Project description
Malaria diagnosis through your smartphone
Malaria remains a global health threat and cases are also rising in Europe, necessitating large-scale diagnostic and prognostic solutions. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MalDiProT project aims to improve point-of-care (PoC) diagnosis by developing sensitive rapid diagnostic tests. Although microscopy is the gold standard for parasite counting, it is unsuitable for PoC use. Researchers propose to develop a paper-based lateral flow assay that can quantitatively measure malaria biomarkers within minutes through a smartphone. The assay will be sensitive and suitable for low parasite counts, allowing for early diagnosis and prognosis, particularly in low-resource areas.
Objective
Malaria remains a public health concern, with 247 million cases and 619,000 deaths reported globally in 2021. Despite the increasing prevention and control measures driven by the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly half of the population is still at risk of malaria, with a reported increase in the incidence of imported malaria in European countries. To this end, implementing large-scale, high-coverage, early diagnosis, and accurate prognosis of severe malaria is critical to reducing the impact of malaria in Europe.
Due to its high sensitivity, parasite counting by microscopy observation is the current gold standard method. However, it is inappropriate for its application at the point of care (PoC). The rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) based on lateral flow assay are the best option for PoC testing since they accomplish the REASSURED criteria WHO recommends. However, this method doesn't provide quantitative prognostic information and has proved low clinical sensitivity with low parasitemia samples (asymptomatic parasite carriers).
With this aim, I propose for the first time the development of a smartphone-powered electrophoretic-driven aptamer paper-based LFA capable of providing a quantitative measurement of 2 parasite (PfHRP2, pan-pLDH) and 2 host (ang-2 and CRP) malaria biomarkers within minutes. Compared to capillarity-driven LFA, the flow control by electrophoresis enables the application of different synergic strategies to increase assay sensitivity, such as integrated incubation steps and purification of interfering biomolecules. Highly specific aptamers will be developed by a fast and cost-effective microfluidic selection approach, used as bioreceptors with stability for electrokinetics. This will enable an early diagnosis and an accurate prognosis of malaria, reducing the risk of developing severe symptoms. Upon successfully validating the device in non-endemic areas (host institution), I expect its use in low-resource, malaria-endemic areas.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases parasitic diseases malaria
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules
- natural sciences chemical sciences electrochemistry electrophoresis
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08036 Barcelona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.