Three major infectious diseases are currently devastating the African continent: HIV-1, tuberculosis, and malaria. Approximately forty million people were living with HIV infection at the end of 2006, and of these, twenty-five million were living in Sub-Saharan Africa. If we consider the incidence of TB, 12 of the 15 countries with the highest estimated TB incidence rate are in Africa. Lastly, acute Malaria infections are responsible for approximately 1 million of deaths. Africa alone suffers 90% of these deaths. This incredible burden of diseases amongst African populations is causing devastation in all facets of society, most notably in the economies of most African countries. Although there are many measures in place to tackle the disease burden from HIV, TB and Malaria within countries worst affected, there remains a void in terms of training local scientists in some of the methodologies that would facilitate in-country research. In this grant, we believe that training of junior scientists should be conducted along with the implementation of in situ physical infrastructures, such as laboratories. It is important that in-country scientists have access to scientific knowledge and training to seek correlates of immune protection for these infectious diseases. By organizing this cycle of symposia, entitled: """"""""Infectious Diseases in Africa: Measurement of Immune Response"""""""" (National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa, November 2008-2010), our objectives are: 1. To provide junior African investigators with the most recent data on the pathogenesis of HIV, TB, and Malaria and its implication for vaccine development. 2. To allow junior investigators the opportunity to discuss their own research projects with experts in the field. 3. To foster collaborations and enable and further existing African networks of scientists, where region-specific problems can be addressed in the future.
. In the recent past, there has been an increasing effort to build local infrastructure in African countries that allow the conduct of basic research. This symposium will mainly address the scientific training of young African scientists whose scope of research is to characterize the T and B cellular immune responses against HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The scientific training of the young African investigators will complement the ongoing efforts to develop local infrastructure. During this two-day scientific symposium, the invited selected faculty members will provide the most updated scientific insights in the area of cellular mediated immune responses directed against three of the most relevant infectious pathogens in the African countries (HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria). Moreover, the equal number of young investigators and faculty members will facilitate a mentorship interaction during the meeting.
| Nemes, Elisa; Burgers, Wendy A; Riou, Catherine et al. (2016) Teaching advanced flow cytometry in Africa: 10 years of lessons learned. Cytometry A 89:971-974 |
| Vinikoor, Michael J; Cope, Anna; Gay, Cynthia L et al. (2013) Antiretroviral therapy initiated during acute HIV infection fails to prevent persistent T-cell activation. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 62:505-8 |
