devinitorg/iati-policy-markers huggingface dataset:
Understanding non-communicable diseases (NCD) and the role of infection in Africa: building a partnership to generate big data Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are increasing in Africa. They are a diverse group of conditions, not directly caused by infections and are most often long-term and lifestyle-related, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancers, asthma and kidney disease. The reasons for the increase in these diseases are complex but include increasing urbanisation, overweight/obesity and lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking tobacco, high alcohol intake and reduced physical activity. The increase in NCD, is occurring alongside a high level of infectious disease (such as HIV and tuberculosis) and under- or mal-nutrition, which often exacerbates these conditions and leads to very poor health outcomes and shortens lives. In Africa, deaths from NCD in adults now exceed deaths caused by infectious diseases. To truly understand the severity and extent of these diseases requires investigations using detailed information from a general population, referred to as population-based research.  Population-based research (as opposed to hospital-based research) is particularly important in Africa as relatively few people use formal health services, especially in the early stages of illness.  The unique and valuable data collected in repeated cycles of population-based research help us to determine the amount and causes of disease; the risk (or chance) of death from these conditions; how these diseases develop in individuals; and how the disease changes over time (for example, age and sex of people most commonly affected).  To understand NCDs in Africa better, and to help inform African policy makers and researchers, we propose an African NCD Longitudinal Data Alliance (ANDLA). ANDLA will bring together population-based research data from multiple partners working in existing study sites across Africa to create large, harmonised datasets that are robust and powerful enough to address important research questions that individual study sites would struggle to answer on their own.  ANDLA will provide a dynamic and sustainable platform of population-based data collected over time (longitudinal-data). The data will be standardised and made available in an easily usable form, and will focus on NCD and their risk factors. It will be a unique large-scale data resource for understanding NCD in Africa now and in future decades, to inform and shape effective policy in populations with limited resources and a large and growing amount of these disease. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Measuring unanticipated opportunity costs of South Africa's COVID-19 response for children, mothers, and people living with non-communicable diseases MRC GECO COVID award to measure unanticipated opportunity costs of South Africa's COVID-19 response for children, mothers, and people living
with non-communicable diseases COVID-19 The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
The Impact of COVID-19 Control measures on NCD risk factors and Metabolic health: A
comparison of 3 Caribbean countries MRC GECO COVID award looking at the impact of COVID-19 controlmeasures on NCD risk factors and Metabolic health in Jamaica COVID-19 The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Improving maternal-neonatal outcomes through implementing Quality Midwifery Services in India: a case study of facilitators and barriers Approximately 45,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes each year in India, and global evidence shows that 83% of these death can be prevented if competent midwives provide skilled birth attendance. India does not have independent midwives. Indian nurses, who have studied midwifery as part of their nursing studies work as the nurse-midwives in most of the health facilities in public and private sectors. Since India is striving to bring the maternal deaths down from 130 to 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030; the Government of India has acknowledged that introducing and strengthening midwifery in line with the international standards could be an effective strategy to achieve the target. The Government of India has supported additional training of some nurse-midwives to prepare them as Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery in the states of Gujarat and Telangana. These Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery have been posted in public health facilities serving remote/rural/difficult-to-access geographical areas. In Gujarat, some Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery have been posted in Urban Family Welfare Centers too. An Indo-UK consortium of researchers have developed this research proposal titled "Improving quality of care through implementing quality midwifery services in India: a case study of facilitators and barriers". This project will be implemented over a period of 12 months. The aim of this study is to document the perceptions and experiences of women, families, community influencers; the Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery, other nurse-midwives, and obstetricians about midwifery; and the facilitators and barriers for establishing independent midwifery in India. The study will also highlight gaps in the quality of care and identify important outcomes that could be used assess whether midwifery is effective. Our research work will involve qualitative in-depth interviews/focus group discussions/group interviews with women, and community influencers (40 in total) and also with Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery, other nurse-midwives, and obstetricians (40 in total). Reviews of Indian and international literature will be carried out to identify the key maternal-neonatal outcome indicators; and 5 maternal and neonatal deaths from each state will be reviewed to see if reviews of death are a good way to identify gaps in care. This study will pave the way to do further research to  evaluate the impact of midwifery care on maternal and neonatal outcomes in the coming years; and lay the foundation to develop interventions to strengthen rolling-out midwifery care in India. The project will also train early-stage Indian researchers in research skills. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Generation Malawi: A study of family, maternal and childhood mental health A lack of research training, resources, infrastructure and data in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) greatly limits their ability to conduct studies of common mental health conditions. