Deadline: 13 May 2015
This call for proposals is divided into three sections of which applicants can address as few or as many as they can tackle within the scope of an 18-month duration, $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations award. Applicants must incorporate into their proposal a plan for proof of the efficacy of the developed technology.
Novel surveillance techniques for mosquito vectors
To support innovative approaches to vector control and monitor the success of proof of concept/roll-out trials, it is needed to quantitatively measure mosquito populations in the field. For this, adult mosquito traps meeting the criteria below are invited:
- Low-cost and does not require mains supply power.
- Enables collection without discrimination of all physiological states of females (unfed/fed/gravid) as well as males, in order to reflect the population structure in any given study site.
- Must not affect the captured adult mosquitoes in a way that would hinder downstream molecular diagnostic procedures.
- Should be easily transported and set (e.g. stackable and compact) and inexpensive to construct.
Diagnostic tests for bacterial symbionts/arboviruses within caught material
With the Foundation’s commitment to new technologies, including the bacterial symbiont Wolbachia being used in population replacement strategies, a research gap exists in monitoring trapped material for infection. For a diagnostic test to be successful, it must meet the criteria below:
- Simple field-based diagnostic tests for detecting Wolbachia, malaria, dengue, and/or chikungunya viruses in mosquitoes captured in field traps.
- Sensitive enough to detect infection in mosquitoes that have been left dead for at least one week in traps deployed in the field.
- Inexpensive and not requiring overly specialized equipment, and ideally greater than 95% accurate.
An artificial diet to replace blood feeding in the laboratory setting
Development of an artificial diet for replacement of blood feeding must:
- Provide appropriate nutrition to blood-feeding females for egg development.
- Not impact egg hatch rate, fecundity, longevity, or general health of the female or her offspring.
- Be easy to make in field laboratory settings or easily and inexpensively shipped in quantity globally without need for a time-sensitive cold supply chain.
- Be appropriate for use in the mass rearing context as well as for small-scale, day-to-day insectary maintenance use.
- As well as the formulation of an appropriate diet for Aedes/Anopheles mosquitoes, applicants should consider the delivery platform for feeding mosquitoes in the insectary, either using their own novel but replicable methods or recognized methods or technologies that are already on the market.
What we will not consider funding :
- Proposals that do not include a plan for how to measure success.
- Diagnostic tools developed for diseases other than those listed under this challenge.
- Novel vector control methods, including interventions based on genetic modification and population replacement strategies.
- Technologies not appropriate to the field laboratory or insectary setting.
- Ideas that cannot be developed within the scope of a Grand Challenges Explorations phase I award ($100,000 over 18 months).
- Solely infrastructure or capacity-building initiatives.
- Basic research without clear relevance to the goals of this topic.
For more information, please visit GCE Vector Control.
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