University of Washington engineering students have won an international contest for their design to monitor water disinfection using the sun's rays. The students will share a $40,000 prize from the Rockefeller Foundation and are now working with nonprofits to turn their concept into a reality.
Team member Jacqueline Linnes, who recently completed her bioengineering doctorate, traveled to Bolivia last year with the UW chapter of Engineers Without Borders. While there, she and other students treated their drinking water by leaving it in plastic bottles in the sun.
The concept is an old one. Solar disinfection of water in plastic bottles, also called SODIS, is promoted by many nonprofits. It offers a cheap and easy way to reduce some of the roughly 1.5 million diarrhea-related children's deaths each year. But global adoption has been slow, partly because it is hard to know when the water is safe to drink.
The UW entered a competition to design an indicator for Fundación SODIS, a Bolivia-based nonprofit dedicated to testing and promoting this method. Solar disinfection in water bottles removes more than 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, with results similar to chlorination.
The UW device lets users know when the sun's rays have done their job.
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
WHO plans to integrate world's traditional medicine in one database
Yojana Sharma of SciDev.net reports on the WHO initiative to set up a global database of traditional medicines, due in 2011.
The first global database documenting the effectiveness of traditional medicines, which are widely used as the first source of healthcare around the world, has been announced by the WHO.
The International Classification of Traditional Medicine will be set up in the first half of next year to document traditional medicines and, for the first time, provide effectiveness data based on common standards.
"A number of countries have databases on traditional medicine, but because there have been no international standards until now, the data could not be compared," said Molly Meri Robinson Nichol, a technical officer at the WHO. "Western medicine has a vast database on diseases, but we do not have that information on traditional medicine, which makes it impossible to make a statement on its effectiveness."
The first global database documenting the effectiveness of traditional medicines, which are widely used as the first source of healthcare around the world, has been announced by the WHO.
The International Classification of Traditional Medicine will be set up in the first half of next year to document traditional medicines and, for the first time, provide effectiveness data based on common standards.
"A number of countries have databases on traditional medicine, but because there have been no international standards until now, the data could not be compared," said Molly Meri Robinson Nichol, a technical officer at the WHO. "Western medicine has a vast database on diseases, but we do not have that information on traditional medicine, which makes it impossible to make a statement on its effectiveness."
Monday, November 22, 2010
Boston University researchers create novel rapid biosensor
The portable detector platform, comprising plasmonic nanohole arrays (PNAs), can be adapated for hospitals, malls, and airports
A team of researchers headed by Hatice Altug (ECE) and John Connor (Microbiology) has developed a novel biosensor that directly detects live viruses from biological samples even without sample preparation. They have reported on this breakthrough in the November 5 online edition of Nano Letters.
The biosensor comprises plasmonic nanohole arrays (PNAs), or arrays of apertures with diameters of about 250 to 350 nanometers on metallic films, that transmit light more strongly at certain wavelengths.
A live virus (e.g., Ebola, monkeypox, or smallpox virus) in blood or serum, for example, can bind to the sensor surface. A change in the effective refractive index in the close vicinity of the sensor will shift the resonance frequency of the light transmitted through the PNAs. The degree of this shift reveals the presence and the concentration of the virus in the solution.
A team of researchers headed by Hatice Altug (ECE) and John Connor (Microbiology) has developed a novel biosensor that directly detects live viruses from biological samples even without sample preparation. They have reported on this breakthrough in the November 5 online edition of Nano Letters.
The biosensor comprises plasmonic nanohole arrays (PNAs), or arrays of apertures with diameters of about 250 to 350 nanometers on metallic films, that transmit light more strongly at certain wavelengths.
A live virus (e.g., Ebola, monkeypox, or smallpox virus) in blood or serum, for example, can bind to the sensor surface. A change in the effective refractive index in the close vicinity of the sensor will shift the resonance frequency of the light transmitted through the PNAs. The degree of this shift reveals the presence and the concentration of the virus in the solution.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Symposium aims to place health systems as cornerstone in health research
The First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, organized by the WHO this week (16–19 November) in Montreux, Switzerland, aims to foster international studies on health systems. T.V. Padma reports on SciDev.Net.
The First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research is expected to establish health systems research as a "third pole" of health research, alongside biomedical and clinical research.
Research on how to improve health delivery and health outcomes has long been neglected and must be put on researchers' agendas, a WHO expert has said ahead of the first global meeting on such research.
Tim Evans, WHO's outgoing assistant director general for information, evidence and research, told SciDev.Net that scientific research is needed to ensure that everyone benefits from healthcare delivery.
The symposium aims to dispel the idea that healthcare delivery is a 'common sense' problem unrelated to high-quality science, said Evans, who chairs the meeting's steering committee.
The meeting is expected to be "a watershed" in sharing evidence on how to use science to accelerate health coverage, he added.
