expert.

A New Tool for Anti-Malarial Target Gene Validation

Philip ShawNational Center for Genetic Engineering and BiotechnologyPathumthani, Thailand
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
5 Oct 2009

Philip J. Shaw of Thailand's National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology will seek to identify potential drug targets and vaccine antigens in the malaria parasite using a novel technology to reduce specific gene expression. By fusing a natural genetic “riboswitch” onto gene targets, the team will attempt to attenuate gene expression and thereby determine gene function.

A New Tool for Harvesting Cassava

Samuel OkurutNational Agricultural Research OrganizationKampala, Uganda
Grand Challenges Explorations
Women Farmers
11 Oct 2013

Samuel Okurut and a team from the National Agricultural Research Organization in Uganda will develop a simple low-cost tool for women smallholder farmers to more easily and efficiently harvest cassava, which is a major staple food in the developing world. The classical, manual method for harvesting cassava is labor and cost intensive, involving hoeing and digging in a bent posture. The new tool will be developed with input from women farmers and key stakeholders, and designed to be operated in a more upright posture. The cost-benefit of the tool will be tested in the field, and the feasibility of training and local fabrication will be explored.

A New Way to Prevent HIV Infection During Breastfeeding

David SokalFamily Health InternationalDurham, North Carolina, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 May 2009

David Sokal of Family Health International in the U.S., with colleagues at Cambridge and Drexel Universities, will develop and test low-cost filters coated with safe microbicides that can be inserted into tips of nipple shields to prevent HIV transmission during breastfeeding.

A Non-Pathogenic Chimeric THLV-1/HIV-1 Viral Genome as a Model to Study Superinfection Restriction

Kuan-Teh JeangNational Institutes of HealthBethesda, Maryland, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 May 2009

Kuan-Teh Jeang of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. will investigate whether cells infected by one virus become resistant to infection from other viruses, and if this viral interference can confer protection against HIV. The team will develop an attenuated virus to test whether over-expression of viral envelope proteins within cells can confer resistance to further HIV infection.

A Novel Agent for Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage: Adaptation of the Xstat Mini-Sponge Applicator for Obstetric Use

Maria RodriguezOregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, Oregon, United States
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Jan 2013

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal mortality in low-income countries. The majority of these deaths occur outside the health care system, and so an intervention that could be used in any setting and with minimal training could save lives. We will use an animal model to demonstrate appropriate uterine fill, and a proof-of-concept study to show stoppage of post-delivery bleeding and test ease of removal. Standard care for treating PPH consists of massage, uterotonics, and tamponade (i.e., "holding pressure"). Devices used to treat PPH via tamponade are not easily adaptable to low-resource settings with diverse climates and providers. A novel agent, the XSTAT mini sponge dressing, has proven successful in the acute cessation of traumatic non-compressible bleeding analogous to PPH. This device utilizes pre-packaged, environmentally stable, compressed medical sponges soaked with a hemostatic agent and administered by a light-weight applicator. The sponges, once deployed, exert uniform pressure to address multiple sources of bleeding and are easily removable.

A Novel Approach of Creating an Attenuated Pneumonia Vaccine

Vijay PancholiOhio State University Research FoundationColumbus, Ohio, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 Nov 2009

Vijay Pancholi of The Ohio State University Research Foundation in the U.S. will attempt to attenuate the S. pneumonia bacteria by altering export of the GAPDH enzyme, a function thought to be essential to the bacteria's survival. Preventing export of this key enzyme will decrease bacterial virulence, allowing the attenuated strain to be used for development an affordable live vaccine for pneumococcal pneumonia.

A Novel Bactericidal Protein Found in Milk

Anders HakanssonThe Research Foundation of the State University of New YorkAlbany, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

Anders Hakansson of the University of Buffalo in the U.S. has identified a protein from human breast milk (Human Alpha Lactalbumin Made Lethal to Tumor cell, or HAMLET), that kills respiratory tract bacteria. Hakansson will attempt to understand the mechanism by which HAMLET binds to and kills pheumococci without the bacteria developing resistance.

A Novel Effective Vaccine Against Cholera

Michael LebensUniversity of Gothenburg Institute for Vaccine ResearchGothenburg, Sweden
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
5 Oct 2009

Michael Lebens of the University of Gothenburg Institute for Vaccine Research in Sweden proposes to develop a new oral cholera vaccine using a single cholera strain that expresses antigens for both the Inaba and Ogawa serotypes and produces cholera toxin subunits that act as an adjuvant to stimulate mucosal immune activity. In this project’s Phase I research, Lebens and his team successfully generated potential vaccine candidate strains that express both Ogawa and Inaba type antigens simultaneously. They also demonstrated in an animal model that oral immunization with these bacteria in a killed formulation elicited immune responses similar to those obtained by vaccination with currently licensed oral killed whole-cell cholera vaccines. In Phase II, he will further improve these strains by inducing them to express an accompanying adjuvant and conduct immunogenicity analyses and other work to prepare for a Phase I trial.

A Novel Vaccination Strategy for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Jesus ValenzuelaNational Institutes of HealthBethesda, Maryland, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

Because Leishmania is transmitted to humans when sand flies feed on humans, Jesus Valenzuela of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. proposes to develop a novel vaccine against salivary proteins of sand flies with the aim to induce a strong immune response against the parasite.

A Novel Virulence-Associated Malaria Drug Target

Paul GilsonBurnet InstituteMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Paul Gilson of Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health in Australia will study the function of a newly discovered malaria parasite mechanism that exports proteins into host red blood cells in an effort to develop compounds that block this transfer and inhibit parasite growth.

A Novel Way of Targeting TB using Aptamers and Nanotechnology

Boitumelo SemeteCouncil for Scientific and Industrial ResearchPretoria, South Africa
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

To optimize the effectiveness of current anti-tuberculosis drugs, Boitumelo Semete of the CSIR in South Africa will work with collaborators to develop “sticky nanoparticles” that specifically attach to TB-infected cells. Once taken in by these cells, the nanoparticles will slowly degrade, releasing the anti-TB drugs and killing the bacteria. With this novel drug delivery system, the team aims to improve the bioavailability of the current therapies, with the possibility of shortening the treatment period for TB as well as reduce drug side effects.

A Portable Brain Scanner with Telemonitoring Platform for Detection and Management of Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy

Abhijit DasArogya Medtech Pvt. LtdKolkata, , India
Grand Challenges India
India-GCE
7 Mar 2018

Abhijit Das of Arogya Medtech Pvt. Ltd. in India will develop a device - CEREBROS - that is a modular unit combining electroencephalography (EEG) and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) together with an Internet of Things (IoT) component incorporating a telemonitoring platform. This system enables continuous remote monitoring of cerebral hypoxia and seizures and early detection and management of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) at point-of-care. The device is in the form of a wearable cap for neonates. It will also include a multivariate classifier incorporating quantitative EEG metrics and cerebral oximetry metrics, which will identify disease-specific patterns that can be presented remotely by a neonatologist simultaneously in voice, text, pictures, or video or animations. The device could be provided, through both public and private care providers, under an affordable rental or pay-per-use model. The device provides an easy-to-use alternative to structural imaging (CT or MRI) that has better sensitivity and specificity, especially for neonates or infants less than 2 years old.

