Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's initiative to transform health in developing countries

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced 76 grants of US$100,000 each to pursue bold ideas for transforming health in developing countries. The grants support researchers across 16 countries, including nine in Europe and Africa with ideas as diverse as using the power of sunlight to kill malaria-causing mosquito larvae and developing a device that repels mosquitoes without insecticides.

"Some of the biggest stumbling blocks in global health are now being overcome with promising new vaccines and treatments," said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation's Global Health Program. "Grand Challenges Explorations will continue to fill the pipeline with possibilities and hopefully produce a breakthrough idea that could save untold numbers of lives."

This marks the third round of the foundation's Grand Challenges Explorations initiative to expand the pipeline of ideas for improving global health. To date, 262 researchers representing 30 countries have been awarded Grand Challenges Explorations grants.

In total, 76 grantees from round 3 were selected from almost 3,000 proposals. All levels of scientists are represented - from young post-graduate investigators to veteran researchers - as are a wide range of disciplines, such as chemistry, bioengineering, electronics, mechanical engineering, infectious disease, and epidemiology. This year's European and African grantees are based at universities, research institutes, nonprofit organizations, and private companies in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. Examples of newly-funded projects include:

• Innovative ways to diagnose infectious diseases:
  • Jackie Obey from the University of Eastern Africa in Kenya will test the efficacy of a test tube kit to indicate the presence of a protein released by the malaria parasite New strategies to fight malaria and mosquitoes
• New strategies to fight malaria and mosquitoes:
  • Annette Habluetzel of the University of Camerino in Italy will create a micropellet food which, when activated by the sun, could generate toxins that kill mosquito larvae
  • Peter Lubega Yiga of AdhocWorks Foundation in South Africa will test the efficacy of a fermentation-based household mosquito repellent
• More effective vaccines:
  • Margaret Njoroge of Med Biotech Laboratories in Uganda will develop an intranasal vaccine for mothers, designed to induce antibodies against malaria in breast milk and confer immunity on their babies