This award is for support of a cooperative project by Dr. Said A. Goueli, Team leader of Technology Development at Promega Corporation, in Madison, Wisconsin, and Dr. Mostafa Kamel El Awady, Chairman, Dept. of Human Genetics, and Director of the Medical Biotechnology Program, at the National Research Center (NRC) in Cairo, Egypt. The two scientists plan to study the detection technologies of viral infection of Hepatitis C and the means for the development of a reliable and low cost test that will be affordable and suitable for developing countries. They also plan to study the development of a model system to monitor the course of viral infection and the efficacy of novel therapeutic modalities. This project will involve two laboratories with complementary capabilities to conduct research in an important field for both countries. The award will support a US-foreign collaboration in an area of mutual benefit. The project was generated as a result of a workshop on biotechnology organized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Egyptian Government, and will build on results that the two scientists had obtained in a previous collaborative project. NIH was involved in the evaluation of the project and in recommending its support. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, administered by the US Department of State, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out cooperative activities.
