CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Seventh Sense Biosystems announced today that it has received a Grand Challenges
Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will
support an innovative global health research project conducted by Dr. Howard
Bernstein, titled "On-skin and Intra-dermal Malaria Diagnostics with
Unprecedented Simplicity of Use Based on Bio-Responsive Particles and
Interstitial Fluid Analysis."
Dr. Bernstein`s project is one of 76 grants announced by the Gates Foundation in
the third funding round of Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to help
scientists around the world explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve
health in developing countries. The grants were provided to scientists in 16
countries on five continents. The initiative is highly competitive, receiving
almost 3,000 proposals in this round.
The Grand Challenges Explorations award will fund research at Seventh Sense
aimed at developing a new class of products for monitoring malaria infection
that combine extreme ease-of-use, low cost, speed, and field-compatibility.
Under the grant, Seventh Sense will adapt its particle-based detection
technology and interstitial fluid access devicesto enable direct visualization
of infection status without the need for cumbersome and expensive gadgetry.
"We are very excited and proud to be working with the Gates Foundation on this
project," said Douglas Levinson, Seventh Sense`s CEO. "We feel the award
recognizes the significant potential of our assay and device technologies to
enable development of important products for improving human health. We look
forward to achieving the stated deliverables of the program and building a
strong relationship with the Foundation."
"The winners of these grants show the bold thinking we need to tackle some of
the world`s greatest health challenges," said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of the
Gates Foundation`s Global Health Program. "I`m excited about their ideas and
look forward to seeing some of these exploratory projects turn into life-saving
breakthroughs."
About Grand Challenges Explorations
Grand Challenges Explorations is a five-year, $100 million initiative of the
Gates Foundation to promote innovation in global health. The program uses an
agile, streamlined grant process - applications are limited to two pages, and
preliminary data are not required. Proposals are reviewed and selected by a
committee of foundation staff and external experts, and grant decisions are made
within approximately three months of the close of the funding round.
Applications for the current round of Grand Challenges Explorations are being
accepted through November 2, 2009. Grant application instructions, including the
list of topics for which proposals are currently being accepted, are available
at http://www.grandchallenges.org/explorations.
About Seventh Sense Biosystems, Inc.
Seventh Sense Biosystems is an early stage, venture-backed company developing a
new generation of health monitoring products that seamlessly interface with
human skin to sense and display actionable health information. Our products will
offer unprecedented simplicity of use and lifestyle compatibility. These
features will promote widespread adoption across a variety of settings - in the
clinic, at home, or on-the-go.
Yates Public Relations
Barbara Yates, 781-258-6153
Copyright Business Wire 2009
