Project description
A novel test may help decrease human-mosquito transmission of malaria
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through infected mosquitoes. The spread of the disease can be amplified when the parasites are transferred to uninfected mosquitoes that feed on infected people. Human-mosquito transmission occurs when feeding mosquitoes ingest parasite gametocytes circulating in the person's peripheral blood. To date, no point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests exist to test for malaria transmission competency. Malaria POC is changing that with a nanoparticle-based solution that amplifies the antigen signal corresponding to the activation of mature gametocytes. Detection of malaria transmission competency will be a powerful addition to the current toolbox of weapons that includes diagnosis and treatment of infection.
Objective
Malaria affects millions around the globe. Affordable and accurate point-of-care diagnostic tests are needed for those in low- or middle-income countries as well as developed areas. Currently, only diagnostic tests for infection are available and are most commonly designed to detect histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2), though HRP2-negative parasites evolved and escape detection by these tests. In addition to detecting and curing infection, another important strategy against malaria is battling transmission by inhibiting gametocytes to carry the disease from humans back to mosquitoes. However, there are no available point-of-care diagnostic tests capable of testing for malaria transmission competency. Within “Malaria POC” we aim to design a lateral flow-based test capable of detecting antigens corresponding to transmission competency, for use at the point-of-care. Our programme has expertise in designing point-of-care tests by incorporating platinum core-shell nanoparticles (PtNCs) called “nanozymes”, which facilitate an amplification step of the signal in the presence of antigen. Within this POC grant we aim to incorporate catalytic “nanozymes” in a lateral-flow diagnostic test that detects activation of mature gametocytes. Prof Molly Stevens (www.stevensgroup.org) will exploit technologies developed in the ERC Consolidator grant “NATURALE CG” (616417) and will be supported through collaborations with Prof Jake Baum, Professor of Cell Biology and Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, an expert in malaria parasites.
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 malaria
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
- natural sciences biological sciences cell biology
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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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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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
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
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.
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.
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot
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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) ERC-2019-PoC
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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.
SW7 2AZ London
United Kingdom
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.