May 21, 2013, SEATTLE –
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced more than US $8.1 million in new grants through its Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) initiative.
GCE is a phased grant program that funds innovative ideas to tackle key global health and development problems, and provides additional resources for projects that demonstrate promise.
Fifty-eight projects from 18 countries will receive $100,000 grants.
These grants allow researchers to begin testing bold global health and development projects that could transform the lives of those most in need. Included in today’s announcement is a group of grantees working to develop “Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers” to find holistic solutions that will boost productivity of smallholder farmers, including:
- Solar-powered Grain Drier: Vaibhav Tidke of Institute of Chemical Technology in India will work to develop a mobile, solar-powered grain drier that would double the storage life of harvested crops to reduce spoilage and significantly reduce the time women spend working in the fields.
- Multi-crop Thresher: Jodie Wu, D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellow and CEO of Global Cycle Solutions in Tanzania, is working to develop a multi-crop thresher that would enable smallholder farmers to thresh crops in a fast and affordable way, saving hours of manual labor. The thresher works without electricity and allows smallholder farmers to significantly reduce harvest loss.
- Drip Irrigation Tubes from Recycled Bags: Dr. Joseph Parse of Synovision Solutions in the United States will develop equipment to recycle plastic shopping bags into drip irrigation tubing for smallholder farmers in developing countries. The design of the manually powered equipment will allow the tubing to be produced in developing countries by relatively low-tech facilities.
“The impressive concepts from around the world that are part of the Grand Challenges Explorations initiative are pushing the envelope when it comes to innovation to tackle ongoing challenges for the poor using approaches ranging from agricultural development to communications for social good,” said Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery &Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We expect this increasing diversity of novel approaches to foster interventions that will save and improve lives.”
In partnership with the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a second round of grantees will be funded for research focused on the “Aid is Working. Tell the World” topic. The goal of this topic is to identify revolutionary approaches to communications that could motivate the public in wealthy countries of the world to support foreign aid investments. Projects include:
- BeHere-BeThere Project: Christoph Nann of Serviceplan in Germany will test a simple method for raising awareness of development projects in developing countries using location-based network applications such as Foursquare, in collaboration with local retail partners, to connect consumers to projects.
- Mobileizing the Unheard Voices of Aid Recipients: Arjun Venkatraman of Environics Trust in India and colleagues will use an Interactive Voice Response system to collect 10,000 personal narratives of the impact of aid programs in rural India and share them through social media channels.
- Hactivating Development Aid: Charlotte Obidairo and team from Coxswain Social Investment plus in Tunisia will develop a crowdsourcing program that engages young people around the world to learn about global development challenges through first-person narratives, and offer solutions to real-life challenges identified by their peers
Following promising results from initial GCE grants made earlier, four projects were awarded additional funding. These projects take a variety of approaches that could contribute improved health and development including:
- Vaginal Gel to Inhibit Sperm Mobility: David Clapham of Boston Children’s Hospital in the United States will develop and test a nanoparticle contraceptive that releases sperm tail inhibitors that could be incorporated into a vaginal gel as a low-cost contraceptive.
- Acoustical Newborn Diagnosis Tool: Chakib Tadj of École de Technologie Supérieure in Canada will design a software-based diagnostic tool using acoustical analysis of newborn cries to detect serious medical conditions such as heart defects and infections.
- Heat Stable Vaccines: Fasséli Coulibaly of Monash University in Australia will design a vaccine platform based on protein crystals (MicroCubes) produced by insect viruses to produce new and more potent vaccines with increased heat stability, reducing the need for refrigerated storage.
- Blood Protein Test for Preeclampsia: Guiying Nie and colleagues of Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research in Australia will test the utility of measuring blood proteins for the early diagnosis of preeclampsia, which is a serious disorder of human pregnancy. Early diagnosis would help guide interventions to avoid premature delivery and associated risks.
A full list [with descriptions] of GCE projects and grant recipients can be found here. [List of 58 without details is provided below] Applications for the next round of Grand Challenges Explorations will be accepted beginning in September 2013. For email updates with the latest grant opportunities for Grand Challenges in Global Health and for Grand Challenges Explorations, sign-up here.
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About Grand Challenges Explorations
is a US$100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Launched in 2008, more than 850 projects in more than 50 countries have received Grand Challenges Explorations grants. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with a two-page online application and no preliminary data required. Initial grants of US$100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to US$1 million.
About Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
List of 58 projects
A Fortified School Meal Product to Deworm School Children
Primary Investigator:
Elijah Songok, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya – KE
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
A Small Animal Model Of Onchocerciasis
Primary Investigator:
Joseph Turner, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom – GB
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
A Small Animal Model to Validate Onchocerca Macrofilaricides
Primary Investigator:
Warwick Grant, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – AU
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical
DiseasesAccurate, Accelerated, and Affordable Kit to predict Preterm Birth and Postpartum Recovery
Primary Investigator:
Ashish Ganguly, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India – IN
Topic: Explore New Solutions in Global Health Priority AreasBeHere-BeThere Project
Primary Investigator:
Christoph Nann, Serviceplan, Hamburg, Germany – DE
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
Cause Generation: A Platform to Define a Generation’s Cause
Primary Investigator:
Tony Morain, Ogilvy, San Francisco, CA, United States – US
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
Cheap Yeast-Based Efficient Screens For Antifilarial Drugs
Primary Investigator:
Stephen Oliver, The University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom – GB
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Chimeric Nematode Models for Anthelmintic Discovery
Primary Investigator:
Richard Komuniecki, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Dawadawa Therapy For Intestinal Helminthic Infections
Primary Investigator:
Michael Chan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China – CN
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Delivery of New Drugs Into Parasitic Nematodes
Primary Investigator:
Stephen Miller, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worchester, MA, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Designing an Agricultural Implement Microfranchise for Women
Primary Investigator:
Patrice Martin, IDEO.org, San Francisco, CA, United States – US
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Evolutionary Learning Laboratory for Labor Saving Innovation
Primary Investigator:
Ockie Bosch, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia – AU
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Farmer-Led 3D Prototyping for New Labor Saving Agri-Tools
Primary Investigator:
Charles Spillane, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland – IE
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Foodborne Disease Treatments
Primary Investigator:
Aaron Maule, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom – GB
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Hactivating Development Aid
Primary Investigator:
Charlotte Obidairo, Coxswain Social Investment plus, Tunis, Tunisia – TN
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
Hand-Operated Seed Cleaner for Ugandan Women Farmer Groups
Primary Investigator:
Margaret Smith, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States – US
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Hand-Powered Millet Processing Suite Viability
Primary Investigator:
Bert Rivers, Compatible Technology International, St. Paul, MN, United States – US
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
HMKD (humankind)
Primary Investigator:
Eric King, Leo Burnett, Chicago, IL, United States – US
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
House Parties: Experiential Marketing for Global Aid
Primary Investigator:
Chip Carter, Plan International USA, Washington, DC, United States – US
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
Improved Lighter and Long-Handle Hoes For Women
Primary Investigator:
Ton Rulkens, Oxfam Solidarité, Brussels, Belgium – BE
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Improving the Livelihood Of Women Smallholder Farmers
Primary Investigator:
Tomás Chiconela, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique – MZ
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
In Vitro Culture of Filariae
Primary Investigator:
Edward Mitre, Uniformed Services University, Rockville, MD, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Increasing Productivity for and by Women Smallholder Farmers
Primary Investigator:
Alice Irene Whittaker-Cumming, African Women Education and Development Forum, Woodbridge, VA, United States – US
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Inhibitors of tRNA-Synthetases as Antimalarials
Primary Investigator:
Ralph Mazitschek, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-malarial Compounds
Innovative 3D In Vitro Culturing System for Filarial Worms
Primary Investigator:
Sara Lustigman, New York Blood Center, New York, NY, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Interrogating AntiMalarials Using Optogenetics Technology
Primary Investigator:
Choukri Ben Mamoun, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-malarial Compounds
Liver-Stage Antimalarials to Drive Sterile Immunity
Primary Investigator:
Kirsten Hanson, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisboa, Portugal – PT
Topic: New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-malarial Compounds
Local Multi-Crop Thresher to Improve Productivity for All
Primary Investigator:
Jodie Wu, GCS Tanzania Limited, Arusha, Tanzania, United Republic of – TZ
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Locally Produced Drip Irrigation Tubing from Recycled Waste