A Randomized Clinical Trial With Oral Magnesium Supplementation in Pregnancy

Joao Guilherme Bezerra AlvesInstituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando FigueiraRecife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Preterm Birth Burden
6 Dec 2013

Joao Guilherme Bezerra Alves from the Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira in Brazil will perform a randomized controlled trial to assess whether a daily oral supplement of magnesium citrate can prevent placental vascular disease, which can lead to preterm birth. Placental vascular disease restricts the flow of nutrients to the fetus and can cause growth restriction and maternal hypertensive disorders. Magnesium is known to promote placental vascular flow, and magnesium citrate is safe, inexpensive and easily absorbed in the body. They will perform a clinical trial in two large hospitals in Brazil in which 3,000 pregnant women will be offered a daily magnesium supplement or a placebo control starting from up to 20 weeks of gestation and continuing until birth. The effect on various outcomes including placental function, preterm labor, and mother and child health will be evaluated.

A Rift Valley Fever Vaccine for Use in Humans and Animals

George WarimweJenner InstituteOxford, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Human and Animal Health
23 Oct 2013

George Warimwe of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom will develop a vaccine to protect a variety of species, including humans, sheep and cattle, against Rift Valley fever, which can cause serious illness. Current vaccines that are in development have safety concerns for use in humans. They have developed a Rift Valley fever vaccine using a replication-deficient simian adenovirus as a safe vector that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and have tested its safety and immunogenicity in mice, and begun field-testing in sheep in Kenya. They will test safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine and the effect of an adjuvant in calves and goats, and compare this with the data from mice and sheep.

A Scalable, Inhaled Drug Delivery System for Alveolar-Macrophage Targeted Tuberculosis Chemotherapy

Feng QuianTsinghua UniversityBeijing, China
Grand Challenges Explorations
China Tsinghua-GCE
1 Jan 2013

Feng Qian of Tsinghua University in China will work to develop an inhaled drug particle using a scalable formulation process to deliver tuberculosis drugs directly into the lungs. They will develop micro-particles containing current TB drugs and will test their utility when inhaled.

A Self-Adjuvanting Vaccine for ST-ETEC

Roy Robins-BrowneUniversity of MelbourneMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) is the leading cause of diarrhea in the developing world. Roy Robins-Browne, of the University of Melbourne, in Australia will evaluate the effectiveness of a prototype vaccine that combines enterotoxin of E. coli (which lacks immunogenicity by itself) with another epitope to attract helper T cells and a lipid adjuvant to ensure delivery of the antigen directly into the cell.

A Single Vaccine Against Pneumococcus and Typhoid Fever

Yingjie LuChildren's Hospital BostonBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 Nov 2009

Yingjie Lu and Richard Malley of Children's Hospital Boston in the U.S. will develop a bivalent pneumococcal and typhoid vaccine by using a new technology to include three highly conserved pneumococcal antigens and the well-established Vi polysaccharide antigen that provides protection against typhoid fever. The team will test the ability of this vaccine to induce strong humoral and cellular immune responses against both pneumococcus and the causative agent of typhoid fever, Salmonella Typhi. In this project’s Phase I research, the team successfully developed the bivalent vaccine and in initial research was able to demonstrate dual immunity to both pneumococcus and S. Typhi. In Phase II, they will perform further proof-of-concept experiments in animal models that will provide support for the clinical development of this bivalent vaccine candidate.

A Small Animal Model of Onchocerciasis

Joseph TurnerLiverpool School of Tropical MedicineLiverpool, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
10 Apr 2013

Joseph Turner of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom will develop a small animal model of the parasitic disease onchocerciasis, also called river blindness, which is the second leading infectious cause of blindness. Treatment options for filarial infections are currently limited and lack effectiveness. Thus, small animal models of filarial infections are invaluable for preclinical testing of candidate drugs. In Phase I, they established the mouse model by infecting mice lacking an adaptive immune system with Onchocerca parasites isolated from infected cows, and tested its feasibility for screening drugs. In Phase II, they will expand their model, and use it for preclinically testing the safety and efficacy of several candidate drugs currently under development.

A Small Animal Model to Validate Onchocerca Macrofilaricides

Warwick GrantLa Trobe UniversityBundoora, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
12 Apr 2013

Warwick Grant of La Trobe University in Australia will develop a small animal parasite model to test candidate drugs for treating the parasitic nematode Onchocerca volvulus, which causes river blindness in humans. They will establish infection of the related parasite Cercopithifilaria johnstoni in rats and evaluate the pathology for similarity to the human disease. The model will then be validated for testing human anti-onchocercal drug candidates by analyzing the effect of drugs with proven success in patients. Once the model has been fully validated, they aim to perform routine assessments of candidate drugs.

A Small Molecule That Blocks Male-to-Female Sexual Transmission of HIV

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

Recent evidence suggests that HIV infection may be drastically enhanced when a specific protein found in human semen is present in fibril form. David Eisenberg of UCLA in the U.S. will design and test a small peptide that can effectively block formation of fibrils on this protein. If successful, the therapy could be administered via spray or liquid drops to inhibit transmission of HIV.

A Therapeutic Strategy to Control HIV-1 Infection

Qigui YuIndiana UniversityBloomington, Indiana, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 May 2009

Antibodies and the complement system work together to specifically detect and clear viruses, but they are circumvented by HIV, which hides itself and the cells it infects by hijacking host proteins such as CD59. Qigui Yu of Indiana University School of Medicine in U.S. will attempt to unmask HIV and HIV-infected cells and render them susceptible to antibody-complement attack. In this project's Phase I research, Yu and his team identified a potent, specific, and non-toxic inhibitor of human CD59, which is used by HIV to escape destruction by antibody-complement attack. In Phase II, Yu will continue to research how this inhibitor might allow antibodies to regain their complement-mediated activity to destroy the virus and HIV-infected cells, and will also research how HIV-1 incorporates human CD59 onto viral particles to escape antibody-complement immunity.

A Time-Saving Tool for Stripping Groundnut Pods

Tobias OkerNational Agricultural Research OrganizationKampala, Uganda
Grand Challenges Explorations
Women Farmers
2 Oct 2013

Tobias Oker and a team from the National Agricultural Research Organization in Uganda will develop a simple plucking tool to more efficiently remove the pods from groundnuts, which is currently done by hand and is labor-intensive and time-consuming for women. They will query farming communities on current harvesting methods to refine their design, and evaluate performance, labor cost, and perceptions in the field using prototypes compared to traditional methods. They will also train users and local manufacturers to fabricate the tools and encourage their use.

A Tutor for Every Child

Hans BrunnerValue Spring Technology, Inc.New York, New York, United States
Grand Challenges
Teaching and School Leadership
1 Nov 2018

Hans Brunner of Value Spring Technology, Inc. in the U.S. will build and test an artificial intelligence (AI) tutor to teach the scientific method and critical thinking skills to individual students at their pace and level. All children learn differently but one-on-one lessons are often prohibitively expensive or unavailable. To address this, in collaboration with two non-profit teaching institutions, they will adapt their AI software for education, and build and train an AI tutor, Ali. Ali will be designed to produce natural sounding language to engage students in conversation involving open-ended questions and answers that stimulate critical thinking, which is based on the Socratic method. Students will be taught at their own pace and level of understanding, and Ali will be built to ensure each topic is fully understood before starting the next. They will engage teachers to test and critique their AI tutor approach and to evaluate its teaching performance.

