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Grant expands OU-HCOM
research on Chagas disease
Training program aims to
improve health of Ecuadoran people
Elimination of insect-borne
transmission of Chagas
disease is one of the main
goals of the program. |
(Athens, OH) A
five-year, $750,000 National Institutes
of Health (NIH) grant will significantly
expand research efforts by the Ohio
University Heritage College of Osteopathic
Medicine (OU-HCOM) into the transmission,
diagnosis and treatment of Chagas
disease in Ecuador.
A potentially
life-threatening illness caused by a
protozoan parasite spread by insects,
blood transfusions and congenially,
Chagas disease is the focus of research
by OU-HCOM and its partner, the Center
for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR)
at the
Pontificia Universidad
Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) in Quito.
Chagas affects 13 million people, mainly
in the Americas. Approximately 200,000
Ecuadorians are infected with Chagas.
Mario Grijalva, Ph.D.,
associate professor of microbiology and
director of the Tropical Disease
Institute at the Ohio University
Heritage College
of Osteopathic Medicine, said the grant
will be used to expand the Ecuadoran
research training center. The Global
Infectious Diseases Training grant (GID)
from the Fogarty International Center at
NIH will help researchers obtain
biological and clinical information to
improve current Chagas disease control
efforts and implement a training program
in infectious disease research.
“Multidisciplinary
research is going to be necessary to
improve Chagas disease control efforts
in Ecuador,” said Grijalva. “With this
grant and together with
PUCE,
we can conduct that research. We also
mean to substantially increase the
country’s research capacity with a
training program that will build a corps
of infectious disease researchers and
well-trained technical personnel.”
Grijalva called Chagas
disease a “neglected disease,” since
little action to prevent its
transmission and limited research about
its treatment have occurred because it
mainly affects underserved populations,
especially those living in poverty.
“Very little was known
about Chagas disease in Ecuador when I
started doing research,” said Grijalva,
originally from Ecuador and who started
researching Chagas disease in 1992. He
explained that there was lack of
awareness about the disease because
researchers did not have the resources
and skills necessary to study the
disease and advocate for policies and
programs that would help eradicate it.
“We hope to significantly
improve the lives of Ecuador citizens,”
Grijalva said. “The training center will
better position scientists to act as
effective public health policymakers who
can create the recommendations and
programs that will stop the spread of
the disease and improve treatments.”
The program will be
housed in a new 70,000 square foot
building that is currently under
construction by PUCE (in English, known
as the Catholic University of Ecuador)
on its new campus near Quito. Slated to
open in 2013, the facility will house
the labs and offices of 16 principal
investigators, associated staff, and
research trainees currently located at
CIDR, a joint effort between OU-HCOM and
PUCE first started in 1999.
The main hurdle to
conducting meaningful research in a
developing country is the shortage of
adequately trained scientists, Grijalva
said. Therefore, one of the main goals
of the Tropical Disease Institute in
Ecuador has been to create the
institutional infrastructure that would
allow highly competent Ecuadorian
researchers that have gotten advanced
degrees to return to Ecuador.
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Jaime Costales, PhD and
Mario Grijalva, PhD in a
press conference in Manabi,
Ecuador. |
“I was extremely pleased
when Jaime A. Costales, Ph.D., now an
assistant professor of the CIDR,
accepted a faculty position at PUCE in
2008.”
Since his return to
Ecuador, he has established his own
research program and collaborates with
Grijalva on several projects, including
a major role in the preparation of the
NIH training grant.
“Jaime’s presence in
Ecuador constitutes a critical advance
towards increasing the country’s
research capacity. The GID training
grant will be a major vehicle to further
these efforts,” Grijalva said.
The NIH funding will
support four post-doctoral fellows who
will join CIDR staff. The grant will
also help implement a master’s degree
program at PUCE and provide funding for
a student from Ecuador to earn a Ph.D.
from Ohio University.
The new program means
expanded opportunities for OU-HCOM
medical students, faculty and
researchers to travel to Ecuador to
provide clinical care and conduct
research, Grijalva said.
“This will increase the
number of people available to work with
our students, increase the range of
training and outreach we can offer, and
increase the number of services that we
can provide to help improve the health
of the Ecuadoran people,” Grijalva said.
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Chagas disease serological
screening in rural areas of
Ecuador |
Each year, Grijalva leads a team of more
than 40 researchers, scientists and
medical students, including several from
OU-HCOM, to study the disease in Ecuador.
The World Health Organization has cited
this program as an example to develop a
new strategy for a global fight against
the disease.
“I am thankful for this
very prestigious award,” Grijalva said
of the grant. “It recognizes the work we
have accomplished in collaboration with
Catholic University.”
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