University of Cincinnati Receives Grand Challenges Explorations Grant for Groundbreaking Research in Global Health and Development

The University of Cincinnati announced today it is a winner of the

Grand Challenges Explorations

, an initiative funded by the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

. Andrew J. Steckl, Gieringer Professor of Electrical Engineering and Ohio Eminent Scholar, and Giovanni M. Pauletti, Associate Professor at the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled

“Ultra-Low-Cost Loa Loa Paper Diagnostic Device.”

Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) funds individuals worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Professors Steckl’s and Pauletti’s project is one of the Grand Challenges Explorations Round 10 grants announced today by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

To receive funding, Professors Steckl and Pauletti demonstrated in a two-page online application a bold idea in one of four critical global heath and development topic areas that included agriculture development, neglected tropical diseases and communications. Applications for the next Round will be accepted starting September 2013. 

The Project's Goal
The goal of this project is to develop an ultra-low-cost screening device for rapid detection of L. loa infection, a tropical disease caused by subcutaneous parasites. The project will investigate an innovative approach to rapidly identify individuals who harbor high levels of L. loa infections using non-invasive urine samples in conjunction with paper-based diagnostic devices that can be mass-produced at extremely low cost and which are readily disposable by incineration.

About Grand Challenges Explorations
Grand Challenges Explorations is a $100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Launched in 2008, more than 800 people in more than 50 countries have received Grand Challenges Explorations grants.  The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization.  The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short two-page online applications and no preliminary data required.  Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to $1 million.

About the University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is classified as a “very high” research university by the Carnegie Commission and is ranked as one of America’s top public research universities. UC and its affiliates were awarded more than $405 million in research funding in fiscal year 2012, including $25,217,750 to the College of Engineering and Applied Science and $914,295 to the Winkle College of Pharmacy. In 2012, UC reported 75 patent applications and 123 invention disclosures, and the university’s faculty was involved in six startup companies.