Top scientists get funding for global health research
The Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative; launched in 2003 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, announced on 27 June that it is to fund 43 research projects in areas such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS or fighting malnutrition. The projects, involving scientists in 33 countries and totalling some 436.6 million USD (361 million euro), aim to achieve scientific breakthroughs against some of the world most deadly diseases and to create 'deliverable technologies' - health tools that are not only effective, but also inexpensive to produce, easy to distribute, and simple to use in developing countries. As Bill Gates explains, of the billions spent each year on research into life-saving medicines, only a small fraction is focused on discovering and developing new tools to fight the diseases that cause millions of deaths each year in developing countries. 'It's shocking how little research is directed toward the diseases of the world's poorest countries,' said Mr Gates. 'By harnessing the world's capacity for scientific innovation, I believe we can transform health in the developing world and save millions of lives.' The Gates Foundation identified 14 'grand challenges' that, if solved, could lead to important advances in preventing, treating, and curing diseases of the developing world. These include: developing vaccines that do not require refrigeration or needles, that create immunity in one dose and are safe for newborns, vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, ways to stop insects from spreading diseases, growing more nutritious staple crops to combat malnutrition, preventing drug resistance, elaborating methods to treat latent and chronic infections such as hepatitis and tuberculosis, and finding more accurate ways to diagnose and track diseases. Among the successful bidders are a number of European research teams. The UK's London Imperial College, working with researchers in other countries, will receive 11 million GBP (16.5 million euro) to try and develop new treatments to tackle latent tuberculosis infection. Also in London, the Saint George's Medical School will get 10.7 million GBP (15.8 million euro) to develop a HIV/AIDS vaccine for women by stimulating an immune response against the virus in the lining of the vagina. Oxford University has been awarded two grants; one to investigate why some people appear to be more resistant to malaria than others and the other to investigate vaccines for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In Germany, a research team will work on improving vaccine research by genetically altering laboratory mice to more closely resemble humans. A second German team will be funded to develop new varieties of golden rice that will contain more complete nutrition, including increased levels or bioavailability of pro-vitamin A, vitamin E, iron, and zinc, and improved protein quality. The University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain will attempt to develop a version of the hepatitis B vaccine that can be delivered nasally. In Denmark, a team will study the tuberculosis bacteria to try to identify the mechanisms that allow it to escape the natural immune responses that help some people keep the disease under control for a lifetime, while other people succumb to serious illness, particularly if they also have HIV. And finally in Finland, a research team will try to reduce the time and cost required for trials of vaccines against bacterial pneumonia. As part of receiving a grant, the researchers are allowed to patent anything they invent, but they must guarantee that it will be made available to poor countries at low cost or free.