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 Grand Challenges Explorations Grants

Grand Challenges Explorations fosters creative projects that show great promise to improve the health of people in the developing world. Initial grants are awarded two times a year, and successful projects have the opportunity to receive additional funding of up to $1 million.

On May 10, 2010, the Gates Foundation announced that 78 new global health projects received Grand Challenges Explorations grants. Learn more about these below. Round 5 grants will be announced in October 2010.

To review all 340 Explorations projects, select "Show All Rounds" in the Round drop-down menu.

 Find Awarded Grants By

Topic
Technologies
Round
Showing Grants 1 to 10 of 45
A New Platform for Making Effective Vaccines Against Pathogens That Cause Infectious Diseases
Primary Investigator:
Ellen Vitetta, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Ellen Vitetta of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas is developing a new vaccine platform that will utilize synthetic B cell epitope mimetics (peptoids) conjugated to protein carriers to make vaccines that will induce robust, specific, and protective antibody responses against pathogens.

Anaerobic Shock as a Novel Treatment for Tuberculosis
Primary Investigator:
Xilin Zhao, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Xilin Zhao of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey will test whether anaerobic gas, which causes rapid depletion of oxygen, will kill the tuberculosis bacteria without permanent damage to surrounding tissue.

Arctic Essential Genes Used to Create Temperature Sensitive Pathogens
Primary Investigator:
Francis Nano, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., Canada - CA
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Francis Nano of Canada’s University of Victoria will introduce essential genes found in Arctic bacteria into the genomes of “warm-loving” pathogens, making them unable to grow at core body temperatures. Such microbes could survive on human skin, which is cold enough to allow for replication and the stimulation of a strong immune system response, but not survive further dissemination into deeper and warmer tissue.

Block Malarial Transmission by Targeting Gametocyte Activation
Primary Investigator:
Greg Garcia, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

To interrupt reproduction of the malaria parasite in the mosquito gut, Greg Garcia and Sheetij Dutta of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research seek to identify and block a gametocyte stage receptor for xanthreunic acid, which is known to trigger the differentiation of gametocytes, an essential step in the life-cycle of the malaria parasite.

Development of a Single Dose, Multicomponent, Thermostable Vaccine
Primary Investigator:
Yasmin Thanavala, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008
Using thermostable nanoparticles as a delivery mechanism, Yasmin Thanavala of Health Research Inc and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in the U.S. will work to develop a single dose vaccine that can be given as close to birth as possible to protect against multiple diseases.
Development of a Type III Protein Secretion System as a Quasi-Synthetic Protein Antigen Delivery Nanomachine
Primary Investigator:
Jorge Galan, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Type III protein secretion systems are used by many bacteria to inject proteins into mammalian cells. Jorge Galan of Yale University will develop an antigen delivery machine based on the type III protein delivery system that will not require the use of live-attenuated bacteria, offering a safer vaccine platform.

Development of Methods to Induce or Improve Immune Responses Directed Against Cryptic Microbial Antigens
Primary Investigator:
Hugo Soudeyns, Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - CA
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008
Hugo Soudeyns of Canada's Centre de Recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine will incorporate engineered frameshifting gene cassettes into vaccine vectors in hopes of eliciting broader T helper and cytotoxic T cell response, leading to better protection against disease.
DNA Vaccines with Strongly Enhanced Potency
Primary Investigator:
Andrew Heath, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom - GB
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008
Andrew Heath of University of Sheffield in the U.K. will research whether the immune responses to DNA vaccines can be enhanced with novel adjuvants.
Efficacy of L-isoleucine Supplemented Food and Vitamin D in the Treatment of Childhood Pneumonia and Diarrhea in Hospitalized Patients: A Novel Therapeutic Approach
Primary Investigator:
Nur Alam, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh - BD
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Nur Alam of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh will test whether adding L-isoleucine and Vitamin D to food served to hospitalized children will induce secretion of antimicrobial peptides that can aid recovery from acute diarrhea and pneumonia.

Endectocides for Controlling Transmission of Mosquito-borne Diseases
Primary Investigator:
Brian Foy, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Brian Foy and Massamba Sylla of Colorado State University will research whether providing endectocides, drugs that kill parasitic worms, to animals and humans will effectively kill mosquitoes which feed on them. Through targeted and spaced drug administration, mosquitoes incubating disease-causing pathogens are expected to die prematurely, thus interrupting disease transmission, but these methods would limit the development of endectocide resistance.

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