A VLP-Based Phage Display System for HIV Vaccine Discovery

Bryce ChackerianUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Vaccines
1 May 2009

Bryce Chackerian and David Peabody at the University of New Mexico in the U.S. have developed a new phage display system based on highly immunogenic virus- like particles (VLPs), and will utilize this new system as a platform to identify new vaccines that induce broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV.

A Voice-Based Social Networking Platform for Rural Mothers

Manish BhardwajInnovators in Health (India)Patna, Bihar, India
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Manish Bhardwaj of Innovators in Health in India will build a social networking platform consisting of voice messages accessed via mobile phone that is monitored by community health workers to connect small groups of young pregnant women and new mothers in India. Currently, community health workers provide home visits to help adolescent mothers combat mental health disorders. However, their capacity is limited. An additional difficulty for adolescent mothers is the lack of social networks caused by moving to new neighborhoods to live with their husbands. Social networks can protect against mental health disorders by providing peer support and the relevant knowledge and experience to overcome any challenges. They will trial their approach in a rural area in India and recruit young mothers with no access to mental health care into specified social groups. Each group will be associated with trained community health workers who provide additional support to the mothers, and manage the messages and posts.

ABC Transporters in Pregnancy and Preterm Labor

Tania Maria Ruffoni OrtigaUniversidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Preterm Birth Burden
6 Dec 2013

Tania Maria Ruffoni Ortiga from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will measure the levels of so-called ABC transporters throughout pregnancy, and during normal and preterm labor, and how they are influenced by infections such as malaria and influenza, to determine whether they might increase the risk of preterm labor. ABC transporters sit in the outer membranes of cells and actively transport drugs, toxins and immune signaling molecules out of them. In this way, they regulate the immune response, hormonal signaling and the activity of drugs such as antibiotics, which become particularly important during pregnancy and labor. They will collect human intrauterine tissue at different time points during pregnancy and during cesarean delivery from hospitals in Brazil and Canada, and investigate the distribution of ABC transporters and the association with infection. They will also use a mouse model of malaria to evaluate the effect on the levels and activity of the transporters.

Accessible Metrics of Access: Novel Tools to Measure Immunization Coverage

Ross BoyceUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 Nov 2018

Ross Boyce at the University of North Carolina in the U.S. will develop an approach that uses new methods of mapping households together with available health data to better identify places that have limited access to healthcare to improve immunization coverage. Many sub-Saharan African countries have very poor rates of childhood vaccination coverage. Improving coverage requires identifying those households and areas with poor access to healthcare, but this is challenging with the limited data available. To more accurately measure healthcare access and thereby immunization coverage, they will perform a six-month study in a rural sub-county of western Uganda. By providing user-friendly tools to health workers and providers, they will generate more accurate household maps and assess three different metrics of healthcare access using freely available software and a Bayesian statistical framework. They will evaluate the accuracy of their approach for predicting coverage by conducting a cross-sectional survey to determine the vaccination status of all children aged between 12 and 23 months in the sub-county.

Accurate Phone-Based Plant Disease Diagnostics

Jan KreuzeInternational Potato CenterLima, Peru
Grand Challenges Explorations
Crop Disease Surveillance
1 Nov 2018

Jan Kreuze of the International Potato Center in Peru will develop a low-cost, mobile phone-based diagnostic test for African farmers that uses artificial intelligence to quickly and accurately detect plant diseases such as cassava brown streak and banana bunchy top, which devastate crops and are threatening to spread. Accurately diagnosing plant diseases is difficult because visual symptoms can be highly variable. Artificial intelligence (AI) has shown promise for analyzing images of plants taken by mobile phone to detect diseases in low-resource settings, but it is not accurate enough. Alternatively, chemical-based diagnostic tests that detect the underlying viruses are far more accurate but difficult to use without training and require costly equipment. They will enhance the accuracy of AI for diagnosing a range of plant diseases by mobile phone by training it with validated diagnostic test results from their microfluidic amplification and detection device used by researchers and inspection agents. Their approach has the potential to recognize hard-to-detect symptoms in plants that may even be missed by crop specialists.

Accurate, Accelerated, and Affordable Kit to Predict Preterm Birth and Postpartum Recovery

Ashish GangulyCSIR-Institute of Microbial TechnologyChandigarh, Punjab, India
Grand Challenges India
India-GCE
5 Apr 2013

Ashish Ganguly and colleagues from the CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology in India will make an affordable paper-based diagnostic to quickly and precisely measure plasma gelsolin levels in expectant mothers to help predict premature delivery and postpartum recovery, thereby reducing new mother and child mortality rates. They will determine the value of plasma gelsolin levels for predicting postpartum-related problems using patient sampling and an animal model of preterm birth. They will also develop the diagnostic by identifying a plasma gelsolin binding peptide that will be used to coat an optimized paper strip, along with a cell phone based read-out to enable remote analysis by a centralized unit. This grant was selected through India's IKP Knowledge Park and their IKP-GCE program.

Adjuvant Effects of a Special Light

Mei WuGeneral Hospital CorporationBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

Laser light at a specific setting can activate antigen presenting cells in the skin and temporarily make cellular membranes permeable. Mei X. Wu and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the U.S. will test whether injection of a vaccine into laser-exposed skin can significantly enhance immune responses stimulated by the vaccine.

Aerial Plant Disease Surveillance by Spectral Signatures

Pierluigi BonelloOhio State UniversityColumbus, Ohio, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Crop Disease Surveillance
1 Nov 2018

Pierluigi Bonello of Ohio State University in the U.S. will develop a surveillance system for crops using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) to position sensors to help diagnose plant diseases in low-income countries. Plant diseases are usually identified first by the farmers or human scouts and then confirmed by laboratory testing. This process is inefficient and requires resources often unavailable in low-income countries, calling for alternative approaches. It is known that when a plant becomes infected, it produces specific chemicals. In addition, functional chemical groups in biological samples are known to vibrate in predictable ways after absorbing light. They will test whether this information can be exploited for the rapid and widespread detection of two plant diseases, rice blast and maize dwarf mosaic, by vibrational spectroscopy that could be positioned inside crop canopies by drones. Rice and maize grown in greenhouses and fields in the U.S. will be infected, and they will develop statistical methods to evaluate whether handheld spectrometers can distinguish between infected and uninfected plants. This technology could ultimately allow crop managers to control the spread of a disease even before plants show visual symptoms.

Aligning Data Across Incompatible Geographical Units

H.V. JagadishUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Data Systems
15 Oct 2013

H.V. Jagadish of the University of Michigan in the U.S. will take disparate datasets on diverse topics, including education, health, and the environment, which are often reported using different geographical units such as Zip Code or County, and realign them to a common unit so they can be better compared and used. Jagadish will develop four general techniques for aligning data partitions and apply them to existing datasets in one state in the U.S. so that they can be viewed according to different geographical units. Jagadish will also produce an interface so that policy analysts and NGOs can easily access and query these data, and collect feedback to improve the approach.

Alleviating Human and Animal African Sleeping Sickness

Paul DysonSwansea UniversitySwansea, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Human and Animal Health
14 Oct 2013

Paul Dyson of Swansea University in the United Kingdom will work to control the incidence of sleeping sickness in humans, which is caused by the Trypanosome parasite transmitted by tsetse flies, by genetically modifying a fly gut bacterium to deliver double-stranded (ds) RNAs to block two important parasite proteins. Trypanosomes mature in the flies, thereby gaining the capacity to infect mammals. He will engineer the bacteria and introduce them into tsetse flies, then test the capacity of the dsRNAs to inhibit their target proteins in trypanosomes. This approach could lead to long-term control of this disease as the bacteria are maternally transmitted to the offspring.

