News

Welcoming Remarks and Opening Address: Kedest Tesfagiorgis (Deputy Director, Global Partnerships &amp; Grand Challenges, Discovery &amp; Translational Sciences, Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation)

Welcome and Opening Remarks, Kedest Tesfagiorgis

Grand Challenges

Video

Annual Meeting Videos

Welcome remarks: Amir Aman, Minister of Health, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Welcome Remarks, Amir Aman

Tribute to Steve Buchsbaum, outgoing Deputy Director, Global Partnerships &amp; Grand Challenges, Discovery &amp; Translational Sciences, Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.

Tribute to Steve Buchsbaum

Project Videos

Opening Remarks: Trevor Mundel (President, Global Health, Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation)

Opening Remarks, Trevor Mundel

Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Videos

Emerging Technologies Grand Challenges Announced

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Grand Challenges Explorations

Announcement

2019 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action Grants Awarded

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Balance the Equation: A Grand Challenge for Algebra 1 Announced

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Grand Challenges: Voices for Economic Opportunity Grants Awarded

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Voices for Economic Opportunity Grants Awarded

Announcements

Why we invest in innovation

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Blog Post

Grand Challenges: Partnerships for Solving Today’s Problems and Tomorrow’s

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For Black and Latino students, and students experiencing poverty, mastering Algebra 1 is the X-Factor

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Mastering Algebra 1 is the X-Factor

Remembering Bill Gates Sr., our 'north star'

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Blog Posts

The next epidemic is coming. Here's how we can make sure we're ready

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Gates Notes

Why Our Foundation Takes On Grand Challenges

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Why Grand Challenges

National Academy of Sciences: Using the Power of Science to Improve Lives

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Using Disease to Fight Disease

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Grand Challenges-related posts from the blog of Bill Gates

Gates Notes (Grand Challenges)

Grand Challenges 2018

Retrospective Videos

2014 Grand Challenges meeting video – a retrospective beginning with the launch of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative and continuing through to the current network of Grand Challenges partnerships and initiatives

Grand Challenges - The First Ten Years

Grand Challenges Explorations has now completed ten rounds of grant applications. Learn more about the program’s goals and hear grantees explain their research on a diverse set of projects. Grantees: Antonio Avila, Eliane Ubalijoro, Fredros Okumu, Ron Quinn, Michelle McIntosh, Pradip Rathod, Tim Geary.

Introduction to Grand Challenges Explorations: May 2013

The Grand Challenges in Global Health program was launched in 2003 as a partnership between the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Learn more about the initiative and some of the original projects awarded grants for innovative approaches to global health. Grantees: James Dale, Richard Sayre, Scott O’Neill, Adrian Hill, George Shaw, Lawrence Zwiebel.

Grand Challenges in Global Health: The First Five Years

Historical narratives across the Grand Challenges family of initiatives

Video Retrospectives

Banking Human Milk

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Grand Challenges Explorations (2008-2018)

Diagnosing Leaky Gut

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Diagnosing Pneumonia

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Eliminating Witchweed

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Blog posts highlighting the first 10 years of Grand Challenges Explorations

Grand Challenges Explorations Retrospective (2008-2018)

Introduction (GCGH: 2005-2015)

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Publications

GCGH Project Retrospectives Intro Chapter

Grand Challenges in Global Health retrospective (2005-2015)

Antigen Design (Hill)

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Antigen Design (Kappe)

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Biological Vector Control (Burt)

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Book chapters highlighting the first 10 years of the original Grand Challenges initiative

Grand Challenges in Global Health Retrospective (2005-2015)

Grand Challenges Spotlight Talk IV: Zoleka Ngcete (Program Manager, Grand Challenges South Africa, South African Medical Research Council)

Grand Challenges Spotlight Talk IV: Zoleka Ngcete

Grand Challenges Spotlight Talk II: Moses Alobo (Program Manager, Grand Challenges Africa, The African Academy of Sciences)

Grand Challenges Spotlight Talk II: Moses Alobo

On May 20, 2020, Grand Challenges Explorations grants were announced for 11 researchers from 3 different countries around the world. Each will receive US$100,000 to conduct early-stage research projects focusing on one global health and development challenge selected for this Round.

