Makerere University Walter Reed Project

Last updated

Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) [1] was established in 2002 for the primary purpose of HIV vaccine development and building of vaccine testing capability in Uganda. It is one of the 5 international research sites established by the Department of Defense (DoD) United States HIV Research Program [2] (MHRP), a program centered at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research [3] (WRAIR) in Silver Spring, Maryland. MUWRP's [1] main facility is centrally located in Kampala, near the Makerere University College of Health Sciences [4] where the MUWRP [1] laboratory is located. The main facility includes the clinic, administrative, and data offices.

Contents

Mission statement

To monitor and investigate communicable disease threats of public health importance to Uganda; and develop, evaluate and provide interventions to mitigate these disease threats. [5]

Background

In May 1998, the Honorable Crispus Kiyonga, the former Ugandan Minister of Health formally invited the US Army to conduct HIV and malaria research within Uganda. A program for vaccine research and development began in 1998 with the US Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) and the Henry M Jackson Foundation (HJF) forming a partnership with Makerere University. [6] Initial collaborations were with the Rakai Project (currently the Rakai Health Sciences Program [7] ), a collaboration between Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, Makerere University (MU), and the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) where the focus was development of infrastructure and definition of cohorts. In June 2002 a memorandum of understanding between Makerere University and The Henry M. Jackson Foundation was signed establishing Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) as a non-profit partnership for purposes of conducting collaborative HIV and other research studies. [8] Since 1998, collaborative HIV research between Makerere University and the USMHRP has focused on development of infrastructure, definition of cohorts, acquisition of appropriate products for evaluation, and clinical evaluation of these products. The core of the Makerere University Walter Reed Program's effort has been to accomplish all activities required for initiation of phase III trials.

A key component of these activities has been provision of HIV care including anti-retroviral treatment (ARV) through funding under the PEPFAR Program. Since 2007, MUWRP [1] has broadened their scope of work to address other communicable disease threats as well. In 2007, MUWRP joined with the DoD Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (GEIS) operated by the United States Army Institute of Research – Kenya (USARMR-K) to support Avian Influenza Pandemic Influenza (AIPI) surveillance activities in Uganda. [8] This DoD-GEIS program was established in 1996 to strengthen the prevention of, surveillance of and response to emerging infectious diseases. The current MUWRP program supports surveillance of influenza and other emerging infections in animals and humans and collaborates with the Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Resources and Bio-security (COVAB), Ministry of Health, Nature Uganda, CDC, USAID, the MU School of Public Health, St. Jude Children's Hospital, Memphis and the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF). [9]

In 2013 MUWRP [1] agreed to support the Austere environment Consortium for Enhanced Sepsis Outcomes (ACESO). [10] ACESO is composed of collaborators primarily from university, government and military-based institutions within the US and Uganda and aims to improve survival of patients with severe infections by 1) developing evidence-based guidelines for management of clinical syndromes from severe infections; 2) increasing understanding of the pathogenesis and related host-mediated pathways associated with common and/or dangerous infectious agents; and 3) applying the research-based findings to improve outcomes in other less predictable clinical settings (such as an Ebola outbreak in Uganda).

Activities

Vaccine studies

MUWRP has conducted a number of HIV vaccine trials and an Ebola/Marburg vaccine trial, all of which were conducted in accordance with GCP/ICH.[ clarification needed ] Additionally, cohort studies have been conducted in the general population and among most at risk populations to establish HIV prevalence, incidence, risk behavior, cohort retention and host genetics and viral diversity for purposes of vaccine development and future vaccine testing. The vaccine research work is supported by a laboratory located on the Makerere University College of Health Sciences campus. The Lab was accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) in June 2005 and continues to be recertified every two years (most recently until 2013). The lab has the clinical capacity for Safety labs, Diagnostic Serology and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Viral Load, Immunophenotyping and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (PBMC) processing, including cryopreservation. The MUWRP laboratory continues to provide training and research opportunities to many students from Ugandan universities and various research organizations throughout the country and also supports external research projects.[ citation needed ]

