The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced 65 grants of US$100,000 each “to pursue bold ideas for transforming health in developing countries“ as part of its Grand Challenges Explorations program, a five-year, $100 million initiative to promote innovation in global health. The current grantees “were selected from more than 2,400 proposals. A wide range of disciplines are represented, including applicants from traditional life sciences, public health, engineering, math and computer sciences. They are based at universities, research institutes, hospitals, nonprofit organizations, and private companies around the world.” Funded projects in the vaccine area include:

– Michael Chan of the Ohio State Research Foundation will develop a safe strain of the Tuberculosis bacterium and use it to ferment beans used in the traditional Asian dish natto, which could then be eaten as an oral TB vaccine;

– Ali Salanti of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark will develop and test a vaccine combining a novel placental malaria vaccine candidate with the cervical cancer vaccine, with the potential of inducing a strong protective response against both diseases;

– Steven Meshnick and Carla Hand of the University of North Carolina will develop a biodegradable “synthetic lymph node” that could be placed under the skin to deliver more effective vaccines.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/gce-round-five-winners-101109.aspx