Five researchers, from UC Riverside, Irvine, San Diego, San Francisco and UCLA, Tuesday (Nov. 9) were awarded Grand Challenges Exploration grants of $100,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They are among 65 recipients in the program's current round of grants.

The University of California recipients and their projects are:

• Raffi Aroian, UC San Diego, Novel Delivery of Protein Anthelmintics
• Eamonn Keogh, UC Riverside, Counting and Classifying Insects With Ultra-Cheap Sensors
• Peter Lillehoj, UCLA, A Disposable SIM Card Biosensor for Rapid Malaria Detection
• Adam Renslo, UCSF, Iron-Dependent Drug Delivery in Anti-Parasitic Chemotherapy
• Guiyun Yan, UC Irvine, Long-Lasting Biological Larvicide for Malaria Vector Control

The Grand Challenges Exploration grant program allows researchers to pursue bold ideas for transforming health in developing countries.

"Grand Challenges Explorations is producing innovative ways to tackle ongoing global health challenges like vaccine delivery and caring for mothers and newborns," said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation's Global Health Program. "By applying mobile technology and other tools to global health, we hope to produce breakthrough solutions that could save countless lives."