Pepfar

MUWRP has been working in Uganda in the provision of HIV care, treatment, and prevention services since 2005 to ensure sustainable, quality and comprehensive HIV services for communities that have participated or could participate in research studies. Due to the success of the initial program in Kayunga district and the recent in-country programming MUWRP's PEPFAR program now includes Mukono and Buvuma districts. Cross-cutting HIV programs include: expanding the number of HIV clinical sites, provision of efficient laboratory capacity, infrastructure remodeling, District-level data system strengthening, supply-chain management strengthening, human capacity development, innovative task shifting, youth-focused and most at risk programs, short-term technical staffing, comprehensive home-based Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) services, and a variety of counseling and testing and prevention programs including medical male circumcision and mother to child prevention.[ citation needed ]

Emerging Infectious Diseases' Program

MUWRP has established capabilities for influenza surveillance that has since expanded to cover other emerging and re-emerging infectious. The human influenza surveillance is conducted at Mulago, the national referral hospital and Jinja and Gulu regional referral hospitals. The non-human component collects samples at various locations from water and domestic fowl and swine. [9] The project renovated two BSL laboratories; one at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) for the human samples and one at the Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicines Animal Resources and Biosecurity (COVAB) for animal samples. [11] The surveillance activities are part of laboratory based influenza surveillance networks around the world, which serves to:

  1. detect local influenza outbreaks,
  2. provide isolates for the WHO vaccine pool for vaccine component and 3) detect any emerging strains that could be pandemic potential.

Related Research Articles

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's mission is to conduct basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical medicine</span> Interdisciplinary branch of medicine

Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uganda Virus Research Institute</span>

The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) is a medical research institute owned by the Uganda government that carries out research on communicable diseases in man and animals, with emphasis on viral transmitted infections. UVRI is a component of Uganda National Health Research Organization (UNHRO), an umbrella organization for health research within Uganda.

The Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (DAIDS) is a division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. It was formed in 1986 as a part of the initiative to address the national research needs created by the advent and spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Specifically, the Division's mission is to increase basic knowledge of the pathogenesis, natural history, and transmission of HIV disease and to support research that promotes progress in its detection, treatment, and prevention. DAIDS accomplishes this through planning, implementing, managing, and evaluating programs in (1) fundamental basic research, (2) discovery and development of therapies for HIV infection and its complications, and (3) discovery and development of vaccines and other prevention strategies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Reed Army Institute of Research</span> Biomedical research facility administered by the U.S. Department of Defense

The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is the largest biomedical research facility administered by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The institute is centered at the Forest Glen Annex, in the Forest Glen Park part of the unincorporated Silver Spring urban area in Maryland just north of Washington, DC, but it is a subordinate unit of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), headquartered at nearby Fort Detrick, Maryland. At Forest Glen, the WRAIR has shared a laboratory and administrative facility — the Sen Daniel K. Inouye Building, also known as Building 503 — with the Naval Medical Research Center since 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Influenza-like illness</span> Medical diagnosis

Influenza-like illness (ILI), also known as flu-like syndrome or flu-like symptoms, is a medical diagnosis of possible influenza or other illness causing a set of common symptoms. These include fever, shivering, chills, malaise, dry cough, loss of appetite, body aches, and nausea, sneezing typically in connection with a sudden onset of illness. In most cases, the symptoms are caused by cytokines released by immune system activation, and are thus relatively non-specific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine Research Center</span>

The Vaccine Research Center (VRC), is an intramural division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The mission of the VRC is to discover and develop both vaccines and antibody-based products that target infectious diseases.

The United States Military HIV Research Program was initiated by the United States Congress in 1986, in reaction to the threat of lost effectiveness of U.S./Allied troops due to HIV infection. The mission of MHRP is to develop an HIV-1 vaccine, provide prevention, care, and treatment, and conduct meaningful HIV/AIDS research for the global community through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It is centered at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and has established five international research sites in Africa and Asia. MHRP also partners with the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Thailand. MHRP works closely with The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF), most notably in the development of the RV144 HIV vaccine in Thailand. MHRP is the largest research program supported by the HJF.