Amphistome Flukes to Control Schistosomes in African Snails

Eric LokerUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
9 Oct 2013

Eric Loker of the University of New Mexico in the U.S., along with colleagues from KEMRI in Kenya, will test whether parasitic flatworms known as amphistome flukes can eradicate the human parasite Schistosoma with the goal of helping prevent human infections. These two types of worms co-inhabit the same snail species. The investigators will harvest large quantities of amphistome eggs from the rumens of routinely slaughtered goats and cattle, and use temperature and light to induce miracidia (larva) to hatch in the laboratory. These will then be tested for their ability to infect schistosome-transmitting snails and to block or prevent schistosome infections in these snails. This low-tech, low-cost approach is more environmentally friendly than current chemical approaches, and its application to transmission sites can be easily halted once infection rates are under control.

An Altruistic Vaccine for Mosquito Transmitted Pathogens

Paul YoungUniversity of QueenslandBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

Mosquito transmitted pathogens such as dengue and malaria are a significant disease burden on the world's population. Paul Young of the University of Queensland in Australia aims to develop a novel vaccine approach that is based on blocking mosquito transmission of these disease agents rather than inducing pathogen- specific immunity.

An Analytical Tool to Transform Genomic Approaches to Nagana

Andrew JacksonUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpool, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Human and Animal Health
11 Oct 2013

Andrew Jackson of the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom will develop a diagnostic tool for Animal African Trypanosomiasis (Nagana), which is caused by unicellular parasites known as trypanosomes and threatens up to 50 million cattle in sub-Saharan countries. To avoid immune detection, the causative trypanosomes change their DNA sequences (genomes), particularly in genes encoding for cell surface glycoproteins, which also affects the symptoms the parasites cause. They will sequence these trypanosome genes from forty parasites spanning diverse countries and hosts to quantify their variation. By associating the variation with disease factors, such as virulence and severity, this profile of variation can be developed as a diagnostic marker to improve disease management and treatment.

An Artificial Intelligence System to Strengthen Antimicrobial Prescription in a Children's Hospital: SMART-EP

Marcelo PillonettoPontifícia Universidade Católica do ParanáCuritiba, Paraná, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Drug Resistance Burden
1 Nov 2018

The idea is to develop an artificial intelligence model capable of simultaneously analyzing data from the Laboratory Information System and from the Hospital Information System. This technology aims to enable the delivery to hospital physicians of a ranked list of antimicrobials that are more suitable to treat infection by multi-resistant microorganism with a focus on newborn and young children.

An Automated Drug Screening Platform for Helminths

Floriano SilvaFiocruzRio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
11 Oct 2013

Floriano Silva of Fiocruz in Brazil will develop a drug screening assay using automated microscopy to test new drug candidates for toxicity towards adult helminth parasites, which cause a range of diseases. Current screening approaches cannot easily identify drugs that specifically target adult parasites, which is the most disease-relevant life cycle stage. He will develop and validate imaging and computational methods to automatically monitor physical characteristics of the parasites, and perform proof-of-principle drug screens using an FDA approved and an annotated compound library. This approach could be expanded to other parasites and used for screening larger drug libraries to identify new classes of drugs.

An Endothelial Reservoir for Malaria?

Michael LeibowitzRobert Wood Johnson Medical SchoolPiscataway, New Jersey, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Michael Leibowitz of the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in the U.S. will investigate whether malaria parasites bind to, invade and replicate in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels to test the theory that endothelial cells play an important role in the development of malaria infection and may serve as undiscovered reservoirs for parasite latency.

An Enhanced Condom Using Nanomaterials

Aravind VijayaraghavanUniversity of ManchesterManchester, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Condom
8 Oct 2013

Aravind Vijayaraghavan and a team from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom propose to develop new elastic composite materials for condoms containing nanomaterials like graphene. This composite material will be tailored to enhance the natural sensation during intercourse while using a condom, which should encourage condom use.

An Immunity-Enhancing Beverage

Steven MaranzCornell UniversityIthaca, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Steven Maranz of Weill Medical College in the U.S. will test the hypothesis that providing children high levels of flavanols, compounds found in chocolate, green tea, cola and shea nuts, deprives malaria parasites of lipids needed to survive, keeping parasite infection at levels low enough to elicit a strong immune response that builds lifelong immunity.

An Intuitive Multi-Use Intrauterine Device (IUD) Inserter to Expand Access to Contraceptives and Family Planning in Resource-Poor Settings

Suchi KuhranaBioceptive, Inc.New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Jan 2013

Although intrauterine devices (IUDs) are effective long-acting contraceptives, IUD insertion is very complex, so IUDs are often unavailable in resource poor settings. Bioceptive's proposal is to create a reusable IUD inserter for the developing world with the goals that it is intuitive, Cu380A IUD compatible, safer, and low cost. Bioceptive will develop a reusable version of its patent-pending IUD inserter that makes the insertion procedure easier and safer, allowing more women worldwide to take advantage of one of the most effective forms of contraception. The design of this reusable inserter will be based on Bioceptive's disposable inserter, which is prohibitively expensive for use in the developing world. The reusable inserter will expand access to the most common type of intrauterine contraceptive device to millions of women at low cost. Bioceptive's IUD inserter will eliminate the need to use four separate instruments for IUD insertion, making the procedure simpler, safer and intuitive. Bioceptive's inserter replaces these other instruments with one intuitive device, allowing any healthcare worker to insert an IUD with minimal training, even in resource-poor settings. This will have a major impact on maternal health by addressing a major gap in access to IUDs, a most effective contraceptive option.

Anemia and Women Smallholder Farmers

Carmine BozziAkeso, LLCSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Women Farmers
25 Oct 2013

Carmine Bozzi of Akeso Associates in the U.S., along with Maurice Masoda of Heal Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will test the effect of treating hookworm infections in women smallholder farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo on disease prevalence, iron status, and capacity for labor over a 12-month period. Hookworm infections are endemic in many regions, and infection rates can reach 50% of the population. Hookworms reside in the intestinal wall where they mediate blood loss causing iron deficiency and anemia, which is exacerbated in women due to menstrual blood loss and iron demands during pregnancy. This anemia in turn leads to reduced aerobic work capacity, therefore successful treatment of these infections could result in significant gains in labor productivity.

Anti-TB Drugs That Limit Evolution of Resistance

Gerald SmithFred Hutchinson Cancer Research CenterSeattle, Washington, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

Gerald R. Smith of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the U.S. seeks to identify inhibitors of a bacterial DNA repair enzyme that allows tuberculosis to mutate. Identifying these inhibitors could lead to therapies that kill bacteria and limit drug resistance.

Antihistamine Use for Enhanced Macrofilaricidal Activity

Edward MitreThe Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military MedicineBethesda, Maryland, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
9 Oct 2013

Edward Mitre and colleagues at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine in the U.S. will develop a short course therapy for clearing adult filarial worms, which cause substantial morbidity and mortality, to enhance eradication efforts. Current antifilarial medications target only larval forms of the worms, requiring repeated administration until the natural death of the adults. Filarial infections are known to induce immune cells to release histamine, which can regulate the immune response. Using mouse models of filarial infections, they will evaluate whether a short course of standard antifilarial treatment combined with an antihistamine can clear adult worms and thereby more quickly cure the disease.

