Choukri Ben Mamoun, associate professor of medicine, infectious diseases, and microbial pathogenesis, received a Grand Challenge Exploration Grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The 58 recipients of the grants, which support projects that show great promise to improve the health of people in the developing world, were announced May 21.
The grant will support Ben Mamoun’s research, which uses biosensors to identify targets for new drugs that can kill human malarial parasites
Malaria occurs in nearly 100 countries and kills more than a half-million people annually. Most victims of malaria are children under the age of 5. Grand Challenge Exploration Grants include a cash award of $100,000 as well as access to 400 compounds from the combined chemical libraries of St. Jude’s Research Hospital, Novartis, and GlaxoSmithKline.
Launched in 2008, more than 850 Grand Challenge Exploration grants have been awarded in more than 50 countries.