Over 1,300 researchers from 100 countries will gather to provide evidence-based information to policymakers on how to expand the reach of healthcare systems in developing countries.
The First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research is expected to establish health systems research as a "third pole" of health research, alongside biomedical and clinical research.
Research on how to improve health delivery and health outcomes has long been neglected and must be put on researchers' agendas, a WHO expert has said ahead of the first global meeting on such research.
Tim Evans, WHO's outgoing assistant director general for information, evidence and research, told SciDev.Net that scientific research is needed to ensure that everyone benefits from healthcare delivery.
The symposium aims to dispel the idea that healthcare delivery is a 'common sense' problem unrelated to high-quality science, said Evans, who chairs the meeting's steering committee.
The meeting is expected to be "a watershed" in sharing evidence on how to use science to accelerate health coverage, he added.
Over 1,300 researchers from 100 countries will gather to provide evidence-based information to policymakers on how to expand the reach of healthcare systems in developing countries.
WHO endorses MODS, NRI and CRI to assess TB in resource-limited settings
In a policy statement by the World Health Organization on July 2010, MODS, CRI, and NRA assays have been given the vote of confidence by the international agency for use by laboratory officials and health care providers for diagnosis of MDR-TB (multi-drug resistant tuberculosis) cases.
Colorimetric redox indicator (CRI) methods comprise growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in conventional culture. A microscopically observed drug susceptibility (MODS) assay comprises observing micro-colony growth and typical cord-formation of M. tuberculosis in sealed microtitre plates containing liquid culture medium, through an inverted microscope. Nitrate reductase assay (NRA), on the other hand, involves a direct test on smear-positive sputum specimens and an indirect test on M. tuberculosis isolates grown from conventional solid culture.
All three methods exhibit high specificity and sensitivity. These criteria, among others, have led the WHO to recommend the use of selected non-commercial culture and DST methods as an interim solution in resource-constrained settings, under clearly defined programmatic and operational conditions, while capacity for genotypic and/or automated liquid culture and DST are still being developed.
Reference: World Health Organization. 2010, July. Non-Commercial Culture And Drug-Susceptibility Testing Methods For Screening Of Patients At Risk Of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: Policy Statement. Retrieved November 15, 2010. Accessed at http://www.who.int/tb/dots/laboratory/whopolicy_noncommercialculture_and_dstmethods_july10.pdf.
Colorimetric redox indicator (CRI) methods comprise growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in conventional culture. A microscopically observed drug susceptibility (MODS) assay comprises observing micro-colony growth and typical cord-formation of M. tuberculosis in sealed microtitre plates containing liquid culture medium, through an inverted microscope. Nitrate reductase assay (NRA), on the other hand, involves a direct test on smear-positive sputum specimens and an indirect test on M. tuberculosis isolates grown from conventional solid culture.
All three methods exhibit high specificity and sensitivity. These criteria, among others, have led the WHO to recommend the use of selected non-commercial culture and DST methods as an interim solution in resource-constrained settings, under clearly defined programmatic and operational conditions, while capacity for genotypic and/or automated liquid culture and DST are still being developed.
Reference: World Health Organization. 2010, July. Non-Commercial Culture And Drug-Susceptibility Testing Methods For Screening Of Patients At Risk Of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: Policy Statement. Retrieved November 15, 2010. Accessed at http://www.who.int/tb/dots/laboratory/whopolicy_noncommercialculture_and_dstmethods_july10.pdf.
Mixed success in science for developing world, says UNESCO
Developing countries more than doubled their output of scientific publications between 2002 and 2008, but their share of patent applications remained extremely low. Mico Tatalovic reports on SciDev.Net.
The developing world's share of science publications rose from a fifth to nearly a third during this time, according to the 'UNESCO Science Report 2010: Current Status of Science around the World'.
The report, published today (10 November), assessed the number of publications recorded in Thomson Reuters' Science Citation Index between 2002 and 2008, during which the total number of global science publications increased by around 35 per cent.
Much of the increase in the developing world is because of the growth of Brazil, China and India. The report found that least developed countries (LDCs), a subset of developing countries, have also increased their publications output — by 80 per cent. But this is from the starting point of 2,000 papers a year, compared with the total developing country output of 165,000 papers, and thus represents only 0.4 per cent of the world's total output.
The developing world's share of science publications rose from a fifth to nearly a third during this time, according to the 'UNESCO Science Report 2010: Current Status of Science around the World'.
The report, published today (10 November), assessed the number of publications recorded in Thomson Reuters' Science Citation Index between 2002 and 2008, during which the total number of global science publications increased by around 35 per cent.
Much of the increase in the developing world is because of the growth of Brazil, China and India. The report found that least developed countries (LDCs), a subset of developing countries, have also increased their publications output — by 80 per cent. But this is from the starting point of 2,000 papers a year, compared with the total developing country output of 165,000 papers, and thus represents only 0.4 per cent of the world's total output.