Application of Low-Cost and Sustainable Solar Oxidation Treatment to Prevent Microbial Resistance in Effluents in Brazil

Camila AmaralUniversidade Federal de Minas GeraisBelo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Drug Resistance Burden
1 Nov 2018

This project will test a sustainable solar oxidation system as a way to remove antibiotic resistant bacteria from wastewater. The hypothesis is that this technology can enable the inactivation of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the elimination of antibiotic resistant genes from effluents in Brazil.

Applying the Metagenomic Approach for the Detection of EsβL- and Carbapenemase-Producing Enteric Pathogens Recovered from Different Hosts

Ana GalesUniversidade Federal de São PauloSão Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Drug Resistance Burden
1 Nov 2018

The project will study the genetic material from environmental samples from humans (healthy and ill), cattle and their meat to estimate the proportion of E. coli and K. pneumoniae in the microbiome. The main objective is to better understand the distribution of bacteria and its resistance genes, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria and extended spectrum beta-lactamase (EsβL) and carbapenemases encoding genes in distinct ecological sources.

Artificial Triggering of Malaria Parasite Relapse

Lena HuldenUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinki, Finland
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Lena Hulden of the University of Helsinki in Finland will test the hypothesis that saliva from newly emerging mosquitoes activates dormant P. vivax parasites in the liver. By robust statistical analysis of the timing of P. vivax outbreaks, as well as molecular analysis of mosquito saliva, Hulden hopes to eventually identify the trigger for these relapses in hopes of controlling outbreaks.

Ask, Boost, Connect, Discuss for Improved Mental Health of HIV+ Adolescent Mothers in Africa

Agnes RonanPediatric Adolescent Treatment AfricaCape Town, South Africa
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Agnes Ronan, from Pediatric Adolescent Treatment Africa, in South Africa will develop a training and supervision tool for young health workers that combines screening and support in an accessible format to reduce depression in HIV-positive, adolescent mothers. There are an estimated two million adolescent mothers living with HIV in Africa, and stigma prevents many of them accessing health care. Young HIV-positive peer supporters work in local clinics and use informal chats, text messages, and home visits to support HIV-positive adolescents. However, they lack the skills to support the mental health of HIV-positive adolescent mothers. They will adapt existing cognitive behavioral therapy methods based on the WHO's Thinking Healthy program, and co-develop their approach with adolescent mothers, peer supporters, and developers. They will train 70 peer supporters from six southern African countries and each will recruit three HIV-positive adolescent mothers to test the approach.

Assessing the Impact of Hospital-Based Breastfeeding Interventions on Infant Health

Cristiano BoccoliniFiocruzRio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Data Science Approaches
1 Nov 2018

Aims to access all 68.3 million living births certificates from Brazil, from 1994 to 2016, and compare them with breastfeeding policies in all Brazilian hospitals to assess the impact of the initiatives on infant health. The study also plans to estimate the number of avoidable deaths during this time period, if those initiatives were adopted in Brazil.

Association Among Fetal Microbiota, Prematurity and Preterm Morbidities

Renato Soibelmann ProcianoyUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulPorto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Preterm Birth Burden
6 Dec 2013

Renato Soibelmann Procianoy from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil will analyze the association between bacterial populations in the vagina and gut of mothers in their third trimester and in the meconium of very preterm newborns, with risk of preterm delivery. It was previously assumed that microbes from the mother are first transferred to the fetus during delivery. However, it was recently shown that this could happen already in the uterus, triggering a possible immune response by the fetus that may lead to premature birth, which is a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. They will use 16S rRNA-based bacterial sequencing technology on around 600 samples to compare the types of bacteria present in preterm infants with that in healthy term infants in a neonatal unit in the Clinicas Hospital in Porto Alegre. They will also track the changes in bacterial composition in healthy and sick newborns during their hospital stay, to identify types of bacteria associated with specific diseases such as diarrhea. All samples will be stored in a repository for future case-controlled studies.

Augmented Infant Resuscitator (AIR)

Data SantorinoMbarara University of Science and TechnologyMbarara, Uganda
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
16 Dec 2013

Effective resuscitation could reduce intrapartum related neonatal deaths by 30%, and deaths from prematurity by 10%, creating the potential to save 347,200 babies annually. However, one in five trained healthcare professionals (HCPs) fail to perform the resuscitation technique correctly, and those that do, often experience a rapid decline in proficiency. Our Augmented Infant Resuscitator's advanced training capabilities, instant feedback mechanism, and objective self-audit and retraining abilities will maximize and sustain gains from effective resuscitation. The AIR prototype provides instant feedback to users about effective ventilation. This is measured using inexpensive instrumentation that calculates ventilation rate, air volume and air pressure delivered by the bag-valve-mask (BVM) across the resuscitation face-mask. These parameters correlate with the four most common mistakes that result in ineffective resuscitation: 1) Failed seal at the face-mask interface resulting in failure to inflate the lungs; 2) Blocked airways; and 3) Wrong ventilation frequency 4) Insufficient/shallow lung inflation. Each of these mistakes can cause death or brain damage. AIR also records performance on an internal memory card for future feedback, improving HCPs training by identifying persistent gaps in technique.

Augmented Infant Resuscitator: Transitioning a Novel Behavior Change Innovation to Drive Newborn Ventilation Enhancement to Improve Newborn Health Outcomes At Birth

Data SantorinoMbarara University of Science and TechnologyMbarara, Uganda
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Mar 2018

Augmented infant resuscitator: transitioning a novel behavior change innovation to drive newborn ventilation enhancement to improve newborn health outcomes at birth

Bacterial Viruses as Tool for Blocking Transmission of Malaria

Luiz OzakiVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmond, Virginia, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Luiz Ozaki and Gail E. Christie of Virginia Commonwealth University in the U.S. will genetically engineer bacterial viruses to carry peptides that block the development of the malaria parasites, survive in the mosquito gut, and spread through vector populations. If successful, these bacteriophages could be used as “gene dissemination tools” for effective control of the malaria.

BeHere-BeThere Project

Christoph NannServiceplanHamburg, Germany
Grand Challenges Explorations
Communicating About Aid
24 Apr 2013

Christoph Nann, Alex Schill, Maik Kaehler and a team from Serviceplan in Germany will test a simple and modern method for generating donations to developing countries. They will use location-based network applications such as Foursquare, which has over 25 million users who record their locations in cafés, shops and restaurants. By setting up collaborations with local retail partners in Germany, they will label their stores on Foursquare with charity projects in developing countries, such as building water pumps, to promote visitors to the stores. Once an organization has been found that can handle the donations, they will launch the locations on a website. When a Foursquare user visits one of the project-labeled stores it will trigger an automatic donation of an agreed amount from the store to that project. The aim is to spread the approach to other cities.

Biomimetic In-Field, IoT, "Sentinel" Fungal & Viral Sensor

Bruce GrieveUniversity of ManchesterManchester, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Crop Disease Surveillance
1 Nov 2018

Bruce Grieve of Manchester University in the United Kingdom will develop a low-cost, stereo-printed sensor that mimics plant leaves and stems and can detect and signal the presence of live pathogens as an early warning system to help protect crops in low-resource settings. They will demonstrate proof-of-concept of their approach in the laboratory by designing three dimensional sensors with specific patterns of cells and chemically-doped polymers to identify an ideal surface on which pathogenic fungal spores can grow and differentiate. Incorporated sensor cells will be designed to detect the live pathogens and produce a detectable response, such as a visible density change, and results can be stored locally or transmitted wirelessly. They will test different sensor designs for the detection of rust pathogens in wheat. Their approach can be adapted to detect multiple pathogens simultaneously, including viruses, as well as for human and livestock pathogens, and when deployed in the field can ultimately be linked to national surveillance systems.

