IDEAS

My name is John Smith, and I am a senior at Frederick Douglass High School. I am a good student with a 3.4 grad point average. The
university that I want to attend is Georgia Tech because I want to be a civil engineer and there are many reasons why I should be
enrolled. Firstly, I am a hard working and dedicated student. Secondly, I am a friendly, sociable person. Finally, I have condemned
myself to be a success.

Primarily, I am a hard working and dedicated student. I've always put my best in everything that I've done academically. I am not the
type of person who gets put up to a big challenge and backs down. I will always rise to the peak of my production and accomplish my
goal. For example, I was one of the few selected out of many to participate in the Semester Abroad program with APS. I had to be
interviewed in Spanish and I had to be able to respond in Spanish.

Moreover, I am a friendly, sociable person. Everyone who knows me can attest to that. I am hardly ever in a bad mood that would
take me to the point of being rude or inconsiderate to someone else. Just about everyone I meet I am able to get along with. I am
never disrespectful to my elders or people of authority. I try to greet everyone I meet with a smile. I believe that one bad impression
can mess up a reputation that may have taken a lifetime to gain.

Ultimately, I have condemned myself to be a success. Words of faith are the only thing that keeps me steadily walking along my path
to success. That is why I engraved it upon my soul to be a success. My motto is that success is my only option failure is not. With this
motto and my strong spirit I cannot and will not be stopped or even postponed from achieving the best. My spirit is my strongest
quality and it cannot be destroyed by anyone.

In conclusion, enrolling me in Georgia Tech would not only be a benefit to me, but for the school as well. Firstly, I am a hard working
and dedicated student. Secondl

Endothelial Progenitor Cells and the Pathogenesis of Cerebral Malaria.Golightly, Gyan. Despite its virulence, the pathophysiologic
basis of P. falciparumdisease and cerebral malaria are poorly understood. Sequestration of infected red blood cells (iRBCs) in the
microvasculature is a major pathologic finding in P. falciparum infections. The repair of microvasculature damaged by infection may
occur either by the proliferation or migration of local endothelial cells, or the recruitment of bone marrow-derived circulating
endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). We hypothesize that P. falciparum infection results in an imbalance between microvascular
damage and repair. Cerebral malaria occurs when circulating EPCs are diminished and damaged endothelial cells cannot be replaced.
To test this hypothesis, EPC levels and markers of bone marrow activation in P. falciparum-infected patients with different degrees of
disease severity are being compared with normal uninfected controls. These studies are being performed in collaboration with the
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra, Ghana.

Desruisseaux MS, Machado FS, Weiss LM, Tanowitz HB, Golightly LM. Cerebral malaria, a vasculopathy. Am J Pathol
2010;176(3):1075-78.

Gyan B, Quarm Goka B, Adjei GO, Tetteh JKA, Kusi KA, Aikins A, Dodoo D, Lesser ML, Sison CP, Das S, Howard ME, Milbank E, Fischer
K, Rafii S, Jin D,Golightly LM. Cerebral malaria is associated with low levels of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in African
children. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2009;80:541-46.

A Non-invasive Cell Phone Imaging Probe for Diagnosing Malaria.Golightly, Bilenca. Cerebral malaria is a major cause of morbidity
and mortality particularly in young children. There are currently no tests to determine which of those infected will develop the
syndrome or recover. In collaboration with Dr. Alberto Bilenca at the University of the Negev in Israel, a cell phone imaging system
that can non-invasively detect malaria parasites in the blood is being developed. The system uses a polarized laser to detect
hemozoin crystals indicative of malaria parasite infection, as well as micro-obstructions in the circulatory system that result from the
infection and have been postulated to be indicative of disease severity.