Why has the Global Forum for Health Research collapsed?
Poor countries striving to improve their health systems deserve better than the unexplained implosion of the Global Forum for Health Research. Beverly Peterson Stearns reports on SciDev.Net.
Barely a year ago nearly 1,000 people from 80 countries gathered enthusiastically at the Palacio de Convenciones in Havana, Cuba, under the banner 'Innovating for the health of all'. More than half came from low- and middle-income countries. They were attending the annual meeting of the non-profit organisation the Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR), eager to hear about inventive and effective ways to conduct research, and urgently seeking to improve health in their countries.
Now, less than a year after taking office, the forum's executive director, Anthony Mbewu, has resigned, and the forum itself is in failing health. The prognosis is poor. Very few remain in its Geneva secretariat. Many employees have quit, been fired, or have retired early.
Time for explanations
Why did this international organisation, set up in 1998, founder so spectacularly and so quickly when the need for health research remains so great? More importantly, what now are the prospects for ordinary people in developing countries? They pinned their hopes on local leaders in health and research who, in turn, sought guidance from experts at the annual forums.
South Africa's Sunday Times, which reported Mbewu's resignation on 31 October, said that his appointment as head of the forum had drawn criticism from HIV/AIDS activists. They had charged Mbewu, the former president of South Africa's Medical Research Council, with supporting the Mbeki government's denial of HIV and AIDS.
But in Havana the controversy was largely unrecognised. Mbewu responded to a reporter's question about the criticisms saying, "I'm a researcher, not an activist." At the time, that seemed a sufficient answer for his fellow health researchers too. They seemed satisfied that Mbewu's appointment by the forum — a respected organisation originally set up under the auspices of the WHO — meant his qualifications had been well-vetted.
A year on, many of the health leaders and researchers who gathered in Havana will convene in Montreux, Switzerland, at the First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (16–19 November). Will any of them probe the GFHR's collapse — or will they politely not mention it?
The Foundation Council, the forum's policy- and decision-making body, should bear responsibility for explaining what has happened to this small but once-vibrant organisation, to which so many from developing countries looked for guidance. But the responsibility is not theirs alone. The entire health research community has a duty to not turn a blind eye to the forum's failure.
A betrayal of trust?
I was in Havana as a freelance writer drafting a report on that meeting, similar to others I wrote for the Forum about previous meetings in Mexico City (2004), Mumbai (2005), Cairo, (2006), Beijing (2007) and Bamako (2008). The great strength of these annual meetings was making well-known health researchers, public health experts, economists and innovators accessible to the people who need their help the most.
The meetings were moved each year to a new venue. That allowed field workers, students, community physicians and academics in some of the world's poorest countries to attend. There were a few large plenary sessions and many small group sessions that encouraged interaction. Even people without computers could be part of this network.
Impressive young people from poor countries sat in discussion groups next to rich entrepreneurs, respected academics and government decision-makers, all talking about problems held in common. I listened with growing optimism that progress in global health could come through collaboration that reached across the divides of poverty, borders, and politics.
The meetings' official programmes highlighted the Millennium Development Goals; combating disease and poverty; equitable access; capacity building and health systems; and innovation.
But discussions ranged much further and deeper, covering subjects some countries would rather not have highlighted: an obesity epidemic in Mexico, crushing poverty in India, female genital mutilation in Egypt, HIV/AIDS in China, counterfeit drugs in Africa, and embargoes and naturopathic medicines in Cuba. Each annual meeting was, in the fullest sense of the word, a forum.
I was astonished by how quickly and quietly the health of the GFAR deteriorated. I heard reports as the staff diminished. I read that employees were bringing lawsuits alleging unfair dismissal. Gill Samuels, chair of the forum's 20-member foundation council, confirmed in an email to me that Mbewu had resigned. But she denied that there are legal cases pending. "Nothing else to add at the moment," she wrote in answer to my query.
Nothing to add? I hope there will soon be a considerable amount to add. Samuels, who comes from the pharmaceutical industry, and the others who sit on the council and come from foundations, universities, governments and institutes, are responsible for appointing the director and overseeing the forum's budget and plan of action.
Their explanations — or lack of them — will affect the credibility not only of the forum, but of any existing or future organisation seeking the trust of researchers and of those depending on them.
Beverly Peterson Stearns is a freelance writer and author. She lives in the United States.
Reference: Stearns, B. 2010. Why has the Global Forum for Health Research collapsed? Retrieved November 15, 2010. Accessed at SciDev.Net's website at: http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/why-has-the-global-forum-for-health-research-collapsed-.html.
Barely a year ago nearly 1,000 people from 80 countries gathered enthusiastically at the Palacio de Convenciones in Havana, Cuba, under the banner 'Innovating for the health of all'. More than half came from low- and middle-income countries. They were attending the annual meeting of the non-profit organisation the Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR), eager to hear about inventive and effective ways to conduct research, and urgently seeking to improve health in their countries.
