Skip Navigation

Health: Infectious diseases

Links

Research initiatives/academic groups

Displaying 1-11 of 11 links

African Malaria Network Trust

AMANET promotes capacity building in African research and training institutes that specialise in malaria studies. Its objectives include promoting collaboration among stakeholders, creating international awareness about the malaria problem in Africa, identifying test sites, developing infrastructure and support for field and clinical trials, and increasing good management practices in malaria research. AMANET produces a biannual online newsletter to disseminate research findings and grant and workshop calls. It also hosts a discussion forum for registered members.

African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA)

The AMMA programme aims to study how the West African monsoon affects meningitis and malaria epidemics. While it focuses on one weather system, the climate factors it looks at can be generalised to other environments. For example, it examines how wind, dust, rainfall, temperature and humidity, amongst others, affect mosquito density and malaria or meningitis epidemics in people. The website also offers a key resource for researchers in the form of an open-access bibliographic database containing more than 250 scientific articles.

Alliance for Microbicide Development

The Alliance for Microbicide Development brings together pharmaceutical companies, non-profit research institutions and advocacy groups dedicated to the development of topical microbicides. A major highlight of its website is the new Microbicides Research and Development Database. This contains detailed information on the status of individual microbicide products, principle investigators and trial locations. (Free registration is needed for access, and some information is restricted). There is also an excellent weekly digest of news relating to microbicides reserach and development, and the Microbicide Quarterly, which has meeting reports, interviews and expert-authored articles on all areas from basic research to clinical and regulatory issues.

Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP)

This website publishes information from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), which aims to use research to improve decision-making on global, regional and country-specific health problems. Research areas include antibiotic resistance, malaria and environmental health. The website provides free access to data, tools and statistics on its specific research areas; it also publishes information about specific projects publications, events as well as a blog which is regularly updated with health policy news.

Climate and Health Information Exchange (CHIEX)

CHIEX investigates how climate variability affects human health in the tropical Americas. It runs projects in Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico and Venezuela, and focuses specifically on the spread of dengue fever and malaria in these countries. These projects have practical implications; for example, a study in Cuba led to the development of a "bioclimatological" monitoring system that uses climatic predictions to prevent and control disease.

Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative

Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative is an independent non-profit collaboration between organisations including the Ministry of Health of Malaysia, and Médecins sans Frontières that focuses on developing drugs for neglected diseases, such as leishmaniasis.

DNDi harnesses existing research and development capacity to develop these drugs, and ensures they are accessible to the developing world.

There are extensive links to articles, publications and conference reports, many available for downloading, and a petition to support DNDi in its call to governments around the world to do more for neglected diseases.

Influenza Virus Resource

The Influenza Virus Resource, published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), presents gene sequence data from the 2009 A(H1N1) influenza virus, or 'swine flu', outbreak and tools for analysis and annotation. It aims to help scientists compare virus strains so that emerging variations can be more quickly identified and appropriate vaccines developed.

The NCBI site also links to other resources hosting flu sequences, relevant publications and general information about flu viruses, including flu epidemics and flu virus biology.

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

The IRD is a French public science and technology research institute that conducts research, consultancy and training towards supporting sustainable development in developing countries. The main interest focuses on the relationship between people and the environment, including diseases such as malaria. The IRD website can be read in either French or English, and has background information and press releases on its research activities, and a list of sponsored research centres throughout Central Africa.

Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM)

The Institute of Tropical Medicine provides training and research into tropical medicine and veterinary health care in developing countries. Its activities include studies on disease control and healthcare systems, education, clinical care, and support for governments and institutions involved in human and animal health. The website provides information about the institute's activities, including research in biomedical sciences, public health and clinical sciences. It also provides access to information about diagnostic supplies, and to resources such as blogs, networks and meetings about global health.

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM): Centre on Global Change and Health

This LSHTM centre collaborates on projects with the WHO and is the hub for several projects on the health effects of climate change. There is little in the way of background information but the site distils the key points and offers summaries of its own research.

One project looks at the global burden of disease associated with climate change, another is doing a multi-sectoral assessment of the worldwide impact of climate change. LSHTM researchers have published extensively on health and climate change — they were among the first in the world to do so — and the site contains a useful list of these publications.

The Institute of Human Virology

The Institute of Human Virology, in Maryland, United States, is a multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to finding new treatments and vaccines for HIV, hepatitis C, and other diseases. Its main focus is basic and clinical HIV/AIDS research, including vaccine development. The website is well organised with information and links to collaborators around the world, as well as a list of clinical trials.