Ultimately, human testing of the device is planned in Ghana in collaboration with colleagues at the NMIMR. This project is part of a
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations to Create Low-Cost Cell Phone-Based Applications for Priority
Global Health Conditions.Genetic variation in the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.Kirkman. Malaria, a vector borne
disease, causes great morbidity and mortality in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Crucial to the continuing burden of
disease is the parasite's ability to evade clearance in the host; both the ability to evade the host immune system by changing surface
proteins inserted into the host red blood cell, a process termed antigenic variation, and the ability to develop drug resistance.
Underlying both is the ability of this eukaryotic pathogen, with a haploid genome for most of its lifecycle, to generate and
incorporate DNA mutations. We aim to study malaria DNA recombination and repair in the context of disease pathogenesis focusing
on antigenic variation and the development of drug resistance.
Antigenic Variation: After invading a red blood cell the malaria parasite modifies its host cell in different ways. Parasite proteins are
inserted into the host red cell and bind to receptors on host endothelial cells, a process termed cytoadherence and is one of the key
pathogenic and virulence factors of P. falciparum infections. A surface protein termed Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte
membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) was identified as the protein responsible for cytoadherence. This protein is encoded by the large
multi-copy gene family termed var. There is great diversity within this gene family and the mechanisms creating this diversity are a
focus of our work. To better understand the generation of genetic diversity within this multi-copy gene family we are manipulating
the parasite genome to determine how the parasite repairs damaged DNA.

Drug Resistance: We are studying the mechanisms by which a parasite becomes resistant to antimalarials by focusing on the ways in
which the parasites acquire mutations in DNA. Using genetically modified parasites we are studying the ability of the parasite to
generate point mutations and gene duplications that have been previously associated with drug resistance in the field. We are able
to manipulate both copy number and specific sequence in order to further study the interplay of different pathways implicated in
parasite drug resistance.

Frank M, Kirkman L, Constantini D, Sanyal S, Lavazec C, Templeton T and Deitsch K. Frequent recombination events generate
diversity within the multi-copy variant antigen gene families of Plasmodium falciparum. Int J Parasitol. 2008;38: 1099-1109.
Heinberg A, Siu E, Stern C, Lawrence EA, Ferdig MT, Deitsch KW, Kirkman L. Direct evidence for the adaptive role of copy number
variation on antifolate susceptibility in Plasmodium falciparum. Mol Microbiol. 2013 ; 88(4):702-12.
Kirkman L, Deitsch KW. Antigenic variation and the generation of diversity in malaria parasites. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2012 ; 15(4):456-
62.

A Search for More Effective Treatments for Babesiosis. Kirkman. Babesiosis is a tickborne zoonotic disease found worldwide. This
once relatively obscure disease has been gaining recognition in the New York region as "the local malaria." We have started working
with Babesia divergens in initial drug screening assays and are considering ways to further our studies using the local
parasite, Babesia microti.

Technology | Tue Dec 1, 2015 4:30pm EST

Related: SCIENCE, HEALTH, TECH, AFRICA
Diagnosing malaria with a cell phone
COLLEGE STATION, TX | BY BEN GRUBER

New technology that transforms a cell phone into a mobile polarized microscope can diagnose malaria in a Rwandan village with the
same level of accuracy as a hi-tech lab in a major Western city, according to Texas A&M University biomedical engineers developing
the device. "The way they diagnose malaria now is with a microscope but it is with a big bench top microscope that is relatively
complicated to use, takes a trained technician, and you have to have the facility for that scope in a centralized lab somewhere. So
basically what we are taking is that gold standard and making it into a portable device," said Gerard Cote, a professor of Biomedical
Engineering.

The add-on device, known as a mobile-optical-polarization imaging device (MOPID), makes use of a smart phone's camera features
to produce high-resolution images of objects 10 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. The device images a blood sample
using polarized light that can detect a malaria parasite byproduct called Hemozoin crystals which appear as very bright dots in the
image and are an accurate indicator of infection.According to the scientists, once the device is attached to the phone, the diagnosis
takes just minutes using a phone app. "An application software would take that image and automatically count the number of red
blood cells, count the number of parasites over different fields of view. And then by doing that you can determine if they have
malaria or not," Cote said.

In 2015, there have been around 214 million cases of malaria globally so far, approximately 438,000 of which were fatal - with 90
percent of those deaths occurring in Sub Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization. It's those stark statistics which
inspired the team to keep the device as affordable as possible, to ensure it could be used where it's needed most. Smartphones are
widely available in Africa and the team says the cost of the add-on optics will be less than $50 (USD) with the disposable blood
sampling cartridges priced at less than a dollar. The team plans on field testing the cell phone microscope next summer in Rwanda.

New technology that transforms a cell phone into a powerful, mobile microscope could significantly improve malaria diagnoses and
treatment in developing countries that often lack the resources to address the life-threatening disease, says a Texas A&M University
biomedical engineer who hascreated the tool.

