RenPhil is hiring a lead (Pb) detection fellow.

I probably should have put this in my linkpost earlier today, but also it’s important and exciting, so it gets its own post.

Renaissance Philanthropy - my employer - is hiring someone to lead design and scoping of a prize for a better blood lead level test. Exposure to lead can be incredibly deleterious to a child’s life outcomes; children who are exposed to lead earn less as adults, commit more crime, and die younger. But since lead has no tell-tale symptoms, people often don’t know that their child is exposed.

Testing for blood lead is currently inconvenient and sometimes expensive; even in the US, only about half of children who should receive a blood lead test actually do.¹

RenPhil envisions a future where lead testing is as accessible as a glucose test - cheap, rapid, and widely available. Success will mean that a lead test is developed that is:

• Non-invasive (capillary rather than venous blood)

• Affordable (<$3 per test)

• Accurate

• Deployable in non-clinical settings

We’re looking for someone to lead 3-month long design and scoping phase of an ambitious initiative combining milestone-based prizes and field building to accelerate the development of next-generation lead detection technology.

Apply here.

1. The situation in other countries is considerably worse. 2.5% of US children have elevated blood lead levels. About half of Indian, Pakistani, and Nigerian children do, as do three-quarters of Egyptian and 80% of Afghan children. Lead exposure is estimated to kill 1.5M people a year.