The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced 78 grants of US$100,000 each in the latest round of Grand Challenges Explorations. Grand Challenges Explorations is a five-year, $100 million initiative to promote innovation in global health. It is part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative which is supported by the Gates Foundation to achieve major breakthroughs in global health.
Gates said that projects winning grants around more effective vaccines include:
– Sweat-triggered vaccine delivery: Carlos Alberto Guzman of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany with Claus-Michael Lehr and Steffi Hansen of the Helmholtz-Institute for Pharmaceutical Research will develop nanoparticles that penetrate the skin through hair follicles and burst upon contact with human sweat to release vaccines.
– A “seek-and-destroy” laser vaccine: Owain Millington and Gail McConnell of University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom will use existing imaging systems to identify and destroy Leishmania parasites with a targeted laser;
– Treating worm infections to improve vaccine effectiveness: Susanne Nylén Spoormaker of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden will research whether treating patients for worm infections prior to vaccinations can improve the ability of the immune system to respond effectively to vaccines.
Applications for the next round of Grand Challenges Explorations are being accepted through May 19, 2010. Topics for Round 5 are:
– Create Low-Cost Cell Phone-Based Applications for Priority Global Health Conditions
– Create New Technologies to Improve the Health of Mothers and Newborns
– Create New Ways to Protect Against Infectious Disease
– Create New Technologies for Contraception
– Grant application instructions, including the list of topic areas in which proposals are currently being accepted, are available at the Grand Challenges Explorations website: www.grandchallenges.org.
vaccines and global health :: ethics and policy 