Canadian team funded for leishmaniasis research
26 Jun 2009 Comments (2)Grants to fund research into leishmaniasis, one of the most neglected of neglected diseases, are few and far between, despite the fact that it threatens 350 million people worldwide. A team of researchers at Canada’s McGill University which will receive $26 million dollars “to develop new medications to treat certain infections and chronic diseases that do not receive sufficient attention from the pharmaceutical industry” seems likely to devote at least some of the money to leishmaniasis according to a press release from the university.
The leader of the research group, David Thomas, notes that when his daughter contracted the disease during a visit to South America, she was “treated by a therapy using the same heavy metals that they’ve been using since the 1940s. The therapy hasn’t moved on”.
Let us hope that the McGill team can indeed start things moving.
30 Sep 2009 at 2:54 am
I wish to thank David Thomas for his good idea of devoting some money towards control of leishmaniasis. I however, also challenge Thomas because one would wonder whether he is only motivated by the fact that his daughter contracted the disease or because leishmaniasis is really a dangerous disease that should be eliminated urgently.
I am particularly concerned because, personally I am involved in research on vaccinology for leishmaniasis at the Institute of Primate Resaearch, Nairobi, Kenya. The challenge is that, the disease is killing alot of people in Kenya but no organization is funding research on the control of the disease. I sometimes spent personal salary to fund the work I am doing on the disease.
Please if there be a way of establishing collaboration with you, or if you can advise me on where I can apply for research funding for research against leishmaniasis, please do. Here at IPR we use mice, hamsters, vervets or baboons for all our studies. I am particularly interested in applying adjuvants to Leishmania crude antigens to develop vaccines.
Thank you.
01 Nov 2009 at 4:25 pm
i want to tell Dr joshuna that he can apply for research funding for research against leishmaniasis to the European commission, now the fourth call of Fp7 for health (neglected infectious diseases)is open If you miss this call you can follow subsequent calls that will be published every year.go the web site :Fp7 homepage