Now, less than a year after taking office, the forum's executive director, Anthony Mbewu, has resigned, and the forum itself is in failing health. The prognosis is poor. Very few remain in its Geneva secretariat. Many employees have quit, been fired, or have retired early.
Time for explanations
Why did this international organisation, set up in 1998, founder so spectacularly and so quickly when the need for health research remains so great? More importantly, what now are the prospects for ordinary people in developing countries? They pinned their hopes on local leaders in health and research who, in turn, sought guidance from experts at the annual forums.
South Africa's Sunday Times, which reported Mbewu's resignation on 31 October, said that his appointment as head of the forum had drawn criticism from HIV/AIDS activists. They had charged Mbewu, the former president of South Africa's Medical Research Council, with supporting the Mbeki government's denial of HIV and AIDS.
But in Havana the controversy was largely unrecognised. Mbewu responded to a reporter's question about the criticisms saying, "I'm a researcher, not an activist." At the time, that seemed a sufficient answer for his fellow health researchers too. They seemed satisfied that Mbewu's appointment by the forum — a respected organisation originally set up under the auspices of the WHO — meant his qualifications had been well-vetted.
A year on, many of the health leaders and researchers who gathered in Havana will convene in Montreux, Switzerland, at the First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (16–19 November). Will any of them probe the GFHR's collapse — or will they politely not mention it?
The Foundation Council, the forum's policy- and decision-making body, should bear responsibility for explaining what has happened to this small but once-vibrant organisation, to which so many from developing countries looked for guidance. But the responsibility is not theirs alone. The entire health research community has a duty to not turn a blind eye to the forum's failure.
A betrayal of trust?
I was in Havana as a freelance writer drafting a report on that meeting, similar to others I wrote for the Forum about previous meetings in Mexico City (2004), Mumbai (2005), Cairo, (2006), Beijing (2007) and Bamako (2008). The great strength of these annual meetings was making well-known health researchers, public health experts, economists and innovators accessible to the people who need their help the most.
The meetings were moved each year to a new venue. That allowed field workers, students, community physicians and academics in some of the world's poorest countries to attend. There were a few large plenary sessions and many small group sessions that encouraged interaction. Even people without computers could be part of this network.
Impressive young people from poor countries sat in discussion groups next to rich entrepreneurs, respected academics and government decision-makers, all talking about problems held in common. I listened with growing optimism that progress in global health could come through collaboration that reached across the divides of poverty, borders, and politics.
The meetings' official programmes highlighted the Millennium Development Goals; combating disease and poverty; equitable access; capacity building and health systems; and innovation.
But discussions ranged much further and deeper, covering subjects some countries would rather not have highlighted: an obesity epidemic in Mexico, crushing poverty in India, female genital mutilation in Egypt, HIV/AIDS in China, counterfeit drugs in Africa, and embargoes and naturopathic medicines in Cuba. Each annual meeting was, in the fullest sense of the word, a forum.
I was astonished by how quickly and quietly the health of the GFAR deteriorated. I heard reports as the staff diminished. I read that employees were bringing lawsuits alleging unfair dismissal. Gill Samuels, chair of the forum's 20-member foundation council, confirmed in an email to me that Mbewu had resigned. But she denied that there are legal cases pending. "Nothing else to add at the moment," she wrote in answer to my query.
Nothing to add? I hope there will soon be a considerable amount to add. Samuels, who comes from the pharmaceutical industry, and the others who sit on the council and come from foundations, universities, governments and institutes, are responsible for appointing the director and overseeing the forum's budget and plan of action.
Their explanations — or lack of them — will affect the credibility not only of the forum, but of any existing or future organisation seeking the trust of researchers and of those depending on them.
Beverly Peterson Stearns is a freelance writer and author. She lives in the United States.
Reference: Stearns, B. 2010. Why has the Global Forum for Health Research collapsed? Retrieved November 15, 2010. Accessed at SciDev.Net's website at: http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/why-has-the-global-forum-for-health-research-collapsed-.html.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
New incentives offered for solutions to current biomedical challenges
Innocentive, an open innovation company, has opened up new challenges in the field of biomedicine on its website. Among them are to find:
If you or your laboratory are planning or currently working on brilliant solutions to these challenges, you have a big chance to win 10,000-50,000 US dollars, or even up to 1,000,000 US dollars.