Biosynthetic Immunotargeting for Pneumococcal Treatment

David SpiegelYale UniversityNew Haven, Connecticut, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

David A. Spiegel of Yale University in the U.S. will pursue an antibiotic strategy called “biosynthetic immunotargeting.” Streptococcus pneumoniae will be fed small molecules which they will incorporate into their cell walls. These small molecules contain an epitope recognized by antibodies in the human bloodstream, leading to immune clearance independent of bacterial antigens, representing a unique, resistance-free approach to pneumococcal disease.

Blood Separator Device

David AndersonBurnet InstituteMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Diagnostics Systems
1 May 2018

David Anderson of the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research in Australia will develop a low-cost, simple to use, sample collection device to improve sample quality and ensure accurate and timely diagnosis in remote, low-resource areas. Obtaining high quality serum samples needed for diagnosing a variety of diseases is challenging in these regions due to the lack of equipment and expertise to process the samples and stabilize them for transport to the diagnostic laboratories. They have developed a device comprising an integrated two-step process based on lateral flow chromatography that separates plasma from other blood cells and dries it on paper so it can be stably transported. The dried plasma samples can also be used directly in the laboratory, which accelerates analysis. They will modify the device to separate and store larger volumes of plasma using 25 healthy volunteers, and test its performance for diagnosing patients with different infections, including Hepatitis B and C, compared with fresh plasma.

Box in a Truck to Transport and Store Cassava

Nnaemeka IkegwuonuThe Smallholders FoundationOwerri, Imo State, Nigeria
Grand Challenges Explorations
Women Farmers
2 Oct 2013

Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu of the Smallholders Foundation in Nigeria will improve his Box-in-a-Truck design for extending the lifespan of cassava, which is a major staple food grown by women smallholder farmers, to decrease labor costs associated with cassava processing. Cassava spoils within 24 hours of harvesting, and the traditional method of prolonging life by leaving the crops longer in the ground reduces the nutritional content. He has designed a small, manually transportable truck containing a wire box that is surrounded by moist sawdust and can hold 145 pieces of cassava. This Box in a Truck is inexpensive and can be locally manufactured and maintained. Initial tests showed that cassava stored in this way lasted the duration of the 16 day study period and retained more nutrients than when it is left in the ground. He will test extended time spans and optimize parameters for use, and then field-test the device for its capacity to save labor and its suitability for local conditions across different seasons using 200 women smallholder farmers.

Breastfeeding in Premature Infants: Impact of Bfhi in Neonatal Units

Carmen Gracinda Silvan ScochiUniversidade de São PauloSão Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Grand Challenges Brazil
Preterm Birth Burden
6 Dec 2013

Carmen Gracinda Silvan Scochi from the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil will encourage mothers of preterm infants in Brazil to exclusively breastfeed them for the first six months to better protect them against infections and optimize their growth and neurodevelopment. The incidence of preterm births in Brazil is increasing, and causes multiple short and long-term complications. Exclusive breastfeeding can limit some of these complications but is particularly challenging with preterm infants due to their incomplete development and the need for hospitalization, as well as there being practical and emotional difficulties for the mother. The existing WHO/UNICEF global program for promoting exclusive breastfeeding has been adapted specifically for preterm infants and involves better educating medical staff so that they provide the practical and emotional support to encourage exclusive breastfeeding. They will establish the program in 10 hospitals/maternity units across Brazil and evaluate its effect on the numbers of preterm infants being exclusively breastfed.

Breastmilk shield to prevent HIV transmission

Gadi BorkowCupron, Inc.Richmond, Virginia, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
HIV Infection
1 May 2009

Gadi Borkow of Cupron, Inc. in the U.S. will study the efficacy of using newly developed copper-oxide based filters that deactivate a wide range of viruses, including HIV-1, as a shield to enable HIV-infected mothers to breastfeed their infants without risking transmission of the virus.

Bridging the Last Mile: Education Feedback Loops in Nairobi

Wayan VotaDevelopment Gateway, Inc.Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Data Systems
15 Oct 2013

Wayan Vota of Development Gateway in the U.S. will combine data generated by citizens and governments into an interactive interface that can be easily accessed and used by average citizens in order to improve their communities. They will focus on education in three Nairobi slums, and engage the local community and government. An application interface will be designed using relevant datasets, such as school performance statistics, community reports, and geographic data, and used to build an interface that can be accessed over the internet or distributed in print form or via messages sent to mobile phones. They will conduct local workshops to test their approach.

Bringing STEM to Elementary School Teachers Using a Digital Platform

Yen VerhoevenParagon Learning Research GroupAmes, Iowa, United States
Grand Challenges
Teaching and School Leadership
1 Nov 2018

Yen Verhoeven of the Paragon Learning Research Group in the U.S. will create a digital platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs) and a supportive online community of professionals for kindergarten to sixth grade teachers to transform their teaching practices and bring STEM and 21st century skills to their schools. MOOCs were developed as a means to provide free education to everyone. However, their content is typically restricted to videos and reading with little interactive learning, which is inadequate for teaching life skills such as critical thinking and creativity. And encouraging teachers to adopt new teaching practices requires additional professional support from peers and mentors. To address these issues, they will work with teachers and teaching experts to formulate a new MOOC design containing a variety of instructional resources and free professional development classes and develop a beta version of the online community platform. They will evaluate the course by teaching it to local K-6 teachers and gathering feedback to refine the content.

Build Interoperability Into NGO Information Repository

Pushpa SinghCivil Society Information Services IndiaMumbai, , India
Grand Challenges Explorations
Data Systems
23 Oct 2013

Pushpa Singh of the Civil Society Information Services India in India will develop a common repository to receive, validate, and store information from multiple sources on not-for-profit organizations to make it easier to access support from philanthropic intermediaries. Philanthropic intermediaries currently perform independent searches to find appropriate NGO partners to support, which costs time, money, and effort. The relevant data generated during these searches would benefit others, but it is often wasted, made inaccessible, or in a form that makes it incompatible with similar datasets. To address this, Singh will build a validated, searchable, and up-to-date NGO information source. Using test partners, Singh will design and develop the architecture for the system, which includes a tool that can transform diverse types of data into a standard format and vice-versa, and an tool for importing and export data.

Building and Sustaining Capacity of Frontline Health Workers in Prevention and Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage and Neonatal Asphyxia on the Day of Birth

Cherrie EvansJhpiego CorporationBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Jan 2013

Jhpiego proposes a capacity building and sustaining "Day of Birth" approach to bring lifesaving services to remote health facilities where complications must be prevented and managed simultaneously and swiftly, often by a single provider. This approach uses evidence-based practices in prevention and treatment of the two biggest killers of women and newborns in the hours after birth -PPH and neonatal asphyxia. Our approach will increase the knowledge and skills of frontline health workers, and therefore reduce newborn mortality and PPH in the areas where the intervention is applied through: 1) capacity building of facility teams through targeted training in "Helping Babies Breathe" and "Bleeding After Birth," 2) use of a low-cost, easy to use and durable simulator during training and low-dose high-frequency routine practice sessions carried out at the facilities after training, 3) further reinforcement through supportive supervision via phone and text messages, and 4) awareness creation within the community of improved services at the health facilities to boost desire for facility birth.

