Product/Service Development

Kenneth Stedman of Portland State University in the U.S. will test a low-cost and simple method for simultaneously collecting and stabilizing stool samples that can be used for diagnosing helminth infections in remote locations. The samples allow quantification of eggs from the helminth parasite, which causes intestinal infections that are endemic in many developing regions, and will help monitor large-scale treatment efforts. The method is based on his vaccine-stabilization technology, which was developed along with James Laidler at Portland State University.

Patricia Donahoe and David Pepin of Massachusetts General Hospital in the U.S. are using a cell-based screening platform to develop a new class of hormonal contraceptive that works at the early stage of primordial follicle activation to prolong the contraceptive effect and reduce side effects, thereby promoting wider use particularly in the developing world. This early stage of follicle development in the ovary is suppressed by a hormone (Mullerian inhibiting substance or MIS) to regulate egg production.

Paulo Saldiva of the University of São Paolo in Brazil will develop minimally invasive autopsies as a method combining body imaging with needle puncture of the skin to sample tissue to more accurately determine the cause of death that can also be used in low-resource settings. Knowing the cause of each death is critical for developing effective health policies to prevent avoidable deaths such as those from infectious diseases.

Clare Elwell of University College London in the United Kingdom is using non-invasive optical brain imaging (near-infrared spectroscopy) to assess cognitive function in malnourished infants and children in low-resource settings over time. The technology is relatively low-cost and portable, and their approach could be used to determine the impact of malnutrition on the developing brain and guide nutrition-related interventions.

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.

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.

Robert Moritz and colleagues at the Institute for Systems Biology and Seattle Biomed in the U.S. will use ultra-sensitive targeted assay technology to identify, quantify, and validate a library of biomarker candidates specific to both active and latent TB infection. Moritz and his team hope to discover highly specific proteins that could help determine disease status at the point of care and inform appropriate treatment.

Urs Ochsner of SomaLogic, Inc. in the U.S. will lead a team to expand and test a library of SOMAmers (slow off-rate modified aptamers) to identify protein biomarkers that indicate active tuberculosis from a small sample of blood. SOMAmers, which are modified nucleic acid-based protein-binding agents, offer several advantages over the antibodies traditionally used in diagnostic tests including greater stability, lower cost, and no need for refrigeration.

Denise Evans from Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Limited in South Africa in collaboration with Peter Rockers from Boston University will evaluate the impact and sustainability of a combined health care package for families offered by community health workers in the home to improve child health in South Africa.

Caroline Ochieng of the Stockholm Environment Institute in Sweden is evaluating an approach to stimulate women in Kenya to regularly visit health clinics during pregnancy and after birth to improve maternal health. Currently, the majority visits only once, and infant and maternal mortality are high. To encourage the women to keep additional appointments they will give them a health credit voucher that can be exchanged for a specific cash amount or retained for a subsequent appointment, for up to four appointments, when they receive another voucher worth twice as much.