Therapeutics/Drugs

Jianjun Sun of the University of Connecticut in the U.S. is developing non-hormonal contraceptives using a fly-based ovulation assay to identify compounds that specifically block the rupture of follicles, which is required to release eggs for fertilization also in mammals. The popular female contraceptive "pill" alters the hormonal cycle and is widely used throughout the Western world. However, it can have undesirable side effects.

The intestinal disease cholera uses cell-to-cell signaling to coordinate its growth and virulence in the human gut. John March of Cornell University in the U.S. is developing strains of commensal bacteria that naturally reside in the gut to express the key chemical signals used by cholera to abort the colonization process and allow the pathogen to pass through the G.I. system without causing symptoms.

This team proposes to develop and test an innovative microarray patch to deliver a combination of antibiotics for the treatment of neonatal sepsis. An easy-to-use, less-invasive, affordable delivery method for amoxicillin and gentamicin could expand access to lifesaving outpatient antibiotic treatment for infants with severe infection during the neonatal period.

We will seek to demonstrate measurable levels of the first inhalable formulation of oxytocin in blood and measurable biological effects of inhalation, all this with no seriously adverse side effects. Success will provide the essential platform for the further steps required to move into a first clinical trial. Our ultimate goal is licensure and distribution in affected areas: providing every mother on the planet with access to a life-saving drug when in labor.

The Bili-Hut is a novel phototherapy device designed to improve access to jaundice treatment in low resource areas. It is extremely light-weight, portable, and capable of prolonged operation with a battery. The working prototype complies with recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics for high intensity phototherapy, delivering treatment in the optimal therapeutic light bandwidth equivalent or superior to existing commercial devices.

Fidelis Cho-Ngwa of the University of Buea in Cameroon will develop a small animal model to test the safety of candidate drugs for treating the parasitic disease onchocerciasis in people who are coinfected with the Loa loa parasite. Ivermectin, which is used in mass drug administration efforts to treat onchocerciasis, causes severe adverse effects, including death, in people who carry high levels of Loa loa.

Tim Day and Mostafa Zamanian of Iowa State University in the U.S. will evaluate a new approach for treating parasitic worm infections based on blocking parasite microRNAs. Parasitic worms (helminths), such as Schistosoma, release small vesicles called exosomes containing microRNAs, which are thought to target host genes and aid infectivity. They will test this directly using a mouse model of schistosome infection by identifying the relevant microRNAs, designing anti-microRNAs to block them, and determining if the mice can be made resistant to infection.

Eileen Devaney and Elmarie Myburgh of the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom will determine whether parasitic filarial worms can be visualized in the lymphatic system of live animals as a means to measure drug activity. Testing candidate anti-filarial drugs using in vivo models is preferable to the current in vitro assays because the selected drugs are more likely to be effective in humans. They will infect mice with either larval or adult stage parasites, and then inject them with bioluminescent substrates of specific immune cells.

Kelly Johnston and others from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom will develop a cell line from a parasitic filarial nematode worm that can proliferate continuously in vitro to enable high-throughput screening of candidate anti-filarial drugs. Current drug screening efforts are limited by the complex life cycle of the worms and the difficulties of obtaining sufficient numbers of worms.

Robert Greenberg of the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S., along with Bernadette Ardelli of Brandon University in Canada, will test whether anthelmintics, which are drugs used to treat diseases caused by parasitic worms, can be improved by combining them with inhibitors of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) multidrug transporters. Of the few anthelmintics available, many are of limited use or become ineffective due to the emergence of drug resistance.