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…medical education. While there are thousands of useful, freely accessible e-learning objects in health sciences, no one has collected and transformed these resources into a university available to the whole world. Solution Implemented online, the project team launched the world’s first free, for-credit university-level training portal, NextGenU.org. NextGenU provides anyone, anywhere, access to university- and graduate-level courses in the health sciences, either for interest or for credit. All NextGenU courses are offered in partnership with organizations, including universities and professional societies, certified to give courses for credit. NextGenU’s initial offerings…

Issue Mycotoxin contamination is a serious problem in cereal production worldwide and the toxins can have serious health effects. Recently in Kenya, mycotoxin contamination was responsible for the destruction of 2,300,000 bags of maize, accompanied by exposure risk to 140,000 people, including hospitalization of 317 and 125 deaths. Solution This project evaluated the effectiveness of various drying and storage methods for reducing mycotoxin contamination and insect…prototype drier had the lowest moisture content, followed by the locally made drier, while the highest moisture content was in traditionally dried maize. Preliminary results showed no significant differences in the number of grains with fungal growth, as the range was between 62–66% for all drying methods. Contamination with mycotoxins was also evaluated and results…

…countries. While early detection of CVD is possible through affordable tools such as laboratory tests, their efficacy is limited because, without symptoms, the patient rarely pays attention to cardiovascular health until the late stages of CVD. Solution The objective of this project was to develop a CVD screening process in Egypt, to encourage the public…has vascular disorders. The approach is based on two hypotheses: that the human vascular system is one compartment; thus a disease in an inner vessel will show up in the peripheral vessels, and that blood vessels in the eye can be easily and directly imaged using low-cost devices The first step of the project was…finally, evaluating the capability of these features to differentiate normal from abnormal vessels. This last step required building a database of images of healthy volunteers with no signs or history of cardiovascular diseases and patients with different types of cardiovascular disease (e.g., stroke, angina, chronic high blood pressure or ischemic heart disease). Another component of…features in the eye and patients with CVD, versus healthy subjects. Knowledge of the project has been widely disseminated at conferences and the team plans to apply for Transition To Scale (TTS) funding. A website has also been established that aimed to raise the general awareness about cardiovascular disease, eye diseases and how to maintain…

Issue LMICs often lack the diagnostic tools necessary for disease detection due to: a lack of lab facilities and trained personnel, the high cost to patients, and difficulties in repairing equipment. Instead of using lab-based tools, point-of-care (POC) screening devices are often used to measure biomarkers and enable earlier disease detection. POC devices are often …

…Globally, there were 284,000 maternal deaths in 2012, with 99% of these occurring in developing countries. A total of 44% of Filipino mothers give birth without access to a doctor, as the existing healthcare infrastructure provides minimal medical service. Solution The project aimed to develop a low-cost and portable ultrasound prototype, to provide obstetrical care…additional hardware requirements. An easy-to-use user interface was developed, to aid operation by midwives and facilitate efficient consultation with distant experts. Cloud server software was developed, to support management of test data and to allow medical experts from anywhere in the world to participate in the screening and diagnostic process using the acquired ultrasound data. The team developed an ultrasound imaging platform, but the device has limitations, as it currently only supports an ultrasound transducer array of 32 elements, which is inadequate for practical imaging purposes. Due to the limited technical performance of the imaging device, it has yet to be deployed for clinical trials. Further development of the hardware…

Issue HIV infection remains a major issue in Africa. Access and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) effectively suppresses HIV levels, reduces illness and drug resistance, and prevents disease transmission. Solution In an earlier clinical trial in Kenya, the WelTel project documented that using low-cost mobile phones and text messaging can improve adherence and treatment outcomes …to be ART adherent and 19% more likely to have a suppressed viral load at the end of one year. WelTel Kenya2 involves developing a business model for scaling this proven approach of sending short, weekly text message inquiries to patients, to promote ART adherence and identify issues for follow-up by clinicians. Outcome Results enabled WelTel, in partnership with the University of British Columbia, to refine its text message service…

Issue Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) have become widely used in low-resource settings for many diseases and have had a major impact in targeting therapies to people who need it. However, the accuracy of these tests remains a matter of concern and there is a need for better RDTs for diseases such as leishmaniasis. Solution The …was to develop a thread-based (yarn) RDT for leishmaniasis detection. A thread-based electrochemical biosensor was developed as an alternative to colorimetric assays on thread and this was coupled with development of a smartphone diagnostic application, to produce a semi-quantitative readout and reduce the subjectivity of the readout. The electrochemical signal was amplified using an enzymatic reaction to improve the sensitivity of the assay. In addition, the setup was on a rotating disk to facilitate reagent delivery without…

…below five years of age do not reach their full developmental potential. In Bangladesh, at least 60% of children below five years of age are at risk for poor development, due to poverty, malnutrition and unstimulating home environments. The optimum development and growth of young children requires affection and responsiveness from the mother/caregiver, cognitive stimulation, good nutrition and infection control. Solution The aim of the project was to determine if combining peer counselling about infant feeding with a psychosocial stimulation program (promoting mothers positive parenting) starting in the third trimester of pregnancy would improve children’s cognitive, motor and language development and mothers’ breastfeeding practices. The team conducted a randomized…study results showed that 90% of mothers in the study group reported breastfeeding within one hour of birth (compared to 78% in the study group). A more significant achievement was the improvement of the exclusive breastfeeding rate among the mothers who received peer counselling. At three months, 81% in the intervention group (versus 49% in…results with donors and other key stakeholders. They also intend to apply for Transition To Scale (TTS) funding and are looking to identify potential partners to scale up the proposed project. They believe the Government of Bangladesh would be a good partner to scale the project, as the intervention can be integrated into existing nutrition…

Issue Injury causes over six million deaths annually and accounts for 15% of overall global disability. Ninety percent of injuries occur in low-resource countries, where use of effective prevention programs or improved clinical outcomes are hindered by limited injury surveillance capabilities. Solution The research group sought to develop and validate use of an electronic trauma health record (eTHR) as an injury surveillance tool for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The eTHR was designed as a cross-platform mobile application (iOS-/Android-friendly) for use by front-line trauma clinicians to capture and analyze initial assessment, resuscitation, operative and discharge data. Data captured by the…

…the highest rates of teenage pregnancy worldwide with 28% of girls aged 15-19 either pregnant or having already given birth. 83% of pregnant adolescents did not want to get pregnant with half of these girls reporting they had been forced into sex.Adolescent girls’ lack of agency and access to quality health information, coupled with their social isolation, leaves them vulnerable to physical and mental health issues, gender-based violence, transactional sex, and early marriage.These issues are exacerbated by poverty, illiteracy, and…to address nutrition, umbilical cord care, HIV in pregnancy and more.The final stage of the project supported participants in developing group businesses. Groups were trained on ‘Skills for Marketing and Rural Transformation’ and financial management.An ongoing peer support network was developed and implemented.OutcomeThrough the program activities, a large proportion of participants acquired and improved knowledge…