On 9 September 2021, the NWO-INSPiRED project was awarded the prestigious Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Innovation Prize in the domain diagnostics. The NTD Innovation Prize was launched in 2019 by American Leprosy Missions. It encourages and supports creativity and ingenuity within innovators who wish to solve the most pressing issues posed by NTDs.
Our winning proposal is built around the Schistoscope, a novel device that combines technical optics and specialised data-driven algorithms to realise an integrated, portable, reliable smart optical diagnostic system for schistosomiasis. The INSPiRED team is honoured to receive the award and $20,000. The award will allow the INSPiRED team to continue testing and evaluating the Schistoscope in primary schools in Nigeria and it will help with the implementation of the device in the local healthcare system.
