CDC Innovation Fund (iFund)

The CDC Innovation Fund (iFund) seeks to promote the inventiveness and creativity of the CDC community in the design and development of new innovations which show promise for making a substantial impact on public health and how we accomplish our mission. The iFund provides intramural funding and support to CDC staff to develop initial proof of concept ‘prototypes’ and pilot projects, or scale up more mature projects that have been proven effective through pilot or replication studies.

CDC iFund Provides

• Intramural funding with awards up to a maximum of $250,000; awards supporting proof of concept projects ($10-$25,000), pilot projects ($50,000-$75,000), and implementation projects ($100,000-$250,000).
• Up to a 15 month project period (as defined by the proposal)
• Multi-day informational training on entrepreneurial methodologies and design principles
• Guidance and technical support specific to project implementation needs from CDC Innovation Lab (I-Lab) staff

Since its inception in 2011, the iFund has supported and financed over 70 mission-driven projects. This past October, OTI received over 60 proposals for consideration. The teams selected for FY2017 iFund support include:

Phase I (Idea Generation)

NCEZID: Remediation of Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms in Contaminated Hand-washing Sinks and Plumbing Systems of Healthcare Facilities using Non-Traditional Treatment Strategies

Collaborators: Rodney Donlan, Terri Davy, and Mustafa A. Mazher; Judith Noble-Wang (Executive Sponsor)

The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) throughout the U.S. has increased substantially over the last decade, with mortality rates as high as 40-50%. The greatest risk for CRE acquisition or infection is primarily associated with exposure in healthcare settings, use of certain classes of antimicrobials, and use of indwelling medical devices. Several studies indicate hand-washing sinks, sink drains, and plumbing system components as a nidus for CRE and a source of outbreaks of these organisms in healthcare facilities. Traditional cleaning and disinfection strategies are not able to eradicate these organisms due to the microbial biofilm association. Previous work indicates that different strains of CRE will colonize biofilms in a laboratory model sink drain system. The project proposes to investigate the use of lytic bacteriophage with or without nonionic surfactants to target and eradicate biofilm-associated Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 KPC+ in laboratory model systems. It will also provide proof of concept for a larger study to investigate this treatment strategy against multiple biofilm-associated CRE.

NCHHSTP: Disease Intervention Specialist – Personal Online Utility Collection for Handheld devices (DIS POUCH)

Collaborators: Duane Wilmot, Rachel Kachur, Frank Strona, Alexandra Eve Caccamo, Jennine Kinsey, Matthew Hogben, Deborah Collins, Dawn Broussard, Tom Savel, and John Fitch (External)

This project seeks to explore the feasibility and acceptability of developing a mobile application designed to support Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) activities. DIS are health professionals, typically employed by local or state health departments, who perform a variety of public health functions. With increasing workloads, complex diseases, diverse populations, and at times, volatile work environments, DIS need tools that are readily available, easy to use, and up-to-date. The NCHHSTP team is looking to consolidate traditional tools into a one stop shop application – an integrated and secure mobile platform, for improved ease and access, cost savings, and transportability.

NCIRD: Long-read based, culture-free diagnostics of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Collaborators: Yuan Li, Bernard Beall, Lesley McGee, Benjamin James Metcalf, and Sopio Chochua; Cynthia Whitney (Executive Sponsor)

S. pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current pneumococcal conjugated vaccines, which target 7-13 of the more than 90 serotypes, effectively reduce infections caused by the vaccine serotypes but not the non-vaccine serotypes. Therefore, continued serotype surveillance is essential for determining vaccine effectiveness and designing future vaccines. In addition, emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, particularly among non-vaccine serotypes, remains a major concern for patient management and requires close monitoring. To address these public health needs and to overcome shortcomings of culture-based pneumococcal characterization, a culture-free, long-read-based diagnostic of S. pneumoniae will be developed to increase detection sensitivity, reduce characterization time, and acquire quantitative metagenomics information.

NIOSH: Development of Advanced Methods for Evaluating and Designing Loose-fitting Powered Air-purifying Respirator

Collaborators: Ziqing Zhuang, Zhipeng Lei, Michael S. Bergman, Evanly Vo, and George Niezgoda; Maryann M. D’Alessandro (Executive Sponsor)

The 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), 2009 H1N1 influenza, and the 2014 Ebola outbreaks, highlighted the ongoing need for effective respiratory protection. Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are an important type of respiratory protection for healthcare workers (HCW) to reduce exposure to high level hazard respiratory pathogens and infectious body fluids however, there are various limitations to their usability. This project aims to develop advanced methods for evaluating and designing loose-fitting PAPRs from a prototype software program which utilizes CFD modeling to simulate particle leakage into PAPR face pieces. This will allow respirator researchers and manufacturers to easily manipulate variables, such as breathing frequency, particle size and concentration, PAPR air flow rate, and shape of face pieces, to simulate PAPR performance.

