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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 9 of 9
Chromatin Condensation: The Master Switch for Latency
Primary Investigator:
Sarah Fortune, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008
Sarah Fortune of Harvard University will research whether chromatin crystallization, in which DNA condenses into a protective matrix due to environmental stress, occurs in tuberculosis and is a characteristic of latent organisms.
Granuloma Grafting: A New Model for Mycobacterial Latency and Reactivation
Primary Investigator:
Matyas Sandor, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Matyas Sandor of the University of Wisconsin will graft granulomas, nodules that form as a result of long-term inflammation , to study the role they play in TB latency and reactivation.

Human Genetics of Tuberculosis Infection
Primary Investigator:
Alexandre Alcais, Inserm, Paris, France - FR
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008
Alexandre Alcais of French National Institute for Health and Medical Research will study whether there is a genetic basis for innate resistance to TB infection through genome-wide linkage analysis of TB-specific T-cell phenotypes.
Interruption of Latency and In Vivo Adenovirus-Mediated Elimination of Macrophages Infected with M. Tuberculosis
Primary Investigator:
Dmitry Shayakhmetov, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008
Pulmonary macrophages are the principal host of tuberculosis, where it can remain latent and inaccessible to current TB drug therapies. Dmitry Shayakhmetov of the University of Washington will study whether infecting these host cells with adenovirus will induce rapid cell death, reducing TB load and blocking the re-infection cycle.
Investigating the Persistence of Infection with M. Tuberculosis
Primary Investigator:
Amelia Crampin, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom - GB
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008
Amelia Crampin of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will study a group of people found to have latent tuberculosis in the 1980s to test her hypothesis that a measurable portion of them have cleared the infection spontaneously. Proof that some people can clear infection opens the door for research to discover how this works.
Prevention of Active Tuberculosis by Infection with Helicobacter pylori
Primary Investigator:
Jay Solnick, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Jay Solnick of the University of California, Davis will explore whether the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, which can cause peptic ulcers in some people, might enhance immunity to tuberculosis and help maintain tuberculosis in a latent state.

Protection Against Latent TB Infection by the Cystic Fibrosis Mutation
Primary Investigator:
Jerry Nick, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Because cystic fibrosis patients and carriers appear to be resistant to tuberculosis, Jerry Nick of National Jewish Medical and Research Center in the U.S. will study whether mutations of the CFTR gene, which causes the disease, reduce or eliminate latent TB infection.

Senescent and Rejuvenated Mtb Subsets on Exit from Latency
Primary Investigator:
Carl Nathan, Cornell University, New York, NY, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

Carl Nathan and Gang Lin of Weill Cornell Medical College will test their hypothesis that tuberculosis is able to exit latency by distributing damaged proteins to a senescent cell lineage, while more functional proteins are diverted to a lineage with full replication potential. Regulating this post-latency cell division could be the target of novel drug therapies.

Targeted Capture of Latent M. Tuberculosis Cells From a Mammalian Host
Primary Investigator:
Kim Lewis, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States - US
Topic:
Round:
Round 1 – October 2008

In an attempt to capture and study latent tuberculosis cells, which are reservoirs of infection and highly resistant to treatment, Kim Lewis of Northeastern University will pulse-label tuberculosis cells with green fluorescent protein. While active cells divide and dilute the GFP, latent cells, which are dormant, will remain bright green, allowing for their observation and tracking.

 How to Apply

 Map of Grants