This proposed Tropical Medicine Research Center proposes to unify a multi-national group of investigators studying critical aspects of the fatal disease, visceral leishmaniasis in Bihar State, India. The region has the highest endemic rate of visceral leishmaniasis in India, and one of the highest rates of visceral leishmaniasis worldwide. Coordination of the project will be focused at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi, India. Major collaborators are found at the University of Cambridge, UK, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC, USA, and the University of Iowa, USA. The TMRC will be administered primarily at BHU. A satellite administrative core will be maintained at the University of Iowa, USA. BHU is the site where most laboratory research activities take place, and where most epidemiological and GIS data are analyzed. The main data management center will also be at BHU. Because of the international collaborative activities associated with this program, with collaborators in the U.S.A., the U.K, and Belgium, some administrative functions will be orchestrated through the University of Iowa.
Specific aims of the program are: 1. To handle financial aspects of the TMRC. This includes administration of funds used for research, administration and data management in India, as well as subcontracts to the University of Iowa, the University of Cambridge, Westat, and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium. 2. To obtain equipment and research supplies for the two research sites in India, to orchestrate submission of publications, and to arrange communications. 3. To make arrangements for foreign visitors from the USA, the UK, and Belgium. 4. To arrange the annual TMRC meeting, and annual meetings of the TMRC members in Bethesda at annual meetings in the USA.
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