FUNDING ORGANIZATION	RESEARCH ORGANIZATION	PROGRAM	DIRECTOR	CITY	COUNTRY	ABSTRACT
	EC	THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH (NIMR)	AFRICAN VECTOR CONTROL: NEW TOOLS	MAGESA, STEPHEN	DAR ES SALAAM	TANZANIA	View
The AvecNet consortium will develop practical solutions to the current limitations of vector control strategies in Africa using a combination of translationally-aware, state of the art science and end user analysis to ensure successful development and uptake of the new and improved approaches to malaria control and elimination. Our carefully balanced, multidisciplinary team of European and African experts includes vector biologists, engineers, epidemiologists, social scientists and leaders of large supranational consortia. These partners are all prominent members of global vector control research programs having unique specialization in Africa-centric projects. Together we have developed a proposal focused specifically to address the three major research challenges that confront efforts to interrupt mosquito-mediated transmission of malaria in Africa: 1. The need for practical strategies to prolong the efficacy of existing insecticide-based vector control methods, 2.The need to develop new interventions that target all major malaria vectors, that are simultaneously effective, socially acceptable and sustainable, 3. The impact of the major demographic and environmental changes occurring in Africa on malaria epidemiology and control. These research activities are cross-linked by specific tasks to reinforce our commitment to ensure sustainability, engage all stakeholders and strengthen research capacity in Africa. Overall, the project will add significant value to the international research effort in vector control by taking forward the state of the art and translating this into new or improved control tools that will be trialled within the time frame of this project. The studies planned in this collaborative project will provide scalable solutions, giving the solid platform upon which ongoing and future vector control programmes can be built.
	EC	THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH (NIMR)	DISSECTING THE IMMUNOLOGICAL INTERPLAY BETWEEN POVERTY RELATED DISEASES AND HELMINTH INFECTIONS: AN AFRICAN-EUROPEAN RESEARCH INITIATIVE	HOELSCHER, MICHAEL	DAR ES SALAAM	TANZANIA	View
Worm infections are receiving increased attention due to: the wide geographic overlap in occurrence between worms and HIV, TB and malaria; the large proportion of individuals (minimal estimates around 25%) co-infected with worms and HIV/TB/ malaria; the potential risk of increasing disease burden; the very limited understanding of the impact by worm infections on HIV-, TB- and malaria-specific immune responses and on their clinical outcome; the lack of established intervention guidelines for treatment of worm infections; and the scarce information on the impact by worm infections on vaccination and vaccine-induced immune responses. In order to address these complex and challenging scientific issues, IDEA project will focus its efforts on four primary objectives: a) the worm-induced modulation of the functional and molecular profile of HIV-, TB- and malaria-specific immune responses, b) the impact by worm co-infections on measures of disease activity of PRDs, c) the immunologic markers of worm-, HIV-, TB- and malaria-specific immune responses associated with better control of pathogen replication and disease, and d) the modulation by worm co-infections of vaccine-induced immune responses. To achieve these objectives, IDEA project has developed a global and innovative strategy which includes: a) the alliance between African and European leading scientists in the field of worms, HIV, TB and malaria, b) the multidisciplinary expertise involving immunologists, parasitologists, epidemiologists, clinicians, and experts in vaccines, c) cutting edge immunology and the most innovative technologies to profile immune response, d) the access to large cohort studies bringing a number of centres working on worms and PRDs in Africa together, and e) the access to experimental HIV, TB and malaria vaccine candidates under clinical development in Africa.
	EC	THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH (NIMR)	HEALTH EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY INTEGRATION: EVIDENCE BASED STRATEGIES TO INCREASE EQUITY, INTEGRATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES FOR POOR COMMUNITIES IN SUB SAHARAN AFRICA.	CHANGALUCHA, JOHN MESHACK	DAR ES SALAAM	TANZANIA	View
Objectives: The research aims to improve the delivery of reproductive health (RH) services in Tanzania and Niger by generating new evidence about effective ways to strengthen the provision, uptake, equity and effectiveness of adolescent reproductive health (ARH) programmes. Background: Poor adolescent reproductive health (ARH) continues to be a major cause of morbidity and worsening poverty for the poorest people in sub-Saharan Africa. The effectiveness of ARH programmes implemented within the health and education sectors is seriously hampered by adverse prevailing cultural norms and practices within those sectors and the wider community, and by poor programme integration. Methods: The proposed research will promote equitable reproductive health (RH) service provision and improve its uptake and effectiveness by : (i) conducting a situation analysis of current community and implementer experiences of existing ARH programmes in Tanzania and Niger, identifying priority areas of weakness in RH service provision and opportunities for strengthened service uptake and integration; (ii) addressing identified weaknesses and opportunities by developing an innovative package of interventions in 4 areas: (1) workplace ARH strategy in health units; (2) RH support to teachers in schools; (3) integrated school and community guardian support to pupils; (4) enhanced community referral to health services. We will evaluate the processes and impact of the interventions through a series of rigorous process evaluation studies, which will generate new knowledge, about intervention development, and indicators of intervention processes and effect. The overall impact of the interventions will be evaluated in a population-based cluster randomised trial. Involvement as project partners of the government ministries directly responsible for ARH policy in both Niger and Tanzania, will ensure the policy-relevance of this research, and its continued impact beyond the life of this project.
	EC	THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH (NIMR)	STRATEGIES TO PREVENT PREGNANCY-ASSOCIATED MALARIA	LUSINGU, JOHN	DAR ES SALAAM	TANZANIA	View
The Partners propose to conduct a cohort study in pregnant women and their newborns to quantify the effects of Pregnancy-Associated Malaria (PAM) and to identify a PAM vaccine candidate. Effects of PAM on the pregnant woman (placental infection and anaemia), the offspring (birth weight reduction), and the infant (increased morbidity and mortality) are well known. Studies underlined the role of P. falciparum variable surface antigens expressed on infected erythrocytes in binding to placenta. A specific immune response against this antigen reduces the effect of PAM during latter pregnancies, making possible to develop a new preventive strategy based on the enhancement of this specific response. This goal will be achieved through cohort studies in 2 endemic areas (West and East Africa), as the mechanisms and the resulting effects may vary with transmission. Biological samples will be collected during pregnancy and infancy to dissect the pathological and immune mechanisms involved, as well as to characterize phenotypically and genetically the infecting parasites, providing a structural basis for anti-PAM vaccine design. The immunopathological effects will be measured in the mothers, their newborns, and the infant, in relation with timing of infection. The ultimate goal is to identify the most immunogenic epitopes of VAR2CSA (the major variable surface antigens of P. falciparum parasites infecting the pregnant women) to be included in such a vaccine. It is anticipated that the product of this project will be directly usable to enter in the pipeline of vaccine development. The 7 Partners of the consortium (5 from 4 EU countries, and 2 from Benin and Tanzania) have a combined history of high class, internationally-recognized research in malaria. All EU teams have huge experience of collaboration with malaria endemic countries institutions and with studies related to malaria in pregnant women, that are also routinely conducted by the 2 African Partners.