The researchers at the University of Notre Dame has been awarded USD 23 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their significant work in the field of health studies related to diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has honored the five-year project of biologists Neil Lobo and Nicole Achee.
Both the biologists have carried studies that aimed to show the effectiveness of a new method of mosquito control, called spatial repellency, in quelling the illnesses, the university said in a statement this week.
The Gates award is the second-largest to a single grant proposal at Notre Dame.
A World Health Organization (WHO) report says, about 207 million cases of malaria was reported in 2012. Apart from this, about 50 million to 100 million people get infected with dengue virus yearly.
Both malaria and dengue are transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Spatial repellents, such as coils or candles, release a material that drives mosquitoes away from enclosed areas.