Frederick Wabwire-Mangen is a Ugandan physician, public health specialist and medical researcher. Currently he is Professor of Epidemiology and Head of Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Makerere University School of Public Health. Wabwire-Mangen also serves as the Chairman of Council of Kampala International University and a founding member of Accordia Global Health Foundation’s Academic Alliance

David M. Serwadda is a Ugandan physician, medical researcher, academic, public health specialist and medical administrator. Currently he is a Professor of Public Health at Makerere University School of Public Health, one of the schools of Makerere University College of Health Sciences, a semi-autonomous constituent college of Makerere University, the oldest university in Uganda. Serwadda is also a founding member of Accordia Global Health Foundation's Academic Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Medical Research Unit Three</span> Military unit

Naval Medical Research Unit Three (NAMRU-3) is a biomedical research laboratory of the US Navy located in Sigonella, Italy. Previously it was located in Cairo, Egypt. NAMRU-3 is the oldest U.S. overseas military medical research facility that has remained in the same location, and one of the largest medical research laboratories in the North Africa-Middle East region. The laboratory has been in continuous operation despite periods of political tension and a seven-year lapse in U.S.-Egyptian relations (1967–1973) since 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Medical Research Unit Six</span> Military unit

Naval Medical Research Unit Six (NAMRU-6) is a biomedical research laboratory of the US Navy located in Lima, Peru. It is the only US military command located in South America. Its mission is to identify infectious disease threats of military and public health importance and to develop and evaluate interventions and products to mitigate those threats.

The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), established within Makerere University, is a Ugandan not-for-profit organization which aims to strengthen health systems in Africa, with a strong emphasis on infectious diseases; through research and capacity development. In pursuit of its mission both in Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa, IDI provides care to People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and other infectious diseases, builds capacity among healthcare workers through training and ongoing support, maintains a focus on prevention, and carries out relevant research.

The Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) is a United States Army project that started as a collaboration with the Government of Thailand to fight a cholera outbreak in Bangkok in 1958 and 1959. It subsequently expanded to conduct military medical research, primarily involving infectious diseases, across much of Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.

Roy D. Mugerwa was a Ugandan physician, cardiologist and researcher. His contribution to the world of academics include being a Professor Emeritus at Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Kampala, cardiology in Uganda, researching HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and his efforts to find an effective HIV vaccine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelson Michael</span> American infectious disease researcher

Nelson L. Michael is an American infectious disease researcher. He has served for nearly 30 years in the United States Army and been directly involved with significant advancements in understanding the pathology of and vaccine development for diseases like HIV, Zika, Ebola and more. Much of his career has been spent at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Allison Joan McGeer is a Canadian infectious disease specialist in the Sinai Health System, and a professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. She also appointed at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and a Senior Clinician Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and is a partner of the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. McGeer has led investigations into the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in Toronto and worked alongside Donald Low. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McGeer has studied how SARS-CoV-2 survives in the air and has served on several provincial committees advising aspects of the Government of Ontario's pandemic response.

Fred Nalugoda is a public health researcher studying HIV/AIDS in rural Uganda for over 20 years, mainly through surveillance and field work. He currently serves as the Program Director of a research station in Kalisizo in Uganda as part of his continued work at the Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP).

Joseph Konde-Lule is a retired Ugandan medical sociologist and epidemiologist who conducted extensive work regarding HIV risk behaviors in rural Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Kambugu</span> Ugandan physician

Andrew Ddungu Kambugu is a Ugandan physician who serves as The Sande-McKinnell Executive Director at Uganda Infectious Disease Institute and a Honorary Senior lecturer at Makerere University College of Sciences. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota. In July 2020, he was appointed to the United Nations 2021 Food System Scientific Group.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "posts - MUWRP". Makerere University Walter Reed Project. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  2. ↑ "Home". U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  3. ↑ "Walter Reed Army Institute of Research". U.S. Army. Archived from the original on 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  4. ↑ "Makerere University College Of Health Sciences | MakCHS". Chs.mak.ac.ug. 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  5. ↑ "Makerere University Walter Reed Project". MUWRP. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  6. ↑ "HIV Prevention, Care, Treatment and Research - Uganda | MHRP". Hivresearch.org. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  7. ↑ "Rakai Health Sciences Program". Jhsph.edu. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  8. 1 2 "HIV Vaccine Research Collaborators". MUWRP. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  9. 1 2 "Influenza Surveillance". MUWRP. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  10. ↑ "Large Multinational HIV Cohort Study Begins in Africa". MUWRP. 2013-02-27. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  11. ↑ "Emerging Infectious Diseases' Program, Laboratories (Eidl)". MUWRP. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.