Primary Investigator:
Joseph Parse, Synovision Solutions, LLC, Burke, VA, United States – US
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Locally Produced, Labor Saving Groundnut Sheller Promotion
Primary Investigator:
Setegn Gebeyehu, Oxfam America, Boston, MA, United States – US
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Lymphatic on a Chip as a Model Host for Lymphatic Filariasis Parasites
Primary Investigator:
J. Brandon Dixon, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Malaria Box Target and Mechanism Characterization
Primary Investigator:
Gregory Goldgof, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-malarial Compounds
Media Trust: Global360
Primary Investigator:
Caroline Diehl, Media Trust, London, United Kingdom – GB
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
MicroRNA Biomarkers for Parasite Macrofilariae
Primary Investigator:
Paul McVeigh, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom – GB
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Mobilizing the Unheard Voices of Aid Recipients
Primary Investigator:
Arjun Venkatraman, Environics Trust, New Delhi, India – IN
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
Neobreathe
Primary Investigator:
Avijit Bansal, Windmill Health Technologies, New Delhi, India – IN
Topic: Explore New Solutions in Global Health Priority Areas
Neurophysiology-Based Platform for Soil-Transmitted Helminth Drug Discovery
Primary Investigator:
Janis Weeks, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
No-Till Rotary Punch Planter For Women
Primary Investigator:
August Basson, KEL Growing Nations Trust, Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho – LS
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Participatory Neglected Tropical Disease Detection and Response System
Primary Investigator:
Bebe Sylla, American Friends of Guinea, Houston, TX, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Pay As You Go Biogas: Labor Saving and Affordable for Women
Primary Investigator:
Kyle Schutter, Schutter Energy Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya – KE
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Piloting Sustainable Mechanisms for Fuel Efficient Stoves
Primary Investigator:
John Gilliland, Vita, Dublin, Ireland – IE
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Profiling Anti-Malarials for Loss of Efficacy in Endemic Regions
Primary Investigator:
Sangeeta Bhatia, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-malarial Compounds
Programmed Killing of Parasite Eggs by Probiotic Organisms
Primary Investigator:
Tae Seok Moon, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Radio8
Primary Investigator:
Mark Bashore, Digital Kitchen, Seattle, WA, United States – US
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
Rapid, Low-Cost, Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Loa loa Microfilaremia by Handheld Fluorescence Photodetection
Primary Investigator:
Jason Andrews, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Round:
Reducing Women’s Labor In Parboiled Rice Transformation
Primary Investigator:
Karime Séré, Fundación Intermon Oxfam, Barcelona, Spain – ES
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Rural Mobility and Agro-Products Collection Centers
Primary Investigator:
Richard Seshie, Vivus Ltd., Accra, Ghana – GH
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Single Dose Cocktail Anti-Filarial Therapies Using AmPa
Primary Investigator:
Bryan Bellaire, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Smart Cities: An Interactive Multi-Media and Mapping Platform
Primary Investigator:
Jamie Lundine, Spatial Collective, Nairobi, Kenya – KE
Topic: Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2)
Solar Grain Dryer
Primary Investigator:
Vaibhav Tidke, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India – IN
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Supporting Uptake of Time and Energy-Saving Technologies
Primary Investigator:
Michelle Winthrop, Farm Africa (Food & Agricultural Research Management), London, United Kingdom – GB
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
TB Nanodots: Transdermal Controlled Release of TB Drugs
Primary Investigator:
Rohit Srivastava, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, India – IN
Topic: Explore New Solutions in Global Health Priority Areas
The Development of Periphyton Biofilm Fertilizer
Primary Investigator:
Yonghong Wu, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China – CN
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
The Hand-Pulled Small Seeds Planter
Primary Investigator:
Alfred Alumai, Muni University, Arua, Uganda – UG
Topic: Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers
Turning the Worm Against its Symbiont
Primary Investigator:
Denis Voronin, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom – GB
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Ultra-Low-Cost Loa Loa Paper Diagnostic Device
Primary Investigator:
Andrew Steckl, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States – US
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases
Virosomes Producing Virus-Like Particles in situ for Dengue Prophylaxis
Primary Investigator:
Vishwas Joshi, Seagull BioSolutions, Pune, India – IN
Topic: Explore New Solutions in Global Health Priority Areas
Widespread Monitoring of Soil-Transmitted Helminths
Primary Investigator:
Stephen Sowerby, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand – NZ
Topic: New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases