Disease Surveillance Networks Initiative Asia: Final Evaluation

The DSN Initiative was launched in 2007 under the new strategy of the Rockefeller Foundation. The initiative intends:[1] To improve human resources for disease surveillance in developing countries, thus bolstering national capacity to monitor, report, and respond to outbreaks;[2] To support regional networks to promote collaboration in disease surveillance and response across countries; and[3] To build bridges between regional and global monitoring effortsThe purpose of the DSN evaluation in the Mekong region was twofold:[1]To inform the work and strategy of the Foundation, its grantees, and the broader field of disease surveillance, based on the experience of DSN investments in the Mekong region. More specifically, the evaluation will inform future directions and strategies for current areas of DSN Initiative work, particularly in Asia, and will highlight potential new areas of work and strategy; and[2] To provide accountability to the Rockefeller Foundation's board, staff, and stakeholders for the DSN funds spent in the Mekong region

Nematode-Bacterium Symbioses—Cooperation and Conflict Revealed in the “Omics” Age

Nematodes are ubiquitous organisms that have a significant global impact on ecosystems, economies, agriculture, and human health. The applied importance of nematodes and the experimental tractability of many species have promoted their use as models in various research areas, including developmental biology, evolutionary biology, ecology, and animal-bacterium interactions. Nematodes are particularly well suited for the investigation of host associations with bacteria because all nematodes have interacted with bacteria during their evolutionary history and engage in a variety of association types. Interactions between nematodes and bacteria can be positive (mutualistic) or negative (pathogenic/parasitic) and may be transient or stably maintained (symbiotic). Furthermore, since many mechanistic aspects of nematode-bacterium interactions are conserved, their study can provide broader insights into other types of associations, including those relevant to human diseases. Recently, genome-scale studies have been applied to diverse nematode-bacterial interactions and have helped reveal mechanisms of communication and exchange between the associated partners. In addition to providing specific information about the system under investigation, these studies also have helped inform our understanding of genome evolution, mutualism, and innate immunity. In this review we discuss the importance and diversity of nematodes, “omics”' studies in nematode-bacterial systems, and the wider implications of the findings

Polarized Helium to Image the Lung

The main findings of the european PHIL project (Polarised Helium to Image the Lung) are reported. State of the art optical pumping techniques for polarising ^3He gas are described. MRI methodological improvements allow dynamical ventilation images with a good resolution, ultimately limited by gas diffusion. Diffusion imaging appears as a robust method of lung diagnosis. A discussion of the potential advantage of low field MRI is presented. Selected PHIL results for emphysema are given, with the perspectives that this joint work opens up for the future of respiratory medicine.Comment: To be published in Proc. ICAP 2004 (19th Int. Conf. on Atomic Physics, Rio, July 26-30 2004

Rabbit models of heart disease.

Human heart disease is a major cause of death and disability. A variety of animal models of cardiac disease have been developed to better understand the etiology, cellular and molecular mechanisms of cardiac dysfunction and novel therapeutic strategies. The animal models have included large animals (e.g. pig and dog) and small rodents (e.g. mouse and rat) and the advantages of genetic manipulation in mice have appropriately encouraged the development of novel mouse models of cardiac disease. However, there are major differences between rodent and human hearts that raise cautions about the extrapolation of results from mouse to human. The rabbit is a medium-sized animal that has many cellular and molecular characteristics very much like human, and is a practical alternative to larger mammals. Numerous rabbit models of cardiac disease are discussed, including pressure or volume overload, ischemia, rapid-pacing, doxorubicin, drug-induced arrhythmias, transgenesis and infection. These models also lead to the assessment of therapeutic strategies which may become beneficial in human cardiac disease

Implementation Action Plan for organic food and farming research

The Implementation Action Plan completes TP Organics’ trilogy of key documents of the Research Vision to 2025 (Niggli et al 2008) and the Strategic Research Agenda (Schmid et al 2009). The Implementation Action Plan addresses important areas for a successful implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda. It explores the strength of Europe’s organic sector on the world stage with about one quarter of the world’s organic agricultural land in 2008 and accounting for more than half of the global organic market. The aims and objectives of organic farming reflect a broad range of societal demands on the multiple roles of agriculture and food production of not only producing commodities but also ecosystem services. These are important for Europe’s economic success, the resilience of its farms and prosperity in its rural areas. The organic sector is a leading market for quality and authenticity: values at the heart of European food culture. Innovation is important across the EU economy, and no less so within the organic sector. The Implementation Action Plan devotes its third chapter to considering how innovation can be stimulated through organic food and farming research and, crucially, translated into changes in business and agricultural practice. TP Organics argues for a broad understanding of innovation that includes technology, know-how and social/organisational innovations. Accordingly, innovation can involve different actors throughout the food sector. Many examples illustrate innovations in the organic sector includign and beyond technology. The various restrictions imposed by organic standards have driven change and turned organic farms and food businesses into creative living laboratories for smart and green innovations and the sector will continue to generate new examples. The research topics proposed by TP Organics in the Strategic Research Agenda can drive innovation in areas as wide ranging as production practices for crops, technologies for livestock, food processing, quality management, on-farm renewable energy or insights into the effects of consumption of organic products on disease and wellbeing and life style of citizens. Importantly, many approaches developed within the sector are relevant and useful beyond the specific sector. The fourth chapter addresses knowledge management in organic agriculture, focusing on the further development of participatory research methods. Participatory (or trans-disciplinary) models recognise the worth and importance of different forms of knowledge and reduced boundaries between the generators and the users of knowledge, while respecting and benefitting from transparent division of tasks. The emphasis on joint creation and exchange of knowledge makes them valuable as part of a knowledge management toolkit as they have the capacity to enhance the translation of research outcomes into practical changes and lead to real-world progress. The Implementation Action Plan argues for the wider application of participatory methods in publicly-funded research and also proposes some criteria for evaluating participatory research, such as the involvement and satisfaction of stakeholders as well as real improvements in sustainability and delivery of public goods/services. European agriculture faces specific challenges but at the same time Europe has a unique potential for the development of agro-ecology based solutions that must be supported through well focused research. TP Organics believes that the most effective approaches in agriculture and food research will be systems-based, multi- and trans-disciplinary, and that in the development of research priorities, the interconnections between biodiversity, dietary diversity, functional diversity and health must be taken into account. Chapter five of the action plan identifies six themes which could be used to organise research and innovation activities in agriculture under Europe’s 8th Framework Programme on Research Cooperation: • Eco-functional intensification – A new area of agricultural research which aims to harness beneficial activities of the ecosystem to increase productivity in agriculture. • The economics of high output / low input farming Developing reliable economic and environmental assessments of new recycling, renewable-based and efficiency-boosting technologies for agriculture. • Health care schemes for livestock Shifting from therapeutics to livestock health care schemes based on good husbandry and disease prevention. • Resilience and “sustainagility” Dealing with a more rapidly changing environment by focusing on ‘adaptive capacity’ to help build resilience of farmers, farms and production methods. • From farm diversity to food diversity and health and wellbeing of citizens Building on existing initiatives to reconnect consumers and producers, use a ‘whole food chain’ approach to improve availability of natural and authentic foods. • Creating centres of innovation in farming communities A network of centres in Europe applying and developing trans-disciplinary and participatory scientific approaches to support innovation among farmers and SMEs and improving research capacities across Europe

1st INCF Workshop on Genetic Animal Models for Brain Diseases

The INCF Secretariat organized a workshop to focus on the “role of neuroinformatics in the processes of building, evaluating, and using genetic animal models for brain diseases” in Stockholm, December 13–14, 2009. Eight scientists specialized in the fields of neuroinformatics, database, ontologies, and brain disease participated together with two representatives of the National Institutes of Health and the European Union, as well as three observers of the national INCF nodes of Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom

Disease Surveillance Networks Initiative Global: Final Evaluation

In August 2009, the Rockefeller Foundation commissioned an independent external evaluation of the Disease Surveillance Networks (DSN) Initiative in Asia, Africa, and globally. This report covers the results of the global component of the summative and prospective1 evaluation, which had the following objectives:[1] Assessment of performance of the DSN Initiative, focused on its relevance, effectiveness/impact, and efficiency within the context of the Foundation's initiative support.[2] Assessment of the DSN Initiative's underlying hypothesis: robust trans-boundary, multi-sectoral/cross-disciplinary collaborative networks lead to improved disease surveillance and response.[3] Assessment of the quality of Foundation management (value for money) for the DSN Initiative.[4] Contribute to the field of philanthropy by:a. Demonstrating the use of evaluations in grantmaking, learning and knowledge management; andb. Informing the field of development evaluation about methods and models to measure complex networks

Nonhuman Primate Models of Respiratory Disease: Past, Present, and Future.

The respiratory system consists of an integrated network of organs and structures that primarily function for gas exchange. In mammals, oxygen and carbon dioxide are transmitted through a complex respiratory tract, consisting of the nasal passages, pharynx, larynx, and lung. Exposure to ambient air throughout the lifespan imposes vulnerability of the respiratory system to environmental challenges that can contribute toward development of disease. The importance of the respiratory system to human health is supported by statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; in 2015, chronic lower respiratory diseases were the third leading cause of death in the United States. In light of the significant mortality associated with respiratory conditions that afflict all ages of the human population, this review will focus on basic and preclinical research conducted in nonhuman primate models of respiratory disease. In comparison with other laboratory animals, the nonhuman primate lung most closely resembles the human lung in structure, physiology, and mucosal immune mechanisms. Studies defining the influence of inhaled microbes, pollutants, or allergens on the nonhuman primate lung have provided insight on disease pathogenesis, with the potential for elucidation of molecular targets leading to new treatment modalities. Vaccine trials in nonhuman primates have been crucial for confirmation of safety and protective efficacy against infectious diseases of the lung in a laboratory animal model that recapitulates pathology observed in humans. In looking to the future, nonhuman primate models of respiratory diseases will continue to be instrumental for translating biomedical research for improvement of human health