Maternal, Newborn, and Adolescent Health

Rinti Banerjee of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in India will develop lipid-based nanoparticles containing iron, folic acid, and iodine and attempt to integrate them into cosmetic pastes such as mehendi or kohl that are commonly used by rural women in developing countries. These cosmetics could be used to transdermally deliver to mothers important micronutrients needed for healthy growth of fetuses.

Steven Maranz of David H. Murdock Research Institute in the U.S. proposes to address vitamin A deficiency by using probiotics that biosynthesize carotenoids. Delivered in yogurt, the beneficial microbes will subsequently colonize the digestive tract, where they will manufacture the raw material for the body to convert to vitamin A.

Philip LeDuc of Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S. will attempt to increase consumption of native, highly nutritious but underutilized leafy vegetables found in Africa by using mechanical processing of the plant's cells to improve palatability as well as nutrient bioavailability. Using cell mechanics to alter the properties of these crops could lead to improved, low-cost diets for infants and children.

Alistair McEwan of The University of Sydney in Australia will develop a simple, low-cost electronic device built from recycled LEDs and microcontrollers to measure subcutaneous fat levels and thereby determine nutritional status in infants. Current methods are expensive or require a trained health worker, and as such are unsuitable for use particularly in developing countries. In Phase I, they performed several design iterations leading to the production of a low-cost prototype that was used for a small trial in newborns.

Mary Ann Lila and colleagues at North Carolina University in the U.S. will partner with the University of Zambia to test a new technology that concentrates phytonutrients from locally grown fruits and vegetables into a protein-rich food matrix. The resulting product could provide a low-cost highly stable year-round source of vital nutrients for mothers, infants and children in African communities.

Jacob Godfrey Agea of Makerere University in Uganda proposes to breed Nsenene grasshoppers (Ruspolia Nitidula), which are a rich source of protein, and grind or mill them for use as a flour or additive in other foods such as cereals and grains. These insects could provide a unique source of nutrition for infants and children under the age of five in Eastern Africa.

Nona Andaya-Castillo of Philippine Lactation Resource and Training in the Philippines will investigate the effects that maternal diet has on the hormones that can stimulate, sustain or hinder lactation, and also explore the varying nutritional contents of breastmilk based on such diets.

Christopher Coe and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin in the U.S. will investigate the role that the gut microbiota has in iron deficiency. By simultaneously profiling gut microbe communities and anemia, Coe hopes to better understand how these natural bacterial communities can influence this leading micronutrient deficiency.

Ricardo Radulovich of the University of Costa Rica/FUNDEVI in Costa Rica will scale-up sustainable seaweed farming ventures in Costa Rica, characterize nutritional values of various crops, and formulate them into a nutritious seaweed meal that can be marketed as a low-cost stand-alone food or as a supplement.

Michelle Lane and colleagues at the University of Adelaide in Australia will use a mouse model to examine how interventions in a father's diet at the time of conception could improve the molecular health of his gametes, which could improve the health of the pregnancy and the development and health of the offspring. Interventions to improve men's health thus might lead to healthier pregnancies and children.