- urinary biomarkers for lupus nephritis
- novel therapeutic concepts to treat cancer
- novel detection technologies for cellular metabolites
- non-destructive delivery of macromolecules to live tissues
- predictive models for segmentation of populations (for applications in clinical trials for drug development)
- strategies to maintain fully differentiated human primary renal proximal tubular epithelial cells
- strategies for differentiation of renal proximal tubular cells from hES or hiPS cells
If you or your laboratory are planning or currently working on brilliant solutions to these challenges, you have a big chance to win 10,000-50,000 US dollars, or even up to 1,000,000 US dollars.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Companies join forces in war on disease
As complex diseases grow more expensive to treat, and treatments increasingly expensive to develop, more companies may be looking at an innovative model set up last year by two of the biggest of Big Pharma.
Last November, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Pfizer created ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture focusing on the research, development and commercialisation of HIV medicines. Pfizer's chief executive, Jeff Kindler, said ViiV had the capability to “reach more patients and accomplish much more for the treatment of HIV globally than either company on its own”. The new joint venture will use revenue from its existing HIV treatments, which totalled some £1.6 billion (US$2.38 billion) in 2008, to support investment in its pipeline and programmes.
Last November, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Pfizer created ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture focusing on the research, development and commercialisation of HIV medicines. Pfizer's chief executive, Jeff Kindler, said ViiV had the capability to “reach more patients and accomplish much more for the treatment of HIV globally than either company on its own”. The new joint venture will use revenue from its existing HIV treatments, which totalled some £1.6 billion (US$2.38 billion) in 2008, to support investment in its pipeline and programmes.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Organizational Meeting 2nd Video
Organizational Meeting of Country Coordinators
Pan Pacific Manila, Philippines
October 21, 2009
Pan Pacific Manila, Philippines
October 21, 2009
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Organizational Meeting 1st Video
Organizational Meeting of Country Coordinators
Pan Pacific Manila, Philippines
October 21, 2009
Pan Pacific Manila, Philippines
October 21, 2009
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
MRSA-lysing paint for hospital walls
Building on an enzyme found in nature, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a nanoscale coating for surgical equipment, hospital walls, and other surfaces which safely eradicates methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the bacteria responsible for antibiotic resistant infections.
In tests, 100 percent of MRSA in solution were killed within 20 minutes of contact with a surface painted with latex paint laced with the coating.
The new coating marries carbon nanotubes with lysostaphin, a naturally occurring enzyme used by non-pathogenic strains of Staph bacteria to defend against Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA. The resulting nanotube-enzyme "conjugate" can be mixed with any number of surface finishes — in tests, it was mixed with ordinary latex house paint.
In tests, 100 percent of MRSA in solution were killed within 20 minutes of contact with a surface painted with latex paint laced with the coating.
The new coating marries carbon nanotubes with lysostaphin, a naturally occurring enzyme used by non-pathogenic strains of Staph bacteria to defend against Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA. The resulting nanotube-enzyme "conjugate" can be mixed with any number of surface finishes — in tests, it was mixed with ordinary latex house paint.
Zooming into this wormy world
A set of informational maps displaying prevalence and distribution of worm infections in each African country was launched 17 August. This Wormy World, with URL at www.thiswormyworld.org, is the first of a series of Global Atlas of Helminth Infections that provides an open-access, free information resource vital for planning and implementation of deworming programs.
This Wormy World identifies areas in a country that most urgently require mass treatment to control infection and predicts the risk of infection in areas where data is lacking. The Global Atlas of Helminth Infections has been produced by an international collaboration lead by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Partnership for Child Development at Imperial College London. For a decade, the group has been gathering survey data to describe the distribution and prevalence of worm infection.
This Wormy World identifies areas in a country that most urgently require mass treatment to control infection and predicts the risk of infection in areas where data is lacking. The Global Atlas of Helminth Infections has been produced by an international collaboration lead by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Partnership for Child Development at Imperial College London. For a decade, the group has been gathering survey data to describe the distribution and prevalence of worm infection.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Promoting a reward scheme for public health innovation
Will offering a hefty cash prize to inventing entities bring more innovative strategies to long-standing world challenges? Some say it will, and indeed it has. A recent Economist article cited a burgeoning sector in the private commercial air-space service after the successful $10M Ansari X prize was given out in 2004.
Such a reward scheme has been a practice since 1714 in Britain. The question begs, will it work in the public health sector? It remains to be seen, such as with the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC)'s $1.5-billion challenge to beef up production of pneumococcal vaccines to supply developing countries.
Further, why not come up with a parallel punishment mechanism? If research institutes are so adamant in requesting for initial funding, why have we not seen such eagerness to promote their supposed output? I wonder.
References:
1. The Economist. (2010, August 5). And the winner is…
2. PneumoAction.
3. The Global Health Case Study Initiative.
4. WHO Bulletin. (2008, May 5). Controversial funding mechanism to fight pneumonia.
Such a reward scheme has been a practice since 1714 in Britain. The question begs, will it work in the public health sector? It remains to be seen, such as with the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC)'s $1.5-billion challenge to beef up production of pneumococcal vaccines to supply developing countries.
