NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

An interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers at Vanderbilt University headed by Stevenson Professor of Chemistry David Wright has designed a new kind of rapid diagnostic test for malaria that has received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant which is designed to support innovative global health and development research projects. It is one of 56 such grants announced today by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The innovative aspect of the “Origami Diagnostics to Accelerate Malaria Elimination” project is its use of “paper microfluidics” to produce a malaria test that is one hundred times more sensitive than commercially available tests while retaining the low cost and simplicity required for real world application.

“In order to eradicate malaria, we must be capable of detecting the individuals that carry the malaria parasite but don’t show any symptoms,” said Wright. “Current commercial malaria tests are not capable of doing this. That is why we have engineered our origami test with the sensitivity required to identify these individuals. At the same time, we have designed it so it will be extremely inexpensive to make and so it will be as easy to operate as current lateral flow detectors like the pregnancy test.”