Lines of Work

 

1) Knowledge transfer, technology transfer, and business development

We support and promote new discoveries and ideas generated by Ingenuity Council researchers, bringing them to society in several ways:

  • Identifying interventions with potential health and socioeconomic benefits and developing strategies to apply these in the real world
  • Proactively identifying needs and opportunities in the area of health and pinpointing areas suitable for collaboration
  • Creating sustainable products and services designed to improve patient access, health equity and the quality of health care

Actions

Point-of-care diagnostics for:

  • Bacterial pneumonia
  • Diagnosis and transmission of malaria in the context of malaria elimination
  • clinical follow-up of , cancer, blood disorders, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, dengue, malaria, chikungunya, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis
  • Portable image-based technologies designed to improve the diagnosis of meningitis
  • Evaluation of a possible redefinition of known antimicrobial drugs for neglected diseases
  • Development of novel wearable technologies for monitoring exposure to environmental pollutants to improve urban health

2) Responsible Research and Innovation, and Open Science and Innovation

The Innovation department is contributing to a new cross-cutting line of work aimed at bringing together science and society. The primary objective is to stimulate more open research and innovation processes by setting up interactions between associations, citizens, patients and the scientific and health community in order to detect unmet needs and respond to the problems identified. The team promotes, supports and accompanies participatory scientific and/or innovation projects that respond to the problems and local needs of civil society.

 

Towards a malaria-free world

At a time when resistance to current drugs and insecticides to control the mosquito that transmits malaria is emerging, and we face the threat of resurgence where malaria is controlled but not eliminated, there is common agreement that the only sustainable solution is the  elimination of the disease, as reflected in WHO’s global goals and strategies.

The Malaria Elimination Initiative reflects the Institute’s commitment to this ambitious goal and its strategic decision to promote multi-layered interventions to achieve this end.

 

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

The HCV is the predominant hepatitis virus in the US primarily because it often (85%) results in chronic life-long infections. Little is known about the mechanisms of persistence or the requirements for a protective immune response.

 

Influenza

A major problem with the development of flu vaccines is the constant mutations in the viral host proteins (i.e., H and N proteins), which generate a new serotype every year. We are working on an approach using a highly conserved region of a protein (the M protein), in conjunction with other technology to develop a vaccine which addresses this problem. Antibodies to the M protein have recently been shown to inhibit flu virus replication. However, a method of rendering the M protein B cell epitope highly immunogenic has been limiting. Our approach will address the issue of limiting immunogenicity.

 

Dengue and Aedes-transmitted Diseases

Dengue has emerged as one of the most important infectious diseases over the past 40 years, currently infecting 400 million people worldwide each year in over 100 countries. Other rapidly spreading Aedes-borne infections such as Zika and chikungunya are a reminder that Aedes-transmitted diseases will continue to spread as global trends (e.g., population growth, urbanization and globalization) provide the ideal conditions for the spread of these diseases.