Further, why not come up with a parallel punishment mechanism? If research institutes are so adamant in requesting for initial funding, why have we not seen such eagerness to promote their supposed output? I wonder.
References:
1. The Economist. (2010, August 5). And the winner is…
2. PneumoAction.
3. The Global Health Case Study Initiative.
4. WHO Bulletin. (2008, May 5). Controversial funding mechanism to fight pneumonia.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
AIDS 2010 Session: The Search for an HIV Vaccine
The Search for an HIV Vaccine
Where Are We, Where Are We Going, and How Can We Get There Faster?
session transcript (pdf): The Search for an HIV Vaccine
This AIDS 2010 satellite features expert discussion on recent progress and future directions in HIV vaccine research and development. The session includes:
* a review of the last 25 years of HIV vaccine research and development;
* a panel discussion on the progress that's been made including discussions on next steps following the RV144 Thai prime-boost study results and in developing the next generation of vaccine candidates for testing;
*an update on the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Scientific Strategic Plan for the field; and
*a panel discussion on the way forward, which will consider some of the cross-cutting considerations such as industry engagement, developing world infrastructure, community engagement, opportunities for young and early-career investigators, mobilizing resources and building clinical trial and regulatory capacity.
Where Are We, Where Are We Going, and How Can We Get There Faster?
session transcript (pdf): The Search for an HIV Vaccine
This AIDS 2010 satellite features expert discussion on recent progress and future directions in HIV vaccine research and development. The session includes:
* a review of the last 25 years of HIV vaccine research and development;
* a panel discussion on the progress that's been made including discussions on next steps following the RV144 Thai prime-boost study results and in developing the next generation of vaccine candidates for testing;
*an update on the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Scientific Strategic Plan for the field; and
*a panel discussion on the way forward, which will consider some of the cross-cutting considerations such as industry engagement, developing world infrastructure, community engagement, opportunities for young and early-career investigators, mobilizing resources and building clinical trial and regulatory capacity.
Online coverage of XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna
The International AIDS Society partners with Kaiser Family Foundation to offer daily, comprehensive coverage of the ongoing conference for free. Worldwide online access to the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) taking place in Vienna, Austria on July 18-23, 2010 includes daily webcasts, live coverage, podcasts and news recaps.
Kaiser, an independent operating foundation and non-partisan source of facts, information, and analysis, based in Menlo Park, CA, USA, is the official webcaster for AIDS 2010, providing daily coverage of conference developments on its website, http://www.kff.org/aids2010.
Kaiser, an independent operating foundation and non-partisan source of facts, information, and analysis, based in Menlo Park, CA, USA, is the official webcaster for AIDS 2010, providing daily coverage of conference developments on its website, http://www.kff.org/aids2010.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
US NIH Funds 10 International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Courtesy: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
In an effort to accelerate the control of malaria and help eliminate it worldwide, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced approximately $14 million in first-year funding to establish 10 new malaria research centers around the world.
The seven-year awards will establish the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMRs) in regions where malaria is endemic, including parts of Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands and Latin America. These regions include some of the focus countries of the President’s Malaria Initiative, an effort that since 2005 has worked to fight malaria in the regions most affected by the disease. Infection by malaria-causing parasites results in approximately 240 million cases around the globe annually, and cause more than 850,000 deaths each year. Teams of scientists involved in the ICEMR program will be conducting research in more than 20 countries.
“One of our primary goals with these centers is to fund cutting-edge research in malaria-endemic areas that will keep up with the rapidly changing epidemiology of the disease,” says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
Malaria has been eliminated from many parts of the globe, but 40 percent of the world’s population still live in areas where they are at risk for contracting the disease. According to Lee Hall, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Parasitology and International Programs Branch in NIAID, sustainable and effective malaria control requires research in multiple settings on the complex interactions among the parasite, the mosquito vector, the local ecology and the human host.
“The ICEMR program seeks to address this need by creating a network of multidisciplinary research centers in malaria-endemic settings,” Dr. Hall says. “The centers aim to generate critical knowledge, tools and evidence-based strategies to support intervention and control programs by government organizations and health care institutions.”
The centers will integrate clinical and field approaches with laboratory-based immunologic, molecular and genomic methods. They will adapt their research to changes in malaria epidemiology and emerging research needs as well as opportunities within the specific regions. Their findings are expected to help inform how new interventions and control strategies are designed and evaluated in the future.
Each center will:
* Design and conduct multidisciplinary research on the epidemiology, transmission and pathogenesis of malaria in endemic geographic regions
* Design and conduct special projects to capitalize on new opportunities and emerging public health needs
* Develop and conduct training and career development programs for researchers from malaria-endemic areas
Overall, these centers are expected to bring critical infrastructure to these endemic regions and help build training and research capacity to combat malaria worldwide.
The principal investigators selected to establish the ICEMRs are as follows:
Malaria Transmission and the Impact of Control Efforts in Southern Africa
Principal Investigator: Peter Agre, M.D.