Grand Challenges Explorations Round 24 Highlights

Hannah Wild of Stanford University in the U.S. will develop a modelling-based approach that uses remote sensing and geospatial analysis to include neglected and high-risk nomadic populations in health databases and for campaign planning.

Health Campaigns

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Coite Manuel of Food Chain LLC in the U.S. will develop a web-based tool that takes existing road network and population data for any country, divides it into regions, and identifies the closest health facility based on type and time of travel to improve health campaign planning and better monitor population health.

Robert Miros of 3rd Stone Design, Inc. in the U.S. will adapt their portable vaccine refrigerator, which is battery powered and can be monitored remotely, to maximize the charge life so that it can support vaccination campaigns in low- and middle-income countries.

Mosokah Fallah of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia will provide health campaign staff with activity tracking devices and movement-based bonuses to encourage more accurate reporting of coverage to improve impact.

Qingfeng Li of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the U.S. will develop a computational simulation tool to optimize the design of health campaigns in low-income settings.

Laura Smith of Research Foundation for the State University of New York in the U.S. will develop a decision-making tool that can plan more effective health campaigns in low- and middle-income countries by considering any competing interests of stakeholders.

Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University in the U.S. will develop a computational tool to support health campaigns in low- and middle-income countries that can predict the number and location of the people that need targeting.

David Hammel of Balcony Labs Inc. in the U.S. together with their partner Direct-Relief will develop a communication tool that combines smartphone messaging with geographical information systems to enable health campaign managers to communicate directly with health workers and civilians in a specific region of interest to improve the impact of their campaigns.

On December 4, 2019, Grand Challenges Explorations grants were announced for 29 researchers from 12 different countries around the world. Each will receive US$100,000 to conduct early-stage research projects focusing on one of three global health and development challenges selected for this Round.

Grand Challenges Explorations Round 23 Highlights

Marnie Winter of the University of South Australia, together with Tina Bianco-Miotto, Claire Roberts, and Clare Whitehead of the University of Adelaide in Australia and the University of Toronto in Canada, will develop and test short-interfering RNAs (siRNA) high-density lipoprotein (HDL) nanocarriers for the treatment of preeclampsia.

Emerging Technologies

Andrew Jackson of the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom will determine whether the amoeba, Acanthamoeba, which is commonly found in water and soil, acts as a host for Salmonella Typhi bacteria, which cause typhoid fever, to support growth and disease spread in Malawi.

Salmonella Typhi

Anita Shet of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in the U.S. will seek to increase childhood vaccination coverage in India and Nigeria by identifying opportunities for catch-up vaccinations when under-vaccinated children are hospitalized.

Immunization Demand

Fredos Okumu of the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania will develop technology to evaluate mosquito control interventions using a combination of artificial intelligence, infrared spectroscopy, and entomology.

Gemma Langridge of Quadram Institute Bioscience in the United Kingdom, along with co-investigators Aaron Jenkins of the University of Sydney in Australia and France Daigle of the University of Montreal in Canada, will collect different isolates of S. Typhi, which causes typhoid fever, to analyze genomic structure, growth, and gene expression to better understand how it can survive at low levels in water, and determine how it can be reactivated for monitoring.

Andrew Seal of the Institute for Global Health and Development in the United Kingdom will test whether traditional female social groups in Somalia can adopt a participatory learning and action (PLA) approach to improve vaccine knowledge and coverage in humanitarian settings.

Windy Tanner and Jim VanDerslice of the University of Utah in the U.S., together with colleagues from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan, will analyze water samples to determine the conditions that promote the survival of the typhoid fever causing bacterium Salmonella Typhi, and they will use metagenomic deconvolution to identify any gene exchange from other microbial species that may produce drug-resistant strains.

Olukemi Amodu, Mofeyisara Omobowale and Folakemi Amodu of the University of Ibadan College of Medicine in Nigeria will develop a three-part intervention to provide more convenient and accessible vaccinations for children of working mothers to increase the timeliness and completion of childhood vaccinations.

Andrew Greenhill of Federation University Australia in Australia, along with partners at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, will use advanced environmental microbiology methods to study microbial community dynamics associated with survival of the typhoid fever-causing bacterium Salmonella Typhi in aquatic environments in Papua New Guinea.

Itoro Ata of the Solina Center for International Development and Research in Nigeria will implement a program to support unemployed mothers in Nigeria by linking education on the importance of vaccinations with vocational skills education and training to improve immunization coverage.