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa generally and in Malawi specifically, where sparse mental health care alone limits not only clinical research capacity, but also the ability to attract inward investment. In a partnership between UK and Malawian institutions, we propose to directly address this challenge by building clinical research capacity through the coordinated appointment of new researchers and research assistants, a programme of education and dissemination, and the development of a population mental health dataset focussed on an area of great unmet need - the mental heath of mothers and their children.   After a period of piloting our research assessments and obtaining the necessary approvals, we will recruit 5000 mothers prior to delivery of their child from antenatal clinics in Lilongwe and Karonga districts, selected to represent urban and rural populations respectively. We will assess the mental health of mothers before and after birth, and the mental health of their spouses and other family members with a view to identifying the major risk factors for mental health disorders and mitigating variables that promote resilience. We will then examine the impact of maternal and, where possible, paternal mental health on the neurodevelopment of their offspring.   In addition to creating new and highly valuable data, we will also create the bioresources needed for future genetics and 'omics based research. We believe this is essential to prevent the current imbalance in genetic research favouring rich countries of predominantly European ancestries leading to greater entrenchment of global health inequalities.  As part of the proposed work, we will develop internationally competitive research capacity and datasets in Malawi, augment standard of care treatment, develop research training and the availability of affordable and effective interventions for depression and other common mental disorders, such as the "Friendship Bench" intervention. Our research will be multidisciplinary, involving experts from psychiatry, clinical psychology, nursing, reproductive and child health, and social sciences in both UK and Malawi. Throughout the project, we will carefully monitor our progress and impact on the participants and their communities.   The project, if funded, will lead to a step change in mental health research capacity in Malawi, paving the way for new inward investment and the development of evidence based interventions and policies. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Enhancing brain development by early iron supplementation of African infants: An enabling pilot study Iron is crucial for brain development and early deficiencies during infancy can cause irreparable damage. Figures from the latest Global Burden of Disease analysis estimate that iron deficiency is more common than all other micronutrient deficiencies combined. This burden is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.   Breast milk contains very little iron, so babies draw upon iron stores laid down in their liver during late foetal life. However, the babies of iron deficient mothers are born with a limited endowment of iron and can rapidly develop iron deficiency. We have recently shown that, by 5 months of age, almost 95% of rural Gambian infants have circulating iron levels below the lower limit of the US reference range. This indicates that these babies are profoundly iron deficienct.   The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends iron supplementation in exclusively breastfed infants beginning at 4 months of age. AAP also recommends that babies born prematurely start supplementation at 2 weeks. Yet prior and on-going trials of iron supplementation in low-income settings have commenced supplementation much later (eg 8-9m in a large on-going trial in Bangladesh). Our data suggest that this will be too late to prevent early iron deficiency from impairing brain development. We therefore propose a large randomised controlled trial of early iron supplementation starting at 6wks of age.   In preparation for such a trial we need to conduct preliminary studies addressing the following questions: Can we effectively enhance circulating iron levels in early infancy by giving daily iron drops? Can we achieve this without undermining duration of exclusive breast feeding? Might the iron alter the balance of the babies' gut microbial flora and thereby cause diarrhoea? Might iron supplementation impair the absorption of zinc and copper and hence require a triple supplement?  These questions will be tested in a small enabling study that will inform the design of the intended full trial. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Calcium supplementation to prevent pre-eclampsia in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: IPD meta-analysis, network meta-analysis and economic evaluation Global Maternal & Neo award - Calcium supplementation to prevent pre-eclampsia in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: IPD meta-analysis, network meta-analysis and economic evaluation The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Unveiling the protein landscape of the African trypanosome cell surface and chasing down potential targets for therapeutic intervention Neglected tropical diseases are a diverse group of diseases that thrive mainly among the poorest of the world's populations. Three of the World Health Organisation's 10 most significant neglected tropical diseases - African trypanosomiasis (also known as sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, and Chagas' disease - are caused by closely-related single-celled parasites. Human infection with African trypanosomes is brought about when an infected tsetse fly takes a blood meal. Without treatment the disease progresses through general ill health to coma and death. Current drugs in use against trypanosomes are old, toxic and failing due to emergence of resistance. Urgent new research is needed to identify potential new therapeutic options.  An unusual aspect of African trypanosomes is that they multiply in the human blood in full view of the body's defence systems. They do this by periodically changing their cell surface to escape recognition by the host. However, many molecules on the parasite surface perform essential functions and cannot be changed. Trypanosomes place these in a special, protected domain on the cell surface. Identifying surface-exposed invariant molecules and understanding how this protective segregation is maintained are of major scientific interest, as well as of practical utility in uncovering ways in which trypanosomes may be vulnerable to new therapies.  Using a combinatorial approach funded by the MRC, I have previously identified the composition of the African trypanosome cell surface. I now aim to exploit this knowledge to single out those invariant surface molecules that are essential to the survival of the parasite during infection. For this, I propose to harness some of the power of modern DNA sequencing technologies to test which cell surface genes, when silenced, cause the parasite to die inside the host. A similar method will be used to identify not only cell surface genes, but any genes that the parasite uses to maintain the cell surface organisation, which is so critical to escaping the host immune attack.   