Lead Institution: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India
Principal Investigator: Jane Carlton, Ph. D.
Lead Institution: New York University School of Medicine, New York City
Southeast Asia Malaria Research Center
Principal Investigator: Liwang Cui, Ph.D.
Lead Institution: Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Program for Resistance, Immunology, Surveillance & Modeling of Malaria in Uganda
Principal Investigator: Matthew Dorsey, M.D.
Lead Institution: University of California, San Francisco
Latin American Center for Malaria Research and Control
Principal Investigator: Socrates Herrera-Valencia, M.D.
Lead Institution: Caucaseo Scientific Research Center, Cali, Colombia
Research to Control and Eliminate Malaria in SE Asia and SW Pacific
Principal Investigator: James Kazura, M.D.
Lead Institution: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland
Population-based Approach to Malaria Research and Control in West Africa
Principal Investigator: Donald Krogstad, M.D.
Lead Institution: Tulane University, New Orleans
Malaria Evolution in South Asia
Principal Investigator: Pradipsinh Rathod, Ph. D.
Lead Institution: University of Washington, Seattle
Determinants of Malaria Disease in Malawi
Principal Investigator: Terrie Taylor, D.O.
Lead Institution: Michigan State University, East Lansing
Peruvian/Brazilian Amazon Center of Excellence in Malaria
Principal Investigator: Joseph Vinetz, M.D.
Lead Institution: University of California, San Diego
Courtesy: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
In an effort to accelerate the control of malaria and help eliminate it worldwide, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced approximately $14 million in first-year funding to establish 10 new malaria research centers around the world.
The seven-year awards will establish the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMRs) in regions where malaria is endemic, including parts of Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands and Latin America. These regions include some of the focus countries of the President’s Malaria Initiative, an effort that since 2005 has worked to fight malaria in the regions most affected by the disease. Infection by malaria-causing parasites results in approximately 240 million cases around the globe annually, and cause more than 850,000 deaths each year. Teams of scientists involved in the ICEMR program will be conducting research in more than 20 countries.
“One of our primary goals with these centers is to fund cutting-edge research in malaria-endemic areas that will keep up with the rapidly changing epidemiology of the disease,” says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
Malaria has been eliminated from many parts of the globe, but 40 percent of the world’s population still live in areas where they are at risk for contracting the disease. According to Lee Hall, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Parasitology and International Programs Branch in NIAID, sustainable and effective malaria control requires research in multiple settings on the complex interactions among the parasite, the mosquito vector, the local ecology and the human host.
“The ICEMR program seeks to address this need by creating a network of multidisciplinary research centers in malaria-endemic settings,” Dr. Hall says. “The centers aim to generate critical knowledge, tools and evidence-based strategies to support intervention and control programs by government organizations and health care institutions.”
The centers will integrate clinical and field approaches with laboratory-based immunologic, molecular and genomic methods. They will adapt their research to changes in malaria epidemiology and emerging research needs as well as opportunities within the specific regions. Their findings are expected to help inform how new interventions and control strategies are designed and evaluated in the future.
Each center will:
* Design and conduct multidisciplinary research on the epidemiology, transmission and pathogenesis of malaria in endemic geographic regions
* Design and conduct special projects to capitalize on new opportunities and emerging public health needs
* Develop and conduct training and career development programs for researchers from malaria-endemic areas
Overall, these centers are expected to bring critical infrastructure to these endemic regions and help build training and research capacity to combat malaria worldwide.
The principal investigators selected to establish the ICEMRs are as follows:
Malaria Transmission and the Impact of Control Efforts in Southern Africa
Principal Investigator: Peter Agre, M.D.
Lead Institution: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India
Principal Investigator: Jane Carlton, Ph. D.
Lead Institution: New York University School of Medicine, New York City
Southeast Asia Malaria Research Center
Principal Investigator: Liwang Cui, Ph.D.
Lead Institution: Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Program for Resistance, Immunology, Surveillance & Modeling of Malaria in Uganda
Principal Investigator: Matthew Dorsey, M.D.
Lead Institution: University of California, San Francisco
Latin American Center for Malaria Research and Control
Principal Investigator: Socrates Herrera-Valencia, M.D.
Lead Institution: Caucaseo Scientific Research Center, Cali, Colombia
Research to Control and Eliminate Malaria in SE Asia and SW Pacific
Principal Investigator: James Kazura, M.D.
Lead Institution: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland
Population-based Approach to Malaria Research and Control in West Africa
Principal Investigator: Donald Krogstad, M.D.
Lead Institution: Tulane University, New Orleans
Malaria Evolution in South Asia
Principal Investigator: Pradipsinh Rathod, Ph. D.
Lead Institution: University of Washington, Seattle
Determinants of Malaria Disease in Malawi
Principal Investigator: Terrie Taylor, D.O.
