Gregor Reid awarded Grand Challenges Exploration grant

Dr. Gregor Reid, of the Departments of Microbiology & Immunology, and Surgery has received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Exploration grant. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced over 100 new grants to explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve global health and development.

Gregor Reid and colleagues in Tanzania are testing if a yogurt supplemented with the Moringa plant can benefit under-nourished pregnant women by improving their breast milk quality and the types of bacteria present in their intestines.

The grants of US$100,000 each will be made to investigators from 19 countries and 6 continents and mark the eighth round of funding from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative which seeks to help lower the barriers for testing innovative ideas in global health and development. Additionally, the Gates Foundation announced continued funding of up to US$1 million each for six existing Grand Challenges Explorations projects to enable grantees to advance their work.

"Grand Challenges Explorations encourages individuals worldwide to expand the pipeline of ideas where creative, unorthodox thinking is most urgently needed," said Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery and Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "We're excited to provide additional funding for select grantees so that they can continue to advance their idea towards global impact."

Grant proposals for Round 9 are being accepted online until May 15, 2012 on the following topics:

* New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-malarial Compounds
* Aid is Working. Tell the World
* Design New Approaches to Optimize Immunization Systems
* Explore New Solutions in Global Health Priority Areas
* Protect Crop Plants from Biotic Stresses From Field to Market

Click here for detailed application instructions.