NEST360 is finalist for $100 million MacArthur grant

Life-saving program for African newborns makes final cut for 100&Change

NEST360°, a visionary 10-year effort to save the lives of 500,000 African babies per year, is a finalist for the MacArthur Foundation’s first $100 million 100&Change grant.

NEST360° is one of four 100&Change finalists named today by the foundation. One finalist will be awarded $100 million in December. The 100&Change competition, which began more than a year ago, aims to solve one of the world’s critical problems. The competition drew more than 1,900 applications, and eight semifinalists were selected in February.

NEST360°, an international effort by physicians, engineers, entrepreneurial and business leaders, is firmly rooted in Africa, a continent where more than 1 million babies die each year, mostly from preventable causes. The technology needed to save their lives has been available in the United States and most European countries for more than 50 years, but the equipment used in those countries is not built to last in the harsh environments of African hospitals.

NEST360, a finalist for the MacArthur Foundation’s first $100 million 100&Change grant, would catalyze continentwide change to end preventable newborn deaths in Africa. (Image courtesy of Rice 360°)

NEST360° will optimize and scale a package of these “newborn essential solutions and technologies” (NEST) for Africa, train health care workers to use NEST, work within African health care systems and markets to generate demand for NEST and create a distribution network to provide NEST continentwide. Within 10 years, NEST360° estimates it could reduce newborn death rates by 50 percent and save 500,000 lives per year at a cost of $1.48 per birth, which is less than the cost of some routine vaccines. In addition, NEST360° will work with African universities, medical schools and colleges to involve African engineers and entrepreneurs in the NEST transformation so they can sustain the change and transform other health sectors.

“Our team has worked together to improve newborn health for 12 years, and we have designed our program to be the lever that will catalyze continent-wide change,” said NEST360°’s Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a bioengineering professor and global health leader from Rice University. “Our 100&Change activities will generate proof — and more importantly belief — that a solution to the persistent challenge of poor outcomes for newborns is within reach. Not only will this save the lives of 500,000 newborn babies every year, it will create long-lasting systems change that can help solve other health care challenges both in Africa and beyond.”

NEST360°’s roots are in the east African nation of Malawi. Work began there a decade ago by Rice 360° Institute for Global Health to design simple technologies that keep babies warm, help them breathe, help doctors manage infection and solve other problems. In addition to Rice University, the NEST360° team includes partners from the University of Malawi, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and medical device-maker 3rd Stone Design of San Rafael, Calif.

For more information about the NEST360° team, technologies or plans, visit www.rice360.rice.edu/nest-360.