The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is one of the leading institutions of tropical medicine in Europe; The LSTM and CDC aim to strengthen their research collaboration to jointly conduct applied research to identify, evaluate, and implement interventions for the control of malaria across a range of malaria transmission settings in Africa and Asia and work in a complimentary way towards the targets set by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) initiative. Joint research activities include 1) studies of malaria in pregnancy including: a) provision of technical support to WHO/SEARO and the Indian Malaria Research Council (MRC) to document the burden of malaria in pregnancy (MiP) in Asia and b) evaluate the safety and efficacy of existing and new antimalarial combinations in the treatment and prevention of malaria in children and pregnant women through multi- centre efficacy trials in Africa and Asia, and by use of meta-analyses of existing trial data. 2) studies in young children to define the role of effective initial antimalarial treatment and the additional benefits of monthly Intermittent Preventive Therapy during the post-discharge period (IPTpd) in the prevention of rebound severe malaria anaemia and mortality in young children in sub-Saharan Africa; and 3) studies of the interaction between HIV and malaria to a) determine the potential for drug-drug interactions between antimalarials, ARVs and cotrimoxazole prophylaxis in HIV-infected non-pregnant and pregnant individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, and b) to determine the impact of successful control of malaria on HIV-disease Drogression rates in HIV-infected adult individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. Capacity development of local collaborative research groups will be an important component of research activities, through formal training of local investigators and health officials involved in collaborative research and 'on-the-job' training for all categories of staff in relevant areas such as good clinical practice. As part of these activities a Malaria in Pregnancy (MiP) research working group will be established in collaboration with WHO and CDC and several other leading research groups to guide the research agenda and expedite the identification, evaluation and implementation of MiP control strategies in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The secretariat will be based at the LSTM.
| van Buuren, Stef; Hayes, Daniel J; Stasinopoulos, D Mikis et al. (2009) Estimating regional centile curves from mixed data sources and countries. Stat Med 28:2891-911 |
