Sunlight to electricity
Cyanobacteria transform solar energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis. Once modified by plasmid transformation, they will be able to use this chemical energy to establish electric potentials across their membranes. This project aims to design a plate, based off the extracellular organization of Electrophorus electricus, that will be able to harness this stored energy.
- Team Members: Jay Garg
- Synthetic Biology
- UC Berkeley
- 2009
Engineering Health-Conscious E coli: Probiotics That Reduce Saturated Fats
Intake of saturated fats has been linked to heart diseases such as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Engineering probiotic bacteria that can turn saturated fats into unsaturated fatty acids, generally deemed healthful, could help reduce saturated fat intake and lessen the chance of developing a saturated fat linked disease.
- Team Members: W. Roger Lowe
- Synthetic Biology
- UC Berkeley
- 2009
Evaluation of a simple point-of-care rapid test for detecting Trichomonas vaginalis in Mysore, India
The study will evaluate the performance of the OSOM® Trichomonas Rapid Test for the detection of trichomoniasis in women from rural and peri-urban areas of Mysore, India, in comparison to PCR, culture and wet-mount preparation.
- Team Members: Stephanie Trammell
- Emerging & Neglected Diseases*, Global Health
- UC Berkeley
- 2009
Examining levels of estriol and seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus during pregnancy in India
In Northern India, nearly 60% of viral hepatitis in pregnant women is attributed to hepatitis E infection (HEV). Given the growing rates of HEV in South Asia and the hypothesis that levels of hormones may affect disease severity in pregnant women with HEV, this study proposes a cross-sectional approach to examine estriol levels and seroprevalence … Continue reading “Examining levels of estriol and seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus during pregnancy in India”
- Team Members: Jacqueline Barin and Michael J. Casteel
- Emerging & Neglected Diseases*, Global Health
- UC Berkeley
- 2009
Long-term impacts of early childhood de-worming
Parasitic worms infect over 1 billion people in the developing world today, yet the treatments are inexpensive. For people infected with worms, taking these medications can improve school attendance and performance, but little is known about the long-term gain from de-worming treatment early in life. In my study this summer, I aim to collect data … Continue reading “Long-term impacts of early childhood de-worming”
- Team Members: Owen Ozier
- Emerging & Neglected Diseases*, Global Health
- UC Berkeley
- 2009
Development of a simple prognostic test for rheumatic heart disease
We aim to develop a simple prognostic tool for rheumatic heart disease. In the first phase of the project we aim to identify a set ofpeptides that induce a pro-inflammatory cytokine response from T cells isolated from rheumatic heart disease patients in Salvador, Brazil. The development of a prognostic tool which is inexpensive, simple and … Continue reading “Development of a simple prognostic test for rheumatic heart disease”
- Team Members: Brooke Finkmoore
- Emerging & Neglected Diseases*, Global Health
- UC Berkeley
- 2009
A point-of-care malaria drug resistance assay
We propose to develop a palm-sized microfluidic device which permits culturing of malaria-infected red blood cells under physiological conditions in suspension. The extent of parasitemia is determined by a label-free magneto-optic technique. Such a device will enable point-of-care antibiotic resistance assays for testing different malarial strains primarily targeting countries in the developing world.
- Team Members: Peter Ledochowitsch, Ardian Sprenger, Debkishore Mitra, and Latitha Muthusubramaniam
- Emerging & Neglected Diseases*, Global Health
Cal Science Corps
The Cal Science Corps (CSC) will place teams of scientists and engineers from UC Berkeley research programs at universities and research institutes in developing countries to share expertise and collaborate with local partners. Modeled after the Global Science Corps proposed in 2001 by Dr. Harold Varmus,1 the six- to nine-month CSC program will offer UC … Continue reading “Cal Science Corps”
- Team Members: Andrew Robertson
- Curricular Innovation, Improving Student Life
- UC Berkeley
- 2009
The Economics and Business Perspectives of Philanthropy
This is an interdisciplinary undergraduate course that aims to give students a better understanding of philanthropy. There are insufficient resources available to fund all charitable causes, so funds should be prioritized to the projects that yield the highest returns in social benefit on dollars invested. Students will be challenged to prioritize causes with this framework, … Continue reading “The Economics and Business Perspectives of Philanthropy”
- Team Members: Eric Rodriguez
- Curricular Innovation, Improving Student Life
- UC Berkeley
- 2009