The add-on device, which is similar in look and feel to a protective phone case, makes use of a smart phone’s camera features to
produce high-resolution images of objects 10 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair, says Gerard Coté, professor of
biomedical engineering and director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Center for Remote Health Technologies and
Systems. Coté’s development of the instrument, known as amobile-optical-polarization imaging device (MOPID), is detailed in the
online scientific journal Scientific Reports, published by Nature. The full article can be accessed
atwww.nature.com/articles/srep13368.

MOPID, Coté explains,is capable of accepting a small cartridge containing a patient’s blood-smear sample. The sample is then imaged
using polarized light in order to detect the presence of hemozoin crystals, Coté notes. Hemozoin crystals are the byproduct of the
malaria parasite, and they occurin the blood of an infected host. As polarized light bounces off of these crystals, they appear as tiny
bright dots when observed through the phone’s camera lens – enabling an instant, accurate diagnosis.

“What we’ve achieved with MOPID is the design of a polarized microscope platform using a cell phone, which can detect
birefringence in histological specimens infected with the malaria parasite,” Coté says. “It’s a simple, low-cost, portable device that
we believe is more sensitive than the standard microscope that uses white light and just as accurate as the more costly and complex
benchtop version of a polarized microscope.”

MOPID could represent a significant advancement in the detection methods for malaria, a disease that the World Health
Organization estimates was responsible for 584,000 deaths in 2013,along with an estimated 198 million new cases in that span of
time. Given those numbers, a dire need exists for a low-cost, accurate and portable method of detection, particularly in areas of the
world with few resources, Coté says. Many of these regions, he notes, suffer from misdiagnoses due to inadequate or even
nonexistent medical infrastructures – and the consequences can be devastating. While failure to treat malaria can be fatal, the
administering of unnecessary malaria medications as a result of misdiagnoses can results in new, drug-resistant strains of the disease
in addition to increasing costs for malaria medications, Coté notes.

Coté’s solution takes advantage of existing mobile phone technology and networks – something to which a whopping 75 percent of
the world has access. This ever-increasing access to mobile networks and the fact that most mobile phones are equipped with
advanced camera features make mobile phones the ideal platform for advanced imaging applications such as MOPID, Coté says. The
MOPID system has demonstrated both the resolution and specificity to detect malaria with both iOS- and Android-based devices and
requires less user expertise than traditional microscopy, Coté says. That user-friendly aspect, coupled with the system’s portability
and expected low cost of about $10 per unit, makes it an easily adoptable technology in low-resource areas ravaged by malaria, he
adds.

What’s more, analysis of a blood sample can be instantaneously made with the patient in the field without the need for a mobile
network, says Coté, who notes that a network is only required for transmitting the images to a central location for further analysis or
storage. A Cell-Phone Microscope for Disease Detection. A cheap smart-phone microscope could bring fluorescent medical imaging
to areas with limited access to health care. Snap diagnosis: The Cellscope uses a blue-light LED and filters for fluorescence imaging.
The sample is inserted next to the metal focusing knob.

In a twist on traditional smart-phone accessories, researchers have demonstrated fluorescent microscopy using a physical
attachment to an ordinary cell phone. The researchers behind the device say that it could identify and track diseases like tuberculosis
(TB) and malaria in developing countries with limited access to health care, or in rural areas of the U.S.

The “Cellscope,” which came out of an optics-class project at the University of California, Berkeley, could capture and perform simple
analysis of magnified images of blood and sputum samples, or transmit the images over the cell-phone network for analysis
elsewhere.

The contraption–a tube-like extension hooked onto the cell phone with a modified belt clip–works just like a traditional microscope,
using a series of lenses that magnify blood or spit samples on a microscope slide. To detect TB, for example, a spit sample is infused
with an inexpensive dye called auramine. An “excitation” wavelength is emitted by the light source–a blue light-emitting diode (LED)
on the opposite end of the device from the cell phone–and absorbed by the auramine dye in the spit sample, which fluoresces green
to illuminate TB bacteria. Then automated software can count the green bacteria for a diagnosis in real time, or the image can be
transmitted via cell network to a separate facility where doctors can analyze it and respond.