On June 11, 2019, Grand Challenges Explorations grants were announced for 59 researchers from 26 different countries around the world. Each will receive US$100,000 to conduct early-stage research projects focusing on one of seven global health and development challenges selected for this Round.

Grand Challenges Explorations Round 22 Highlights

Tisungane Mvalo and Gerald Tegha of Lilongwe Medical Relief Fund Trust along with Msandeni Chiume at Kamuzu Central Hospital both in Malawi and Pascal Lavoie of the University of British Columbia in Canada will establish metagenomic next generation sequencing at a research laboratory in Malawi to identify pathogens causing infections in young infants to ensure rapid treatment with appropriate therapy and limit unnecessary antibiotic use.

Pathogen Identification

David Mills of the University of California, Davis in the U.S. will determine whether specific plant-based oligosaccharide formulations can drive mixed-culture growth of selected strains of intestinal bacteria for the low-cost and efficient production of live biotherapeutics. Microbial colonization in the human gut is important for overall health.

Microbial Biotherapeutics

Molly Brown of Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture in the U.S. will develop an early warning system for crop diseases for rural farmers in Africa by gathering data using existing infrastructure and mobile tools from commercial partners and applying machine learning pest models.

Crop Disease Surveillance

Bolanle Oyeledun of the Center for Integrated Health Programs in Nigeria will develop a new approach that involves teaching Nigerian parents to leverage their motivations for ensuring their children were fully immunized so that they can persuade other parents in low-income settings to do the same.

Christine Lamanna and Todd Rosenstock of the World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya will develop a strategy that combines local knowledge and a Bayesian network model to prioritize agricultural policy using Tanzania’s Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plan as a case study.

Agricultural Policies

Shivani Malla of Oxfam in Nepal will improve the management of solid waste in Nepal using technology including geographic information systems (GIS) to map populations and optimize collection routes, mobile phone-based customer services, and digital monitoring for the public and private sectors.

Water Sanitation Hygiene

Rumi Chunara of New York University in the U.S. will collect data from mobile phones of healthcare workers to develop algorithms that will help prioritize healthcare resources to increase vaccine coverage in Punjab, Pakistan. Immunization is one of the most cost-effective and successful public health strategies and is estimated to prevent up to three million deaths each year.

Immunization Delivery

Jessica Manning and Fabiano Oliveira of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases along with Daniel Parker of the University of California Irvine, all in the U.S., will develop a combinatorial approach to better define the incidence of vector-borne diseases in Cambodia in order to limit their transmission.

Christophe Lacroix of ETH Zürich in Switzerland will develop a new method to grow mixed strains of bacteria in bioreactors more efficiently and at lower cost for producing microbial-based biotherapeutics by immobilizing the bacteria on porous polysaccharide gel beads.

William Kunin of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom will develop methods to monitor agricultural pest outbreaks in Africa using data from dual-polarization weather radar.

Nico Vandaele and Catherine Decouttere from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium along with workers at the St. Francis of Assissi Community Dispensary in Kenya will develop a decision support tool for community workers who vaccinate children that incorporates the diverse characteristics and needs of the local parents and caregivers to help them improve vaccination uptake.

Kindie Tesfaye-Fantaye of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico will develop a computational model that incorporates the variable characteristics of households and farms to better predict the outcomes of agricultural interventions in Ethiopia in order to inform policy choices.

Doyeon Pi of PiQuant and Ki-Hun Jeong of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology both in the Republic of Korea will develop their small, low-cost, water quality test equipment and a GIS-based monitoring system to continuously map water quality in real time across Vietnam.

Noshad Ali of Precision Health Consultants Pvt Ltd in Pakistan will develop a speech recognition platform to record child vaccination data and increase efficiency at vaccination clinics.

Cara Brook, Jean-Michel Héraud, and Soa Fy Andriamandimby of the Pasteur Institute in Madagascar, and Jessica Metcalf of Princeton University in the U.S. will establish metagenomic next generation sequencing (NGS) in Madagascar to analyze samples from undiagnosed fever patients and from bats to identify bat-derived viruses that cause human infectious diseases and help develop new diagnostics.

