Deadline: 10 April 2019
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is accepting proposals for the Round 23 of the Grand Challenges Exploration (GCE) on the topic of “Environmental niches of Salmonella Typhi”.
The Challenge
In this new grand challenge, they solicit proposals to examine the environmental niches of S. Typhi. they are interested in understanding:
- Survival of S. Typhi in the context of the soil and water microbiomes. S. Typhi survives for 3 weeks in the presence of A. castellani, but for no more than 10 days by itself (Frédéric Douesnard-Malo and Daigle 2011). Do interactions with other organisms impact survival of S. Typhi? How do they impact transmissibility of the bacterium?
- Survival of S. Typhi within other organisms. Similar to V. cholerae, which thrives within zooplankton (Lipp, Huq, and Colwell 2002), does S. Typhi interact with aquatic multicellular organisms? If yes, how does this impact the transmission and epidemiology of typhoid?
- Impact of environmental niches on the development of antibiotic resistance in S. Typhi. What is the relative amount of time S. Typhi spends in the environment compared to in infected individuals? How does this impact its exposure to antibiotics, and the development of antibiotic resistance in S. Typhi strains?
What they are interested in funding:
- Studies of S. Typhi in the context of soil and water microbiomes, with clear implications for survival, virulence, or antibiotic resistance.
- Examining survival of S. Typhi within or in the presence of free-living protozoans
- Examining the role of the environment (soil, water, residual antibiotics) in the development of AMR in S. Typhi
- Transcriptome analysis and mutagenesis of S. Typhi to identify genes associated with particular environmental niches.
In all cases, the relevance of findings to the epidemiology of typhoid must be clear.
Funding Information
Awards of $100,000 USD are made in Phase I. Phase I awardees have one opportunity to apply for a follow-on Phase II award of up to $1,000,000 USD.
Eligibility Criteria
GCE is open to both foreign and domestic organizations, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions.
How to Apply
Applicants can apply online via given website.
For more information, please visit https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenge/environmental-niches-salmonella-typhi-round-23