NIOSH: Enhancing work-related motor vehicle health communication efforts through the development of the Well Worker Grid

Collaborators: Sydney Webb, Stephanie G. Pratt, Carlos Siordia, Christina M. Spring, and Jennifer Funaro (External); Dawn N. Castillo (Executive Sponsor)

Between 2003 to 2014, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of work-related deaths in the U.S., accounting for 22,000 lives lost. To capture fragmented data on various occupation and workers who drive for their job, NIOSH’s Center for Motor Vehicle Safety is seeking to develop a prototype of the Well Worker Grid – a tool to enhance health communication efforts and products targeting workers who drive as part of their job. The Grid, a searchable, online database, with a user-friendly interface, will provide a single location and standardized layout for inputting and retrieving different types of data, including: safety hazard, demographic, geographic, socioeconomic, psychographic, and qualitative data. The data will provide a unique opportunity to identify, and develop clear, effective, and tailored communication products to elicit desired behaviors to prevent work-related motor vehicle crashes.

Phase II (Prototype and Test)

CGH: Develop and Evaluate a Smartphone-based Point-of-Care (POC) Luminescence Nanoparticle-based Rapid Test for Zika Virus (ZIKV) NS1 Antigen to Detect Acute Infection

Collaborators: Elizabeth Hunsperger, Onyango Clayton, and Richard Willson (External); Marc-Alain Widdowson (Executive Sponsor)

This project will produce an ultrasensitive Zika virus (ZIKV) NS1 rapid test by using persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) in a lateral flow assay (LFA)-format as a rapid point-of-care test that meets WHO ASSURED (Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and robust, Equipment-free and Deliverable) criteria and is applicable in both high- and low-income settings. PLNPs are advanced forms of inorganic phosphors commonly used in glowing paints and toys, adapted as a stable, cheap, and very sensitive reporter. The rapid detection of ZIKV is critical during outbreaks and emergency response for clinical management and prevention and control measures. Currently, diagnostic testing early in the course of ZIKV infection relies on viral assays, primarily reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which requires sophisticated equipment/training and poses severe limitations in most resource-poor settings. An ideal ZIKV test would also have minimal sample processing (e.g., avoidance of the RNA extractions required by RT-PCR) and target proteins that are stable in human serum. The ZIKV NS1 antigen fulfills all the requirements of an ideal ZIKV test because it is a stable protein present in blood during the acute phase of a ZIKV infection (viremic phase).

NCHHSTP: Next-Generation Sequencing of the Host mtDNA as a Novel Tool for Identifying the Duration of Hepatitis C Infection

Collaborators: David Campo Rendon, Yury Khudyakov, Francesco Criscuolo, and Andrea Olmstead (External); Yury Khudyakov (Executive Sponsor)

There is currently not a single method to reliably establish the length of HCV infection within the host. If we were able to know how long a patient has been infected with HCV, this would create new opportunities to separate recent from past transmissions, improving immensely surveillance and prevention. In addition, such method would also allow CDC to identify the most likely source of an outbreak. This project studies the possibility of a brand new method to identify the length of Hepatitis C infection, a possibility recently enabled by Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS): the measurement of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic heterogeneity. We have recently shown that HCV chronic patients have levels of mtDNA genetic heterogeneity that are 23 times higher than recently infected individuals. These intriguing findings may herald the advent of a new type of non-invasive NGS diagnostic markers for HCV infection.

NCHHSTP: Simplified HIV Drug Resistance Multiplex Screening for Cost-effective Virologic Management

Collaborators: Jeff Johnson, Jonathan Lipscomb, Jin-fen Li, and Gillian Hunt (External); Walid Heneine (Executive Sponsor)

There is great need, expressed by international and domestic public health laboratorians and funders, for a simple and affordable test that brings together both HIV threshold viral load and drug resistance screening, avoiding the complexity and expense of full genotyping and separate testing platforms. The Multiplex HIV Drug Resistance screening method is the culmination of over a decade of experience in developing highly sensitive real-time PCR simplex assays for key resistance mutations to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. This is a cost-conscious multiplex reflex test that simultaneously targets 3-4 key mutations that affect the cornerstone regimens for HIV treatment domestically and abroad. Results can be obtained in less than half a day which is very important for maintaining engagement with persons with newly diagnosed HIV because a high proportion of infected persons are lost to follow up. Additionally, the screening test is <15% the cost of conventional sequencing and viral load, providing a tremendous savings in that there is no need to sequence the majority of persons who will have wildtype virus and will allow for routine testing at appropriate intervals.