Ahmad Khalil of Boston University in the U.S. will develop a low-cost bioreactor platform to simultaneously optimize growth conditions of multiple bacterial species for large scale production of biotherapeutics.

Melanie Bannister-Tyrrell of Ausvet in Australia will create an SMS-based communication system for farmers in Kenya to anonymously report crop disease and pest infestations and generate surveillance data to minimize crop loss.

Suparna Kalghatgi of Bempu Health Private Limited in India will introduce an online, personalized messaging platform to educate parents and caregivers on immunization and address their concerns to increase vaccine compliance and decrease childhood morbidity in India.

Rachel Sklar of Pit Pumpers Ltd. in Rwanda will develop an interactive SMS messaging platform to increase community use of companies to safely empty pit latrines in Rwanda by using communication to increase demand and thereby decrease cost and wait-times for service calls.

Peter Wagstaff of Self Help Africa in Ireland will build an advanced machine learning algorithm that automatically analyzes high-resolution satellite images for near real-time, low-cost detection of crop pests and diseases across wide, varied landscapes.

On November 6, 2018, Grand Challenges Explorations grants were announced for 34 researchers from 10 different countries around the world. Each will receive US$100,000 to conduct early-stage research projects focusing on one of three global health and development challenges selected for this Round.

Grand Challenges Explorations Round 21 Highlights

Joachim Loo of Nanyang Technical University in Singapore will develop techniques to encapsulate micronutrients such as iron for food fortification using okara, which is a nutritionally-rich pulp that is made as a wasted by-product during the production of soybean products.

Next Generation Nutrition

Samantha Dolan and Peter Rabinowitz of the University of Washington in the U.S., and Ian Njeru of I-TECH Kenya, will improve digital data collection and monitoring of childhood immunizations at Kenyan health facilities by optimizing workflows.

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.

Janos Zempleni of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the U.S. will test whether supplementing milk formula with exosomes from milk could have the potential to improve the growth of babies aged between 6 and 12 months and help protect them from infections.

Joshua Warren and Daniel Weinberger of Yale University in the U.S. will develop an analytical framework to improve local estimates of vaccine coverage in low- to middle-income countries.

James Bell of Rothamsted Research in the United Kingdom will test an integrated surveillance system for the real-time detection of ground and upper atmospheric levels of the fall armyworm, which is a moth that devastates maize crops.

Muthupandian Ashokkumar at the University of Melbourne in Australia, along with Francesca Cavalieri, Meifang Zhou, and Srinvas Mettu, will produce edible microballoons made from protein that contain essential nutrients for adding to common foods to combat malnutrition in mothers and infants.

Ali Turab of IRD Global Ltd. in Singapore will develop a decision support tool that can be integrated with digital immunization registries to automatically construct optimal appointment schedules for every child that can adjust for missed immunizations and the introduction of new vaccines.

Jun Kameoka of Texas A&amp;M University in the U.S. will develop multiplex, battery-less and wireless durable paper sensors for positioning under the soil in crop fields to detect the early signs of pests and diseases, and communicate the data to overhead drones via radio frequency to improve pest management.

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.

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.

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.

Tsegaye Nega of Carleton College in the U.S. will develop methods to produce and distribute affordable nutritional food supplements made from excess, dried spent grains from the brewery process.

Michael Nunan of Beyond Essential Systems in Australia will build on their existing data platform to collect and analyze vaccine data in real-time to provide an early warning of areas or facilities with low immunization coverage.

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.

Amanda Stiles of Ripple Foods, PBC, in the U.S. will produce a low-cost protein isolate upcycled from locally-sourced agricultural by-products that can be used as a nutritious food additive or standalone high-protein broth.

David Hughes, and Nita Bharti of Penn State University in the U.S. together with James Legg at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Tanzania and the Charity, Self Help Africa, will leverage daily, high-resolution satellite imagery of farms in Kenya to monitor crop pests and diseases.

Lyndon Paul of Vissot Co Ltd in Cambodia will reduce production costs for their nutritional wafer biscuits, which are made from a micronutrient-fortified fish powder, to help treat severe acute malnutrition in children and prevent malnutrition in young children and pregnant women in Cambodia.

Julius Lucks of Northwestern University in the U.S. will develop a low-cost diagnostic test that can detect multiple plant pathogens with a simple visual output for farmers in low-income countries to better monitor their crops.

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