Gates’ ‘Grand Challenge’ grants fund Duke, Emory projects
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Researchers at Duke University and Emory University are “Grand Challenge” $100,000 grant winners in the global fight against diseases that is being funded by the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation.
A potential program to eradicate malaria led by Duke Medical Center’s Jen-Tsan Chi and a possible vaccine for tuberculosis being developed by Carlos Rivera-Marrero at Emory University School of Medicine were among the Grand Challenges Explorations grant winners announced Monday. Those selected for grants are eligible for additional funding of $1 million or more.
The goal of the program is to foster what the Foundation calls “creative projects that show great promise to improve the health of people in the developing world.”
In all, 81 grants were awarded Monday.
Details on the Duke grant as provided by the Foundation:
Mis-Expression of Liver-Specific miRNAs to Eradicate Malaria
Primary Investigator: Jen-Tsan Chi, Duke Medical Center
Topic: Create new tools to accelerate the eradication of malaria
Round 2 grant, summary: When malaria parasites infect different human cells, including liver and red blood cells, it is thought that microRNAs are important developmental cues that facilitate specific events in the parasite life cycle. Jen-Tsan Chi of Duke Medical Center in the U.S. will test whether expressing liver-specific microRNAs within red blood cells will trick the parasite into undergoing liver-stage development, leading to its death.
Details on the Emory grant as provided by the Foundation:
Development of a Glycan Vaccine for Tuberculosis
Primary Investigator: Carlos Rivera-Marreo, Emory University School of Medicine
Topic: Create new vaccines for diarrhea, HIV, malaria, pneumonia and TB
Round 2 grant, summary: Glycans are an important component of surface molecules in tuberculosis but their role in protective immunity is still largely unexplored. Carlos Rivera-Marrero and Richard D. Cumming of Emory University in the U.S. will develop high-throughput glycan microarrays to identify glycan antigens, determine their chemical structure, and design glycan-peptide vaccines for future testing.
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