Four projects at three University of California campuses received grants today (Nov. 7) from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges. They are among 110 Grand Challenges Explorations grants awarded to investigators from 21 countries. The projects receiving funding show promise in tackling priority global health issues where solutions do not yet exist.
The UC projects and researchers are:
ImmuNet: Targeted Immunization for Infants and Children, UC Santa Barbara: Elizabeth Belding and Amr El Abbadi will develop and test a low-cost cellular architecture with an integrated information system that can track an individual's immunization status, disseminate vaccine-related information and track at-risk populations.
A New Model for Studying in utero Disease Using Newborn Hair, UC San Diego: Benjamin Yu will isolate and sequence RNA found in the hair and nails of newborns to study whether specific RNA changes can be found in low-birthweight babies. This molecular tool could help uncover nutritional or environmental factors that cause newborn disease.
Nutritional Intervention for Malaria-Induced NTS Bacteremia, UC Davis: Shirley Luckhart and colleagues will develop and test in a mouse model a simple, safe, and cost-effective immune-enhancing nutritional supplement that could reverse and prevent intestinal damage thought to be cause by malarial infection. This intervention could improve immunity to bacterial infections that co-occur in children also suffering from malaria.
Sialic Acid Supplement for Improved Cognition, UC Davis: Thomas Jue, Frederic A. Troy and Youngran Chung will use a mouse model to track the biodistribution of sialic acid — abundant in human breast milk and shown in animal studies to improve cognition — as a first step in understanding the long-term cognitive advantages of breastfeeding and potentially developing a sialic acid supplement for infants to promote cognitive development.