“The cell phone approach is very valuable for all parts of the world where [medical] resources are scarce,” says Aydogan Ozcan, an
assistant professor of electrical engineering at UCLA, who is working to develop a lens-free method for mobile cell imaging. “It’s a
great step forward in this important area.”

The researchers involved with the project, led by Berkeley bioengineering professor Daniel Fletcher, describe their work in a paper
published in the journal PLoS One. They previously demonstrated a prototype device that used white light, or bright-field imaging, to
capture magnified images of blood cells stained to detect malaria parasites, an approach that could also identify the oddly shaped
red blood cells indicating sickle cell disease. Fluorescence adds a new capability that could be particularly useful if made cheaper and
portable.

“Fluorescence microscopy in resource-poor countries is hard,” says Wilbur Lam, a bioengineer and physician in the UCSF School of
Medicine who worked on the project as a clinical expert. “Lab-grade [fluorescence] technology is expensive and hard to operate,” he
says. “You need a dark room, a mercury lamp, and a lot of training.” These facilities aren’t available in many areas of developing
nations, which, Lam notes, are the places that most need the technology to detect common diseases like TB. The Cellscope device
could be distributed to health workers in remote areas, extending the reach of fluorescence-based medical imaging.

Pages: Malaria Diagnosis Using a Mobile Phone Polarized Microscope

Casey W. Pirnstill & Gerard L. Coté

Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 13368 (2015)
doi:10.1038/srep13368
Received: 19 March 2015
Accepted: 14 July 2015
Published online: 25 August 2015

Malaria remains a major global health burden, and new methods for low-cost, high-sensitivity, diagnosis are essential,
particularly in remote areas with low-resource around the world. In this paper, a cost effective, optical cell-phone based
transmission polarized light microscope system is presented for imaging the malaria pigment known as hemozoin. It can be
difficult to determine the presence of the pigment from background and other artifacts, even for skilled microscopy technicia ns.
The pigment is much easier to observe using polarized light microscopy. However, implementation of polarized light microscopy
lacks widespread adoption because the existing commercial devices have complicated designs, require sophisticated
maintenance, tend to be bulky, can be expensive, and would require re-training for existing microscopy technicians. To this end,
a high fidelity and high optical resolution cell-phone based polarized light microscopy system is presented which is comparable
to larger bench-top polarized microscopy systems but at much lower cost and complexity. The detection of malaria in fixed and
stained blood smears is presented using both, a conventional polarized microscope and our cell -phone based system. The cell-
phone based polarimetric microscopy design shows the potential to have both the resolution and specificity to detect malaria in
a low-cost, easy-to-use, modular platform.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that most often infect a subject via transmission from a mosquito bite.
Following infection, the parasite begins invading the host’s red blood and liver cells, modifying the biochemistry and struct ural
properties of the cells. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 584,000 deaths were ca used by malaria
in 2013 with an estimated 198 million new cases in the span of time1. Worldwide, the mortality rates associated with the
disease have fallen; however, a significant portion of deaths still primarily affect African children 1.

Traditional Microscopy as the Gold Standard. The recommended gold standard and primary method for evaluating blood
samples for malaria detection utilized around the world is the observation of Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood smears via
brightfield microscopy. This technique offers the ability to detect parasitemia associated with 5 –10 parasites in 1 μl of
blood2,3,4. Thick blood smears most commonly provide a positive or negative screening test to determine if the parasite is
present in a blood smear, while thin smears are most commonly used to determine the species of malari a infection. Thick
smears result in lysed red blood cells (RBCs), consist of larger volumes, and have greater parasite density as compared to th in
smears. For thin smears, white light microscopic imaging with a higher magnification and resolution is utiliz ed to identify the
species present and evaluate parasite morphology5. However, conventional white light microscopy often requires a clinical
laboratory structure in addition to trained microscopy technicians, which are both rare in regions where malaria is most
prevalent5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. Furthermore, current microscopy techniques results in a subjective measure, reported to
vary significantly, based on the training and equipment utilized by the expert microscopy technician 16,17. Thus, the need for
devices capable of malaria diagnosis in remote areas has led to the design and implementation of mobile health (mHealth)
based portable systems15.

Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Field Use. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have become widely used throughout the world and offer a
cheaper and less time consuming alternative for diagnosis of malaria using a finger-prick of blood