Finally, I propose to test those surface-exposed molecules for their potential as vaccines. My pilot experiments show that I can use genetically-modified parasite to screen for molecules on the parasite surface that are accessible to the immune system. I propose to develop this assay and test the most promising candidates in an animal model of human disease. The proposed work will increase our understanding of the fundamental biology of a significant human parasite, and also, by exposing essential surface molecules, provide the first steps in developing new treatments. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Menstrual hygiene and school absenteeism among Gambian schools: Preparatory phase for a RCT. PHIND - RM 2016 award to look at menstrual hygiene and school absenteeism among Gambian schools The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Durable, practical, effective and affordable formats for insecticide-treated eave baffles that protect households and suppress malaria transmission Eave baffles (EBs) are a simple housing modification using widely-available netting materials, which can be treated with existing insecticide formulations. Treated EBs and window screens trap mosquitoes inside houses after they enter, and force them into lethal contact with insecticides when they attempt to exit again. Experimental prototypes of insecticide-treated EBs proved an equivalent or superior alternative to indoor residual spraying for killing malaria vectors in standardized experimental huts in southern Tanzania. EBs required >5 times less insecticide than IRS, and co-treating with a binding agent (BA) could enhance durability so that they only need to be treated every 2 to 3 years.  The overall goal of this early-phase study is therefore to develop new, practical, scalable prototypes for EBs, which have been adapted to trap house-entering mosquitoes before they can attack the occupants, and can be readily installed in most rural African houses. We propose the following objectives for this early-phase study: 1. Re-assess the insecticidal efficacy of the previously evaluated experimental prototype EBs against An. funestus and An. arabiensis in experimental huts at 12, 18, 24 and 30 months post-treatment, to demonstrate long-term efficacy when co-treated with BA. 2. Develop a new EB trap design in a readily-manufactured "on a roll" format, together with broadly-scalable installation procedures, and demonstrate successful installation that reduces mosquito biting nuisance by >80% and assess user perceptions, in a random sample of rural Tanzanian houses. 3. Demonstrate equivalent insecticidal efficacy of the scalable EB trap-on-a-roll format to the previous experimental prototype, using experimental huts to measure impact on mosquito survival. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
A Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases "UKRI GROW award - to establish a "Global Network For NTDs" bringing together over 50 academics and more than 500 researchers at 14 institutes around the world including S. America, S. Asia and the UK, working towards the common goals of delivering scientific advances that will help to combat Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease in developing countries." The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
The mechanisms underlying the production of natural mosquito repellents by human beings IIB  Research Boards Sep/Oct 2016  RM 2017 award looking at the mechanisms underlying the production of natural mosquito repellents by human beings in Gambia The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People with Severe Mental Illness and on Mental Health Service Provision in South Asia (IMPASS) MRC GECO COVID award to look at the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People with Severe Mental illness and on mental health service provision in South Asia COVID-19 The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Developing an innovative primary health care system for pastoralist community Joint HSR Initiative 1 Development award to develop an innovative primary health care system for pastoralist community in Ethopia The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Hepatitis C virus genotype 3 NS5A protein: resistance to direct acting antiviral agents and functional analysis Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important human pathogen and it is estimated that 70 million people worldwide are infected with this virus. Recently a number of very effective antiviral drugs have been developed that can cure infected individuals, however these are expensive and the virus can change to become resistant. Thus there is a need to better understand how the virus grows and causes disease, how the drugs work and ultimately to develop more antivirals.  HCV is a very variable virus and 7 distinct strains (termed genotypes 1-7) have been identified. This project focusses on genotype 3, the second most common genotype worldwide accounting for approximately 30% (approx. 20 million) of HCV cases. Genotype 3 is the most common in low to middle income countries (LMIC), accounting for 44% of cases and in particular, 70% of HCV infections in South Asia (Pakistan, India and Thailand) are genotype 3. Consistent with this, genotype 3 is also prevalent in parts of Western Europe, and accounts for 44% of HCV cases in the UK. This is important as genotype 3 infection is associated with a more rapid progression of liver disease, a higher incidence of diabetes, fatty liver and liver cancer, and a higher mortality rate compared to other genotypes. Genotype 3 patients also exhibit high levels of resistance to the new drugs, limiting the treatment options.  The differences between genotype 3 and other genotypes are not very well understood, mainly because until recently there were no good laboratory systems available to study this genotype. We seek to address this lack of knowledge in particular focusing on one viral protein, NS5A, which has been shown in other genotypes to be required for virus growth and disease, as well as being a target for some of the new drugs. We will use our expertise in studying NS5A in other genotypes, together with new systems developed by us and others to grow genotype 3 virus in cell culture, to ask why it is so resistant to the drugs and how NS5A interacts with the cell. We hope that these studies will shed light on why genotype 3 is so different, and provide opportunities to develop new therapeutic strategies for patients infected with this genotype of HCV. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.