Imagine an insect repellent that not only is thousands of times more effective than DEET – the active ingredient in most commercial mosquito repellents – but also works against all types of insects, including flies, moths and ants. That possibility has been created by the discovery of a new class of insect repellent made in the laboratory of Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences and … [Read more...]
Principles of Magnetic Levitation and Cell Phone Technology to Be Studied for Malaria Diagnosis Tools
The Gates Foundation has funded a project at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) that uses the principles of magnetic levitation and cell phone technology to create an inexpensive, portable device to quickly and accurately diagnose malaria outside of the laboratory setting. The GCE received more than 2,500 grant submissions from 100 countries, and selected 88 projects, including that … [Read more...]
New Biomarkers Study Could Lead to Improved Malaria Vaccines
In the first study of its type in the malaria field, Seattle BioMed has been awarded an $8.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to identify biomarkers that will allow malaria vaccine design based on robust predictors of protective immunity. According to Ruobing Wang, M.D., Ph.D., the goal of the study is to identify and validate biomarkers that correlate with … [Read more...]
NetGuarantee: Financing Speeds Delivery of Mosquito Nets
NetGuarantee, a new innovative finance facility, announces its first transaction with Zurich in North America, part of the Zurich Financial Services Group, to celebrate World Malaria Day today, April 25. This collaboration will help accelerate access to and advance the delivery of vital malaria prevention tools in Africa by six to 10 months, and shows how core business competencies and best … [Read more...]
EDITORIAL – Reflections on World Malaria Day 2011
How far have we come in the last four years? Four years ago, it was estimated that a child died every 30 seconds from malaria, and that more than a million people each year were killed by this devastating and debilitating disease. Four years ago, the malaria advocacy partnership Roll Back Malaria organized the first World Malaria Day, and published the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP), which … [Read more...]
Urgent Action Essential to Protect Malaria Therapies, Says WHO
The world risks losing its most potent treatment for malaria unless steps are quickly taken to prevent the development and spread of drug resistant parasites, according to a new action plan released today by WHO and Roll Back Malaria partnership (RBM). The Global plan for artemisinin resistance containment outlines the necessary actions to contain and prevent resistance to artemisinins, … [Read more...]