NCIRD: Safe, Rapid, Inexpensive Shipment of Diagnostic Samples (Inter)nationally for Molecular Diagnostics of Viruses

Collaborators: Jan Vinje, Theresa Cromeans, and Azaibi Tamin; Mark Pallansch (Executive Sponsor)

Current methods for transport of clinical samples for diagnosis and molecular identification of pathogens often include shipping of samples on dry ice, a hazardous substance, with a biohazard label and for low and middle income countries, this is often unaffordable and costly. The preservation, storage, and transport of samples on a paper matrix such as diagnostic blood spots for neonates has been used for 50 years. More recently cards have been available specifically to lyse cells, fix and store nucleic acids, primarily DNA, from Flinders Technology Associates (FTA) which are commercially available and used extensively in forensics. We recently developed a cellulose card (UNEX card) which is coated with a lysis buffer that has been demonstrated to be very effective for extraction of RNA and DNA from viruses, bacteria, and parasites. In-house production in the laboratory is about $1 (compared to $5 for FTA). We propose to: 1) evaluate the UNEX card for norovirus onto the cards in 3 different international locations (Bangladesh, Ghana, and Argentina) and assess the performance after shipping the cards at ambient temperature to CDC Atlanta and compare with traditional shipping on dry-ice. 2) Use cultivable MERS (also an RNA virus) to confirm 100% inactivation of infectivity when using the UNEX cards.

NIOSH: Design and Demonstration of an Internet-enabled, “Intelligent” Lockout/tagout System to Improve Public Health and Safety

Collaborators: David Parks, Art Miller, Carl Sunderman, and Todd Ruff; Eric Lutz (Executive Sponsor)

This project will demonstrate the adaptation of current RFID (radio frequency identification) and wireless communication technologies to gather data that can be used to improve the lockout/tagout process used in the maintenance of heavy machinery and electrical systems in many different industries. The project will entail field-testing a fully autonomous remote monitoring system that gathers sensor and worker identification data and transports it, via wireless connections and the internet, to a central control location or individual who can make timely decisions based on that data. We will demonstrate this concept by building and testing a monitoring system aimed at improving the safety of maintenance workers who operate and maintain heavy stationary machines such as conveyors, crushers, or processing equipment. Our system will therefore focus on: 1) detecting the presence of workers in hazardous locations near a conveyor, 2) monitoring and authorizing entry into these areas to perform maintenance tasks, 3) monitoring the presence of machine guarding and the status of conveyor motion, and 4) providing a user interface for centralized viewing and monitoring of the above data for improved lockout/tagout control, reporting, and risk management.

Phase III (Implement and Scale)

NCCDPHP: Wearables Data Challenge for Public Health Surveillance: Using a Challenge-based Approach to Access and Integrate Non-traditional Data into Public Health Surveillance

Collaborators: Machell Town, William Garvin, Jennifer LeClercq, and Sandeep Patel (HHS); Wayne Giles (Executive Sponsor)

The collection of health data through traditional surveillance modes including telephone and in-person interviewing is becoming increasingly challenging and costly with declines in participation and changes in personal communications. Meanwhile, the adoption rate of wearable devices and use of mobile applications for tracking health-related information is growing rapidly. This project will support the Wearable Devices, Mobile Applications, and Social Media Data Challenge (hereafter referred to as Wearables Data Challenge) that the CDC plans to launch in March of 2017 in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration. The purpose of the Wearables Data Challenge is to address the limitations of traditional self-reported surveillance data while tapping into novel modes and methodologies for collecting supplementary and potentially complementary health behavior data. The Wearables Data Challenge will support the development and implementation of prototypes to use these novel methodologies and data sources to enhance traditional chronic disease surveillance systems among the adult population aged 18 years and older.

NCEZID: Thinking Outside the Container: Unlocking the Full Poo-tential of Solar Sanitation

Collaborators: Eric Mintz, Jennifer Murphy, Jennifer Verani, Emily Woods (External), and Andrew Foote (External); Robert Tauxe (Executive Sponsor)

Cost-effective treatment of fecal sludge is a challenge in Kenya and other developing countries. In Kenya, over 95% of fecal sludge is released into the environment untreated or after inadequate treatment. This is a major source of diarrheal disease, which is a leading cause of death in children under 5 years old. Sanivation, a social enterprise dedicated to addressing sanitation challenges with an economically and environmentally sustainable “systems” approach, received an iFund Award in FY2013, a supplementary iFund Award in FY2015, and the 2013 CDC Excellence in Partnering Honor Award for piloting container-based household toilets, and solar treatment and reprocessing of fecal waste into charcoal briquettes in two Kenyan field sites. Sanivation now proposes to bring in new waste streams from pit latrines, septic tanks, and open drainage for solar treatment and reprocessing. Specifically, Sanivation will: 1) fully characterize available fecal sludge sources in Naivasha, 2) optimize processes and technologies for handling fecal sludge from different sources in Sanivation’s waste processing facility and, 3) scale up waste collection, treatment, and briquette manufacture and sales.

For additional information, please contact us at OTI@cdc.gov.

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