Eldin Wee Chuan Lim of the National University of Singapore will work to develop a cell phone application that converts cell phone camera images of irises into a mathematical algorithm that can be used to identify individuals in health care settings. This program could be used to administer and track immunization programs in developing countries.

Daniel González of the University of Texas at San Antonio in the U.S. will work to engineer a probiotic yeast into a strain that can deliver antigens directly to the intestinal mucosal immune system. This yeast strain could be developed into an oral vaccine delivery vehicle that can accommodate a wide variety vaccine candidates.

Alberto Bosque of the University of Utah in the U.S. will use high-throughput transcriptome analysis to identify and characterize unique biomarkers expressed on latent HIV infected memory cells in an effort to design new therapeutic strategies to eradicate HIV infection.

Kerry Schulze and colleagues at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the U.S., working with the JiVitA Project in Bangladesh, will study urine and blood samples from an established cohort of two-year old children in Bangladesh to assess whether non-nutritional factors such as aflatoxin exposure, chronic inflammation, and compromised gut integrity cause the deceleration of growth exhibited by many children in that country by 24 months of age.