Product/Service Development

Joseph Culver of Washington University in St Louis in the U.S. is developing a portable, optical neuroimaging technology (high-density diffuse optical tomography [HD-DOT]) to monitor the effects of malnutrition on brain development in young children in low-resource settings. During the first ten years of life, the brain develops many skills such as visual and language processing, and has unique nutritional requirements.

Christopher Yip of the University of Toronto in Canada will test whether measuring skin thickness and cellular composition by non-invasive diffuse optical spectroscopy can be used to estimate the gestational age of newborns, which is important for maternal and child health. They will first determine how light absorption and scattering properties of skin tissue at differing depths correlate with skin structure and then apply their approach to neonates of defined ages.

Vasily Yarnykh from the University of Washington in the U.S. will test whether measuring myelin content in the brain using a low-cost magnetic resonance imaging method can act as a reliable biomarker for brain maturation. They will build on a method involving the measurement of the macromolecular proton fraction by magnetic resonance. This method will be converted to a non-image-based and non-localized method that can be more easily and inexpensively used to measure myelin content in developing countries.

Yuval Gielchinsky of Hadassah Medical Center in Israel will develop a non-invasive approach for determining gestational age by analyzing DNA methylation profiles in cells from umbilical cord blood. Accurate gestational age is critical for monitoring and promoting the healthy development of newborns. Current gestational age dating approaches require expensive equipment and trained users, or are relatively inaccurate. Previous work has linked gestational age with epigenetic states such as the patterns of methylation along DNA.

People born with a genetic mutation in their CCR5 gene are naturally resistant to HIV infection. Philip Gregory of Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. in the U.S. will use zinc finger nuclease technology to specifically disrupt the CCR5 gene as a new strategy to make people resistant to HIV.

Rustam Nabiev of the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden will develop a vaccination delivery model that employs an application tool to be used with cell phones and a clinical decision support system to better coordinate vaccination programs in rural communities in Uganda. The goal is to use mobile devices to increase communication and enable better planning among the vital stakeholders in immunization efforts - which are families, community leaders, and health care workers.

Robert Gorkin of the University of Wollongong in Australia is developing tough hydrogels as an alternative material to latex for making male condoms with enhanced tactile (touch) sensitivity to improve sexual experience. Tough hydrogels are highly elastic and mechanically tough materials. Unlike latex, they can increase sensitivity to touch, incorporate lubrication, and be coupled to other components, such as stimulants and antiviral drugs.

Debby Herbenick and Frank Sadlo of Indiana University in the U.S. will design a new female condom that is easier and more comfortable to use, and enhances sexual experience. The new condom will have a more natural elliptical opening as opposed to the more conventional Round one, and will be ribbed on one side to provide directed internal stimulation for the female, making it potentially more enjoyable than using no condom.

Jimmy Mays of the University of Tennessee in the U.S. will develop a prototype male condom made from superelastomers (a highly elastic polymer). This will enable the manufacture of thinner and softer condoms that will enhance user experience. It will also simplify the condom manufacturing process and make it less expensive.

Ron Frezieres of the California Family Health Council in the U.S. along with Max Abadi of Unique International in Colombia and I.MAXX Inc. in the U.S. are developing a stronger and thinner male condom made of polyethylene to promote condom use. Polyethylene is a non-toxic and hypoallergenic material that wraps and clings rather than squeezes, thereby enhancing sensation and enabling easier application.