Showing Grants 1 to 10 of 13 |
| Development of Indoor Spray to Control Malaria Transmission |
| | Walter Focke, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa - ZA |
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Because DDT is the only insecticide that remains effective for more than a year, Walter Focke of the University of Pretoria in South Africa will investigate how insecticides degrade when applied on an indoor surface. Focke will then study whether combining the insecticide with paint to create a “whitewash” can mitigate this disintegration and enhance stability. |
| Giving Malaria Mosquitoes a “Head Cold” to Stop Odor-Driven Feeding on Humans |
| | Thomas Baker, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States - US |
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Thomas Baker, Matt Thomas and Andrew Read of Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. will infect malaria mosquitoes with an insect-specific fungus to determine if the infected mosquitoes’ sense of smell is suppressed and their ability to find human hosts and transmit malaria is reduced. |
| Malaria Prevention With the Help of Anti-Drug Antibodies |
| | Erich Cerny, Wissenschaftlicher Fonds Onkologie, Geneva, Switzerland - CH |
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Erich Cerny of Wissenschaftlicher Fonds Onkologie in Switzerland will test whether inducing antibodies against anti-malarial drugs can significantly prolong the half-life of that drug. Antibodies elicited via immunization may form a reservoir of the active drug for long-lasting treatment for malaria. Such a “small molecule vaccine” has significant implications for efficacy and cost of malaria prevention. |
| Mis-Expression of Liver-Specific miRNAs to Eradicate Malaria |
| | Jen-Tsan Chi, Duke Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States - US |
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When malaria parasites infect different human cells, including liver and red blood cells, it is thought that microRNAs are important developmental cues that facilitate specific events in the parasite life cycle. Jen-Tsan Chi of Duke Medical Center in the U.S. will test whether expressing liver-specific microRNAs within red blood cells will trick the parasite into undergoing liver-stage development, leading to its death. |
| Mosquitocidal Immunity in Cattle to Augment Zooprophylaxis |
| | Jefferson Vaughan, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, United States - US |
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Jefferson Vaughan of the University of North Dakota will seek to augment zooprophylaxis, the practice of using livestock to divert mosquito blood feeding away from humans, by developing an anti-mosquito vaccine for cattle that kill the insect before they bite humans. |
| Novel Class of Long-Range Olfactory Repellents for Anopheles |
| | Anandasankar Ray, University of California, Riverside, CA, United States - US |
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CO2 present in exhaled air is used by Anopheles mosquitoes to find their human hosts. Anandasankar Ray of University of California-Riverside plans to identify odors that inhibit the mosquito’s CO2- sensitive olfactory neurons, and design long-distance repellents that block the ability of mosquitoes to detect humans and protect large areas. |
| Novel Magneto-Optical Biosensors for Malaria Diagnosis |
| | Luke Savage, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom - GB |
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Luke Savage and Dave Newman will lead engineers at Exeter University in the UK in a program to develop a handheld, inexpensive battery-powered instrument that can rapidly diagnose malaria. By using magneto-optics to detect the hemozoin crystals produced as a byproduct of malaria parasite digestion of hemoglobin in the red blood cell, such techniques could offer a method to detect malaria which does not rely on invasive blood samples. |
| Primaquine Revisited – Safety and Efficacy of PQ Isomers |
| | Larry Walker, University of Mississippi, University, United States - US |
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Larry Walker of the University of Mississippi in the U.S. will test an innovative approach to mitigate the toxicity of primaquine, a promising and powerful malaria drug. Walker will separate the drug into two components, called isomers, to see if a single form retains the ability to eliminate the malaria parasite in its latent liver stages and the mature gametocytes while reducing toxic side effects. |
| Rapid Urine-Based Dipstick Test for Diagnosis of Malaria |
| | Uri McKakpo, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana - GH |
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Uri Selome McKakpo of the University of Ghana will develop and test a rapid dipstick test that utilizes monoclonal antibodies to detect parasite antigens present in urine of infected individuals. Using this technology, the team hopes to create a new diagnostic test for malaria that requires minimal training to use and does not depend on invasive blood samples. |
| Targeting TRP Channel Heat Receptors to Disrupt An. gambiae Host Seeking |
| | Guirong Wang, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States - US |
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Guirong Wang and colleagues at Vanderbilt University in the U.S. have recently identified key sensory heat receptors used by mosquitoes to target hosts. Wang will use these proteins as molecular targets to develop insect repellents and masking agents that block or hyper-stimulate these receptors and reduce the ability of the vectors to find hosts and spread disease. |