The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the latest Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) grant recipients.

Grand Challenges Explorations grant program funds discovery research, awarding initial grants of US $100,000 and potential follow-on grants of up to US $1 million. Grants target an expanding set of topics.

A total of 56 projects in 11 different countries received an initial grant of US$100,000. Dr Woodruff proposed to develop an ovulation model using cultured mouse ovarian follicles with hormones delivered by a series of microfluidic and microdynamic systems to produce a menstrual cycle over 28 days comparable to humans for high-throughput discovery of new contraceptives. In collaboration with NU-HTA, they will integrate robotic handling into their in vitro ovulation assay and validate it using known compounds that block ovulation.