A report from GHTC and Policy Cures Research examines how US federal funding for global health R&D is delivering impact both abroad and at home.

Search the GHTC website

Welcome to the Global Health Technologies Coalition’s new blog: Breakthroughs

Read time:

Here at the GHTC, our team is dedicated to the idea that it’s possible to find new health solutions that will save countless lives around the world. From the first-ever vaccine to prevent malaria, to a ground-breaking gel that can prevent HIV infection, to new, simpler regimens to treat TB, we believe that science can and will deliver the tools we need to eliminate some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

October 2, 2011 by Kaitlin Christenson

Night photo of the Washington monument. A letter from GHTC Director Kaitlin Christenson:

Here at the GHTC, our team is dedicated to the idea that it’s possible to find new health solutions that will save countless lives around the world. From the first-ever vaccine to prevent malaria, to a ground-breaking gel that can prevent HIV infection, to new, simpler regimens to treat TB, we believe that science can and will deliver the tools we need to eliminate some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

But we’re not naïve enough to think that science alone is enough. Without the right policies in place, innovative solutions might remain in the lab and never reach those who are most in need.

It’s this very collision between science and policy that compels us to do what we do: talk with US policymakers about the promise and potential that US-funded research holds for global health, and about the types of policies that must be in place to ensure that the fruits of these efforts aren’t wasted.

We feel as if there has never been a more exciting time to work in global health, and we hope you share our passion. The past few years have yielded momentous scientific advances that have the potential to completely change the way we address disease in poor countries. Just last year, PATH and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the first-ever vaccine designed solely with Africa in mind, and rates of meningitis A have plummeted as a result. And over the past two years, scientists have proven that a host of new interventions might give us the power to change the way we prevent HIV.

We also believe that it has never been a more critical time to work in global health. Policymakers on Capitol Hill are currently making incredibly tough decisions regarding the federal budget. There have been signs that Congress could cut health research funds, despite an unprecedented string of successes in the past few years.

A mother holds her baby wearing a red bonnet. We cannot lose momentum now. Some of the greatest scientific minds of our time are dedicated to these and other causes, and the US Government has an important hand in pushing it all forward.

In the coming weeks and months, we’ll use this blog to share photos, videos, and interviews with the heroes who have dedicated their lives to this cause—from researchers in remote spots around the world, to policymakers right here in the US. We’ll show you the amazing work our members are doing to help people around the globe and keep you informed about the policy changes in DC that impact these issues.

We’ve found the nexus where science, health, and policy collide, and we’re excited to share it with you. We hope you’ll enjoy what you find on these pages and that you’ll come back for more!

Photo credits: PATH.

About the author

Kaitlin ChristensonGHTC

Kaitlin Christenson is director of GHTC.

Other Breakthroughs Blog posts you may like:
USAID/Alex Kamweru
November 11, 2024

Research Roundup: First-of-its-kind mpox vaccine trial, New treatment-resistant malaria drug, Genetically modified mosquitos

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
Read time:
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. A new, first-of-its-kind trial will assess the safety and immunogenicity of Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN mpox vaccine in pregnant and breastfeeding women and infants under two years old, two populations at risk of severe complications from mpox but not currently eligible for vaccination. MVA-BN is the only vaccine for mpox prequalified by the World Health Organization and is currently approved for healthy adults and adolescents, but additional data from this trial could help expand access for additional key populations amid the ongoing mpox outbreak. The trial, which will start early next year, is jointly funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Global Health EDCTP3.Researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a new drug that could help combat the spread of treatment-resistant malaria, as the disease continues to kill more than 600,000 people every year and Plasmodium falciparum, a mosquito vector that spreads malaria, grows increasingly resistant to artemisinin, the frontline malaria treatment. The drug, adapted from a cancer treatment approach, works by permanently disabling a protein that P. falciparum uses to duplicate itself in humans. The researchers behind the drug think it could be more effective than current drugs at all stages of malaria infection, potentially with only one dose.A research team from the University of California, Santa Barbara has found a way to potentially reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases by disrupting male mosquitoes’ ability to hear, which is essential for them to mate and breed. Male mosquitoes rely on the sound of female mosquitoes’ wingbeats in order to find and mate with them. By altering a genetic pathway that male mosquitoes use for hearing, the researchers were able to stop them mating entirely, preventing female mosquitoes, the ones that spread diseases to humans, from having babies and reducing overall mosquito populations. Specifically, the researchers studied Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread diseases including dengue, yellow fever, and Zika.
PATH/Enoch Kavindele Jr.
November 4, 2024

Research Roundup: Noninvasive malaria test, Mpox vaccine trial for kids, Novel class of antimicrobial agents

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
Read time:
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Recently published research found that a new, noninvasive test for malaria could provide a more reliable, safer, quicker, and more sensitive diagnostic option in low- and middle-income countries. The Cytophone, a tabletop printer-sized device, uses targeted lasers and ultrasound to detect malaria-infected cells in the bloodstream via a small, noninvasive probe placed on the back of a person’s hand. Malaria-infected red blood cells accumulate a by-product with unique properties that can be distinguished from normal red blood cells when they pass through a laser. The test, which provides results within minutes, was found to be as good or better at detecting symptomatic Plasmodium falciparum malaria infections than the current gold standard point-of-care methods for malaria testing, which require blood samples and special laboratory equipment. The next phase of testing the device will also investigate whether the device can detect and distinguish between other species.Last Tuesday, Bavarian Nordic announced the start of a clinical study of the MVA-BN® mpox/smallpox vaccine in children between 2 and 11 years old, who are highly vulnerable to infection during the ongoing mpox emergency. The study, which currently has sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo and plans to include sites in Uganda as well, is investigating the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in children compared to adults. Last month, the World Health Organization prequalified the vaccine for adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, following the European Medicines Agency’s approval for this age group. Results from the new trial could support an extension of the current approval.Researchers have identified a novel class of antimicrobial agents known as encrypted peptides that play a key role in the immune system’s response to bacterial infections, opening up new possibilities for combating drug-resistant infections as antimicrobial resistance continues to grow as a global health threat. The immune system is traditionally thought to rely primarily on proteins explicitly linked to immune functions, but this new research reveals that other structural proteins contribute to antimicrobial defenses. Leveraging the immune system’s natural defenses through these non-immune proteins could allow researchers to develop effective antibiotic therapies less prone to resistance.