Lead Institution: Michigan State University, East Lansing
Peruvian/Brazilian Amazon Center of Excellence in Malaria
Principal Investigator: Joseph Vinetz, M.D.
Lead Institution: University of California, San Diego
Philippine FDA reminds consumers against herbals without label
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Manila issued an advisory on July 06 against herbal products having no labels.
Ang FDA ay nakatanggap ng mga salaysay o reklamo ukol sa paggamit ng mga PRODUKTONG HERBAL NA WALANG LABEL na nagdulot ng masamang epekto sa tao. Ang publiko ay pinaaalalahanan na mag-ingat at huwag uninom o gumamit ng mga produktong ito (FDA has received complaints regarding unlabeled herbal products. Everyone is reminded to be wary and not to take these products)," according to Advisory 2010-007 signed by FDA Director Nazarita Tacandong.
Further, the advisory warns the public that products not registered with FDA may have no proof of safety or scientific basis of therapeutic effect. "Hindi rehistrado sa FDA ang mga produktong herbal na ito kung kaya walang siyentipikong pagsasaliksik at dokumentadong mga patunay na ligtas at epektibo ang paggamit nito".
This comes a month since FDA in Manila has given full support to Administrative Order 2010-0008 of the Department of Health (DOH), which informed the public that food/dietary supplements are not drugs and should not be used to treat disease.
In requiring manufacturers to translate "No Approved Therapeutic Claims" into Filipino in herbal product labels, the herbal industry through CHIPI (Chamber of Industries of the Philippines, Inc) immediately filed a petition before the Manila Regional Trial Court. Judge Lucia Purugganan then issued a preliminary injunction order to temporarily stop the DOH directive and maintain the status quo until the issue will have been resolved by the two parties.
Read DOH-FDA Advisory 2010-007
Ang FDA ay nakatanggap ng mga salaysay o reklamo ukol sa paggamit ng mga PRODUKTONG HERBAL NA WALANG LABEL na nagdulot ng masamang epekto sa tao. Ang publiko ay pinaaalalahanan na mag-ingat at huwag uninom o gumamit ng mga produktong ito (FDA has received complaints regarding unlabeled herbal products. Everyone is reminded to be wary and not to take these products)," according to Advisory 2010-007 signed by FDA Director Nazarita Tacandong.
Further, the advisory warns the public that products not registered with FDA may have no proof of safety or scientific basis of therapeutic effect. "Hindi rehistrado sa FDA ang mga produktong herbal na ito kung kaya walang siyentipikong pagsasaliksik at dokumentadong mga patunay na ligtas at epektibo ang paggamit nito".
This comes a month since FDA in Manila has given full support to Administrative Order 2010-0008 of the Department of Health (DOH), which informed the public that food/dietary supplements are not drugs and should not be used to treat disease.
In requiring manufacturers to translate "No Approved Therapeutic Claims" into Filipino in herbal product labels, the herbal industry through CHIPI (Chamber of Industries of the Philippines, Inc) immediately filed a petition before the Manila Regional Trial Court. Judge Lucia Purugganan then issued a preliminary injunction order to temporarily stop the DOH directive and maintain the status quo until the issue will have been resolved by the two parties.
Read DOH-FDA Advisory 2010-007
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
aseandi.org goes online
The website-database of ASEANDI (ASEAN Network for Drugs, Diagnostics, and Vaccine Innovation) was launched online last July 06, 2010. The website, aseandi.org, contains recent information on research activities in the ASEAN region on infectious and tropical diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, dengue, trichosomiasis, among others.
Meanwhile, watch out for the upcoming ASEAN-wide stakeholders meeting where research producers, funders, and regulators come together to discuss the business plan and general direction of ASEANDI. More news in the coming weeks.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Philippine tech transfer act signed into law
The Office of the Philippine President has officially enacted RA 10055 (An Act Providing the Framework and Support System for the Ownership, Management, Use, and Commercialization of Intellectual Property Generated from Research and Development Funded by Government and for Other Purposes), or simply the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009. It was signed by President Arroyo last March 23,2010 at the Malacanang Palace.
The law stipulates the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, and all related agencies to come up with implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to establish the system for technology transfer in the Philippines.
Said act will enable government-funded researches by local public and private R&D institutions to have government-aided commercialization prospects through the creation of a Technology Licensing Office. The law also encourages all R&D institutions to set up their own tech transfer units.
read its entire length: Republic Act 10055 (pdf)
The law stipulates the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, and all related agencies to come up with implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to establish the system for technology transfer in the Philippines.
Said act will enable government-funded researches by local public and private R&D institutions to have government-aided commercialization prospects through the creation of a Technology Licensing Office. The law also encourages all R&D institutions to set up their own tech transfer units.
read its entire length: Republic Act 10055 (pdf)
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