Predictive Model

Ricky Chiu of Phase Diagnostics Inc. in the U.S. will develop a new paper-based oral diagnostic device with high accuracy that can rapidly concentrate and detect malaria biomarkers without needing any power, equipment or personnel training. This will overcome the risks and difficulties involved with finger-prick blood collection, and the lack of sensitivity of current rapid diagnostic tests. It will enable the detection of malaria cases in regions with low densities of infection, and ultimately help eliminate malaria from these regions.

Ilana Brito of Cornell University in the U.S. will develop a model that predicts the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (superbugs) in specific locations by identifying bacteria living in the guts of the local population that carry antibiotic resistance genes, and determining how likely these genes will be passed on to pathogenic bacteria. Knowing where antibiotic resistance might emerge means it can be more effectively monitored and potentially prevented by limiting antibiotic use in those areas.

Ngalla Jillani of the Institute of Primate Research in Kenya will build an infectious infant baboon model of cryptosporidiosis that mimics the disease in human infants under two years old to help identify new treatments. Childhood Cryptosporidium infections are common in developing countries and cause substantial morbidity and mortality. Current models in small animals fail to fully recapitulate the course of infection and disease symptoms in humans, making them less valuable for studying the disease and identifying effective treatments.

Alejandro Castellanos-Gonzalez of the University of Texas Medical Branch in the U.S. will use their gene silencing approach involving premade complexes of protein and small RNA to identify drug targets in the Cryptosporidium parasite, which causes severe diarrhea in young children in developing countries. Their gene silencing method involves synthesizing the so-called argonaute protein that is able to cut a single gene and attaching it to a single-strand antisense RNA that is designed to target a specific gene. This method can be easily scaled up for high-throughput drug target screens.

Boris Striepen of the University of Georgia in the U.S. will develop a new, more natural mouse model for cryptosporidiosis, which is a leading cause of severe diarrhea in children, to help identify effective treatments. Unlike previous mouse models of this disease, these mice do not need to be immune deficient as they can be infected by a natural strain of the Cryptosporidium parasite, which they previous isolated from house mice. They will genetically modify this strain so it will fluoresce and can thus be easily located in the mice and within individual cells.

Brian Reich of North Carolina State University in the U.S. will develop a software model to measure the risk of local malaria outbreaks in real-time in the Democratic Republic of Congo and identify treatment strategies for control efforts to more effectively allocate their limited resources.

Andrew Hopkins of the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom is developing a screening platform using live human sperm to identify new male contraceptive drugs that inhibit two separate activities required for fertilization, namely motility and formation of the acrosome on the head of sperm cells. Currently, the only effective, widely available, and reversible form of male contraception is the condom, which has limited appeal. Alternative male contraceptives are needed to help reduce the estimated 89 million unintended pregnancies each year.

Jan Mead of Emory University in the U.S. will develop a mouse model of cryptosporidiosis using human fecal transplants to mimic changes in the bacterial populations (microbiome) in the gut that occur in the human disease, which causes substantial morbidity and mortality in young children from developing countries. Drugs used to eradicate the intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium are thought to be affected by the levels and types of bacteria that populate the human gut, which is of particular importance in malnourished children who most often become infected.

Olga Tosas Auguet of the University of Oxford and collaborators at the Modernising Medical Microbiology Consortium, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford Genomics Centre and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, and Oxford Tropical Network Overseas Programs in southeast Asia and Africa, will develop a new approach for the large-scale surveillance of bacterial antibiotic resistance in low-income settings.

Kevin Osteen of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the U.S. is developing a three-dimensional cell model that mimics the lining of the human uterus (endometrium), including different cell types and a vascular system, that can be used for affordable medium-to-high-throughput compound screening to discover new contraceptives with minimal adverse side effects. The endometrium is a multi-layered tissue that supports embryo implantation and maintains pregnancy and responds to hormonal cues to undergo renewal during each menstrual cycle.