Cooperative Agreement R44GH002369

This federal Cooperative Agreement award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program provides $999,479 to Vectech, Inc., a small disadvantaged business, to develop advanced artificial intelligence (AI) methods for automated identification of mosquito species from high-resolution images. The goal is to enable more accessible and scalable vector surveillance data collection to support public health institutions in their...

This Project Grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Research Infrastructure Programs (CFDA 93.351) supports the development of a machine vision guided robotic system to automate the microinjection process for Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) embryos. The $294,543 award to Objective Biotechnology, Inc. will fund the evaluation and refinement of this automated microinjection technology across a range of experimental conditions and genetic backgrounds. Additionally,...

This Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) supports a project to improve the identification of Bactrocera dorsalis sensu lato group species and develop a rapid approach for species identification and pathway analysis. The $242,322 award, effective from September 30, 2023 to September 29, 2024, will be used to analyze port-intercepted material collected between 2021 and 2023, identifying species within the...

Vectech, Inc. received a $255,781 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation on June 15, 2021 to fund research and development of advanced computer vision methods for mosquito surveillance through February 28, 2022. The award was made under the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), which seeks to improve quality of life and economic strength through engineering innovation and excellence in research and education. Specifically, the grant supports Vectech's...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) provides $707,696 to The Johns Hopkins University to conduct research on the chemosensory mechanisms by which the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, tracks and bites humans. The key research objectives are to: Identify volatile organic compounds in human scent signatures that correlate with attractiveness to Anopheles gambiae...

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $433,303 Project Grant under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to the Trustees of Indiana University (IU Indianapolis) to develop the Yeast Endless Soda (YES) Feeding Station. This innovative system will utilize RNA interference (RNAi)-based yeast insecticides as attractive targeted sugar baits to selectively kill mosquitoes, which are vectors for dangerous mosquito-borne illnesses. The...

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $211,038 Project Grant (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) to The Johns Hopkins University to investigate a new strategy for controlling mosquito populations. The research aims to target an enzyme called iodotyrosine deiodinase, which plays a role in protecting insects from the accumulation of halotyrosines that can suppress male fertility. The goal is to assess whether inhibiting this enzyme or...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has awarded a $211,333 Cooperative Agreement to the University of Hawaii (UH) to develop a set of diagnostic markers for species identification of the Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni). The project aims to use whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics approaches to identify informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that can differentiate between species within the B. tryoni complex. This work...

This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), provides $505,238 to the Regents of the University of California at Riverside to investigate how mosquitoes use their olfactory and gustatory senses to detect and avoid aversive skin compounds. The overarching goal is to identify skin compounds that affect mosquito landing behavior and analyze the cellular and receptor pathways...

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $299,969 Project Grant under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to L2 Diagnostics LLC, a for-profit biomedical research company based in Woodbridge, Connecticut. The grant is focused on evaluating a mosquito salivary protein, AGBR1, as a vaccine candidate against Chikungunya virus, which is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and can cause debilitating joint pain. Under this two-year...