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

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

Nishant Kumar of Embryyo Technologies Private Limited will develop a head scanner that can determine the weight and volume of the brain of a newborn to help monitor health. Current methods rely on expensive or complex techniques that require trained staff. They will develop a portable imaging scanner and a mattress that can measure the weight of the head, and use them to render a 3D mesh volume template of the head. This template can then be used to compute brain volume and weight by subtracting known volumes of bone and dermal tissues. They will test their scanner on 100 neonates and determine its efficacy by comparing the results with standard methods.

Rebecca Katz of George Washington University in the U.S. will identify the most cost-efficient and effective way to integrate the existing mass drug administration program for the parasitic disease schistosomiasis with the control program for malaria in Yemen. Both diseases are widespread in Yemen, but control efforts are currently separate, so combining them would pool financial and human resources. They will build a framework to model the health systems and structures in the current individual control programs and use it to quantify the relative strengths of different modes of integration. The chosen integration method will be assessed for cost and coverage by comparing it against other methods.

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

Paula Hidalgo-Sanchis and team at Pulse Lab Kampala – UN Global Pulse in Uganda will develop software that can transform raw data on mobile money use in developing countries into user-friendly formats to inform policymakers and researchers to help expand the field. They will collect mobile money and call detail records from two collaborating network providers, while ensuring privacy of users. In parallel, they will collect complementary datasets such as household survey data to enrich the value of the financial services data. They will process the data to evaluate the relationship between mobile money usage and, for example, geographical location or local economic and environmental factors.

This project, undertaken in collaboration with the University of South Florida, U.S., aims to develop and demonstrate an innovative sanitation and resource recovery solution for the slum areas in India.

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

Saiqa Mullick of Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Research Institute (RHI) in South Africa, along with Grass Root Soccer (GRS), Sonke Gender Justice, and the Population Council, will empower adolescent girls in South African townships as they progress in education by increasing their educational, health, social, and economic assets, while at the same time shifting gender attitudes and encouraging positive behavior among adolescent boys. The “Girls Achieve Power” (GAP) Year Program will work with schools and communities to encourage a culture of health and safety, and promote school retention among adolescent girls. Using soccer as a program platform, and enlisting local coaches as facilitators, the program will enable a healthy and productive progression for adolescent girls through secondary school. Aside from these direct benefits, the program will also expand the evidence base around the impact of asset-building approaches for adolescent girls.

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

Fatima Adamu from the Federal University Birnin Kebbi in Nigeria will support the transition of adolescent girls from secondary school into heath-related careers such as medicine, midwifery, and nursing to address the shortage of female health workers specifically in rural northern Nigeria. Social norms dictate that women only receive reproductive care from females, so a shortage means that many, particularly in the North, do not receive any health care during pregnancy. Additionally, women who pursue careers are more likely to have children later, which is associated with a healthier life. They will integrate existing and new education strategies, including coaching particularly female teachers in student-centered learning methods, to improve core academic and vocational training, and enhance life skills for girls. Their approach will be tested using a controlled trial.