Translational Science for Emerging & Re-emerging Infectious Disease Control
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Project Overview
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is among the most prevalent countries in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, such as the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), malaria, ebola virus disease and COVID-19. The heavy burden of infectious diseases in DRC not only afflicts their own people, but also is a concern to the rest of the world, harboring the risk of becoming an epicenter of global outbreaks.
In DRC, approximately 25% of the under-5 mortality rate is caused by malaria. Together with the Ebola disease outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, the large infectious disease burden affecting the country is a central issue in global health. On approaching the issue, not only the gap in effective therapeutics that are needed to cure and/or prevent the disease, but the society's vulnerable infrastructure and poverty are also to be tackled.
We, from 2020, have launched the project of establishing a Center for Translational and Effectiveness Research for Emerging & Re-emerging Infectious Disease Control in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project is an international joint program with the Institut National de la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), the national medical research organization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our collaboration lists as one of the ten programs supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) under the Program for Infectious Diseases Research and Infrastructure Development, aiming to promote collarborative research for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases.
We now promote the below listed projects on the basis of our joint research.
- Research and development for African Trypanosomiasis therapeutics
- Establishing clinical utility of COVID-19 serodiagnosis
- Determinants of drug-resistance, phenotypic expression and prognosis in malaria infections
Expected Achievements
Our international, cross-boudary, interdisciplinary collaboration shall bridge the gap between "basic research and "clinical development" and, thus, contribute to the early implementation of novel technologies and true effectiveness in disease control. We hope to contribute to nourishing DRC's human resources, achieving universal health coverage in Africa, improving the people's socioeconomic status, and enhance mutual preparedness against future infection outbreaks.
Collaborating institutes
DRC: Institut National de la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB)
Japan: Oita University, Keio University, Osaka University, Nagasaki University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University