Building Resilience through Self-Help Groups for Adolescent Sex Workers with Young Children in Zimbabwe

Joanna BuszaLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondon, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Joanna Busza of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom will help vulnerable young mothers who sell sex in Zimbabwe by involving them in designing self-help groups incorporating virtual meetings via social media to build support networks and teach them life skills such as money management and parenting. Adolescent sex workers who become mothers are at high risk of developing mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, and often have little support caring for their children. They will involve adolescent women in the design stage by holding interviews and group discussions to gather opinion on social media and group meetings, as well as identify the types of skills they most need and how best to teach them. They will train peer educators to lead six-month virtual support groups and recruit young, pregnant sex workers to pilot test the approach in two urban sites in Zimbabwe.

C. elegans as a Targeted Molecular Surrogate for Filarid Parasites

Kaveh AshrafiUniversity of California San FranciscoSan Francisco, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
21 Oct 2013

Kaveh Ashrafi of the University of California, San Francisco in the U.S. will use the free-living model nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans as a molecular platform to identify new drugs capable of killing adult filarial parasitic worms, which cause serious infections. C. elegans is a non-parasitic model organism that can be easily grown and manipulated in the lab, unlike related parasitic Roundworms. Ashrafi will genetically engineer C. elegans to carry the parasitic version of the gene encoding phosphodiesterase-4, inhibition of which is known to kill the parasites. This mutant, as well as one carrying the human version of the same gene, will be used in screens to identify drug candidates that can selectively kill adult parasites.

C. elegans Models for Anthelmintic Drug Discovery

Cecilia BouzatInstituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de BahíaBahía Blanca, Argentina
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
10 Oct 2013

Cecilia Bouzat of the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca in Argentina will develop a drug screening platform to identify new antiparasitic drugs using the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. There are limited numbers of effective anthelmintic drugs and resistance to these drugs is emerging in the field. However, parasitic nematodes are unsuitable for large-scale drug screens mainly because they generally require host animals to survive. She will use the related free-living C. elegans to screen extracts of medicinal plants from South America and isolate bioactive compounds from any extracts demonstrated to be toxic for nematodes. The protein targets of these compounds will then be identified and the corresponding DNA from the clinically-relevant nematodes will be incorporated into C. elegans by genetic engineering to validate the compound's anthelmintic activity and enable the testing of derivatives that may be more effective.

Capturing Nature's Weapons to Prevent Infectious Diseases

Gregory TewUniversity of MassachusettsWorcester, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Infectious Diseases
1 May 2009

To better understand the role that antimicrobial peptides play in the immune system, Gregory Tew of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the U.S. will test synthetic molecules that mimic these peptides for their ability to clear bacteria by engaging the innate and adaptive immune system.

CassavaTech

Vaibhav TidkeInstitute of Chemical TechnologyMumbai, , India
Grand Challenges Explorations
Women Farmers
1 Nov 2013

Vaibhav Tidke of the Institute of Chemical Technology in India will design and test a low-cost movable dryer called CassavaTech to easily and quickly dry large quantities of cassava, which is a major staple crop grown by women smallholder farmers. The majority of harvested cassava is dried to form flour and chips, but traditional hand drying methods take between five and fifteen days, which limits time for other activities. CassavaTech will reduce the drying time to only eight hours and will optimize the design and build a prototype to evaluate performance in the laboratory and using women farmers in the field.

Catalyst: Better Mental Health for Young Mozambican Mothers

Tatiana SalisburyKing's College LondonLondon, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Maternal Mental Health
1 May 2018

Tatiana Salisbury of King's College London in the United Kingdom along with colleagues at the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom and the Manhiça Health Research Centre in Mozambique will develop a strategy to improve the mental health of young mothers in Mozambique by adapting existing technology-based and group-based methods to teach them life skills such as parenting and social skills. Almost half of Mozambican girls have had a baby by the time they are 18 years old. Together with associated events including being excluded from school and family conflicts, this can damage their mental health and lead to suicide. They will recruit experts in mental and maternal health and implementation science, analyze resources and local infrastructure, and, together with young mothers, their families, and other stakeholders, co-develop the skill-strengthening and delivery methods. Delivery methods to be analyzed include text messaging, mobile phone applications, and group meetings. They will then pilot test their strategy with three different delivery methods using up to 60 pregnant and young mothers (aged 15-24 years) over four months, and evaluate their effect on mental health.

Cause Generation: A Platform to Define a Generation's Cause

Tony MorainOgilvy Public RelationsSan Francisco, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Communicating About Aid
15 Apr 2013

Tony Morain of Ogilvy in the U.S. will develop and launch an online platform for university student teams to campaign for their chosen development challenges. The platform will allow the teams to generate a “profile page” and develop a strategy for communicating success with the aid of proven communication tools and access to relevant resources, including case studies of effective communication strategies. Team voting will be used to select a winning campaign to support, which will be provided with funding. The aim is to empower young people with the ability to identify the major development challenges of their generation, and educate them to communicate the effectiveness of aid.

Cell Phone Microscopy for Malaria Diagnosis

Daniel FletcherUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Malaria Eradication
1 Nov 2009

Daniel Fletcher of the University of California, Berkeley in the U.S. will develop a microscope that attaches to cell phones to capture high-contrast fluorescent images of malaria parasites. Custom software on the phone will automatically count the parasite load, with results and patient information wirelessly transmitted to clinical centers for tracking.

Cheap Yeast-Based Efficient Screens For Antifilarial Drugs

Stephen OliverUniversity of CambridgeCambridge, United Kingdom
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
23 Apr 2013

Stephen Oliver and Elizabeth Bilsland at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom will develop a yeast-based screen to identify compounds inhibiting selected enzymes from parasitic filarial worms, which cause several common and debilitating diseases. Candidate enzymes as potential antifilarial drug targets will be selected based on their importance specifically in the adult stages of the parasite life cycle, against which current drugs are ineffective. Yeast strains will be modified to produce these candidate enzymes and used in medium-throughput screens with the freely-available Malaria Box of compounds, which are active against the malaria parasite. This approach is cheaper and easier than current screening methods, and should identify compounds that are highly specific for adult filarial worms.

Chimeric Nematode Models for Anthelmintic Discovery

Richard KomunieckiUniversity of ToledoToledo, Ohio, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Neglected Tropical Diseases
9 Apr 2013

Richard Komuniecki of The University of Toledo in the U.S. will develop a high-throughput screening platform to identify novel drug targets for treating parasitic nematode (worm) infections, which cause significant morbidity in developing countries. Current drugs are ineffective against some parasitic species, and other species are becoming resistant, thus there is an urgent need for alternative approaches. However, high-throughput drug screens have been challenging because most parasitic nematodes cannot be cultured in the laboratory. To bypass this, they will create chimeric nematodes by introducing key neuronal drug targets from parasitic nematodes into the free-living model nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. This adapted model will then be used to develop a screening assay for identifying compounds with anti-parasitic activity. This approach could also be applied to any other existing or proposed drug targets.

Co-Administration of Influenza and Tetanus Toxoid Vaccines to Pregnant Mothers Using a Simple-to-Administer, Thermostable Microneedle Patch that Generates No Sharps Waste

Ioanna SkountzouEmory UniversityAtlanta, Georgia, United States
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Jan 2013

To increase vaccination coverage, we propose to develop a microneedle patch that co-administers the influenza and tetanus toxoid vaccines. Our approach is specifically designed to meet the needs of pregnant women and children under the age of 5 in developing countries by (i) seeking to prevent tetanus and influenza infection (ii) co-administering both vaccines with a simple-to-apply, thermostable patch that generates no sharps waste, thus improving safety by avoiding hypodermic needles. This type of vaccine administration requires minimally trained personnel, and is painless and therefore more acceptable to those being vaccinated. Additionally, because the vaccine patches are dry and do not need reconstitution they have improved thermal stability, and so can be shipped to remote areas and stored for prolonged periods without refrigeration.

Combating Antibiotic Resistance in Tuberculosis

Krishna KodukulaSRI InternationalMenlo Park, California, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Drug Resistance
1 May 2009

To test the theory that certain metabolic pathways essential to the survival of bacteria are immutable and therefore promising targets of drug therapy, Krishna Kodukula and colleagues at SRI International in the U.S. will identify peptides that bind key metabolites of M. tuberculosis, and test their ability to kill the bacteria.

Combining Metrics for One Health

Simon ReidUniversity of QueenslandBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
Grand Challenges Explorations
Human and Animal Health
15 Oct 2013

Simon Reid and colleagues at the University of Queensland in Australia will develop a combined metric using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to integrate divergent values on impacts of disease interventions from the agricultural, animal husbandry, and human health sectors. These sectors are involved in addressing similar issues such as disease control, but they each have different priorities. They will focus on the impact of interventions to reduce the incidence of two diseases in Bangladesh, and use existing data and consultation with stakeholders to identify priorities for intervention, including livelihood impact and livestock productivity, that are then ranked by each sector. This will be used to develop a measurement framework that preserves the priorities for each sector, but provides a means of comparing them and achieving consensus.

CommTrack: A Distribution Management System to Serve the Last Mile

Kara GrijalvaDimagi Software Innovations Private LimitedNew Delhi, Delhi, India
Grand Challenges for Development
Saving Lives at Birth
1 Jan 2013

Urgent shortages of medicines in low-income countries lead to millions of unnecessary deaths at birth every year. One pervasive challenge causing such shortages is how to move the right commodities to the right place on time and at cost. We propose to develop an open-source distribution management system which leverages our existing real-time dataset of stock transactions at thousands of facilities in Africa to drive automated improvements in practice. Specifically, we will make optimal usage of limited resources to improve route planning and scheduling, respond to delivery or cold chain failures, strengthen communication, and reduce inappropriate resource utilization. These tools could save governments hundreds of thousands in the cost of fuel, trucks, drivers, and wasted/lost stock, while also improving reliable access to better quality, life-saving commodities.

Create a Foursquare for Development

Vijay ModiColumbia UniversityNew York, New York, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Data Systems
15 Oct 2013

Vijay Modi and colleagues of Columbia University in the U.S. will create a universal database to centralize the mapping of social infrastructures, such as schools, clinics, and water points, to improve data accuracy and help to better coordinate aid efforts. Currently, data collection of physical points occurs across multiple platforms, and is inefficient and difficult to update. They will build and host a web service providing a simple database that is easy to access and edit to promote widespread adoption and thereby sharing and integration of important datasets.

Creating a Market Solution to Treat Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) in Rural Nigeria

Owens WiwaClinton Health Access InitiativeBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Nutrition
1 Nov 2018

Owens Wiwa of the Clinton Health Access Initiative in the U.S. will determine whether providing free vouchers for mothers to receive a nutrient-dense food can help infants with moderate acute malnutrition in Nigeria. By linking the vouchers to attendance at immunization clinics, they also hope to boost immunization coverage. Malnutrition is a major public health concern in Nigeria, where almost one third of children are underweight, and ten percent are wasted. However, improving nutrition in poor and rural households is difficult because of a lack of education and limited access to nutritional foods. They will pilot test their approach in a randomized controlled trial at two locations by training healthcare workers at immunization centers to council mothers on feeding practices and to monitor infant growth to identify malnutrition. The mothers of malnourished infants between six and 23 months old will be provided with vouchers to receive three months' worth of an existing fortified food, which will be provided at a local health facility. They will evaluate the effect of their approach on the infants' nutritional status and immunization coverage.

Creating Demand for Immunization Through Gameplay

Dyuti SenInnovators in Health (India)Patna, Bihar, India
Grand Challenges Explorations
Immunization Delivery
1 May 2018

Dyuti Sen and Tushar Garg from Innovators in Health in India will test whether a communal game of snakes and ladders in maternity health clinics and in homes of pregnant couples can demonstrate the value of childhood immunization to improve coverage in rural communities in Bihar, India. Gameplay may be a valuable way of informing parents about the importance of immunizing their children because it is fun and interactive. Snakes and ladders, which is a popular game in India, can also visually illustrate the positive (ladder) and negative (snake) effects of immunization, such as the economic cost of having a sick child. The board is built up interactively by the parents as they make choices about vaccinating their children from the start (newborn) to the finish (fully protected child). They will train community health workers to facilitate communal games of snakes and ladders, trial their approach in around 15 municipal wards over 12 months, and determine its impact on immunization coverage and local knowledge.

Creating Spirulina Microentrepreneurs to Solve Malnutrition

Sailendra AppanahEnerGaia Bangladesh Ltd.Dhaka, Bangladesh
Grand Challenges Explorations
Next Generation Nutrition
1 Nov 2018

Sailendra Appanah of EnerGaia Bangladesh Ltd in Bangladesh will teach low-income women in rural Bangladesh to farm Spirulina, which is an edible protein- and nutrient-rich microalgae, to provide better nutrition and an income for them and their families. They have developed a low-cost Spirulina production system comprising closed tanks with filtered air and water inputs, and a business model that provides the farmers with a lease-to-own financing solution and guaranteed buyers of excess product. They will recruit 30 interested women from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and pay them a small wage to undergo three months of training at their local Spirulina farm. They will then provide them with tanks through the lease-to-own program, help them with installation and operation, and process the fresh spirulina produce for sale or for local consumption. They will evaluate the effect of their approach on income and malnutrition in the community.

Creatively Empowering Youth and Kid Agripreneurs as Global Citizens to Achieve Food and Nutrition Security by 2050

Alpha SennonWHYFARMSiparia, , Trinidad and Tobago
Grand Challenges
Global Citizenship
1 Nov 2018

Alpha Sennon of WHYFARM in Trinidad and Tobago, along with Wainella Isaacs, Candace Charles-Sennon, Luke Smith, George Caesar, Akinola Sennon and their partners at TECH4Agri, will engage young people, who are the future feeders of 2050, in agriculture, and develop their knowledge and skills so that they can promote sustainable agriculture and improve food security in Trinidad and Tobago. They will implement four related projects in which participants can win cash prizes. These projects include an eight-week training course for ten professionals aged 18 to 30 that provides mentorship and skills to help develop their business plans, tours of ten primary schools with a local youth theater production company to teach nine to eleven year olds about the nutritional and economic value of baigan (eggplant), including a competition to design their own superheroes and nutritious snacks, and focusing their Agricultural Fun, Museum and Food Factory Park for the under 30's to teach visitors about food and local agricultural products using educational games. They will evaluate each project using surveys and metrics such as numbers of participants and related activity on social media.

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