7^th Call for Proposals:
Small Grants Program for
Operational Research in Tropical Diseases

Deadline for receipt of proposals: 31 December 2002

Purpose

The 7th Call for Proposals of the Small Grants Program for Operational Research on Tropical Diseases is a joint initiative of the Program on Control of Communicable Diseases (HCT) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) of the World Health Organization (WHO), the UNDP/World Bank/WHO, Roll Back Malaria Initiative/WHO, and the PAHO-USAID Amazon Network for Monitoring Antimalarial Drug Resistance. Its purpose is to promote, technically support and finance research related to the control of dengue, malaria, tuberculosis, Chagas disease, geohelminthiasis and schistosomiasis in the Region of the Americas.

Objetives

The initiative seeks to develop research capability to be jointly carried out by public health and research institutions in the Americas. The joint design and execution of applied research, based on solid methodological principles, will provide evidence and a basis for determining health policies.

To whom is it directed?

The initiative is directed at junior investigators for work in endemic areas, preferably graduate students in health and health professionals linked to control programs.

Selection and Criteria

The proposals will be submitted to a review committee comprised of experts in the respective areas to recommend financing.

The proposals will be selected competitively based on:

1. criteria of scientific merit;
2. the relevance of the topic, and the opportunity for developing research capacity programs for the prevention and control of dengue, malaria, tuberculosis, leishmaniasis. onchocerciasis, geohelminthiasis and schistosomiasis;
3. the priority lines of research that appear at the end of this document;
4. proposals having been prepared jointly between the disease control program’s institution and a research and development institution;
5. contribution to the development of research capacity.

The proposals selected for financing will be announced via this web page after 15 March 2003.

How to Apply

Interested parties should fill out and present application forms found on the WHO/TDR website. A research protocol should be attached to the forms. It may not exceed 20 letter-size pages, including the bibliography.

Support and Project Duration

More than one proposal will be considered per country. However, the budget for each proposal should be limited to no more than US$ 10,000. The research is to be completed in one year, with a maximum deadline of 18 months for the final report.

Formalities for Presenting Proposals

The proposal should be presented, jointly with a letter or intent and the application forms established for the competition, and should be sent by e-mail to Dr. Zaida Yadón by 31 December 2002 as an attachment in MS Word for Windows format. It can be written in any of the official languages of PAHO (Spanish, English, Portuguese, and French).

It can be also sent by special delivery mail with a diskette containing the document in MS Word for Windows. However, it must be postmarked 23 December 2002 or earlier and sent to this address:

Dr. Zaida Yadón Communicable Disease Program (HCT) Call for Small Grants Proposals for Operational Research in Tropical Diseases Pan American Health Organization 525 23rd Street, NW Washington, DC 20037-2895, USA

Deadline for receipt of proposals: 31 December 2002

Priority Lines of Research

Chagas Disease

1. Epidemiological studies of the disease that will serve as the basis to guide prevention and control transmission activities.
1. Acute cases and the dynamic of household transmission.
2. Seroepidemiological indicators of the household transmission cycle
3. Comparative studies of seroprevalence in pediatric age groups in different situations of triatomine infestation.
2. Evaluation of different types of community action in epidemiological surveillance.
1. Communities and infestation notification systems.
2. IEC and community participation in entomological surveillance.
3. Role of the primary school in triatomine infestation control with participation of the community.
3. Cost-effectiveness/cost-benefit analysis of interventions for prevention and control.
4. Comparison of different modalities of interventions to prevent and control the transmission of the disease in the blood transfusion services.
5. Evaluation of field test of new diagnostic methods.

Dengue

1. Evaluation of social action interventions in dengue control.
2. Cost-effectiveness/cost-benefit analysis of dengue control interventions.
3. Use of geographic data in dengue control programs.

Tuberculosis

1. Percentage of patients with respiratory symptoms (RS) among adults over 15 years of age in outpatient consultations.
2. Prevalence of HIV among TB patients and prevalence of TB among HIV/AIDS patients.
3. Behavior/epidemiological evolution of TB in indigenous populations.
4. Prevalence of TB in closed populations (specifically prisons).

Malaria

Diagnosis

1. Local clinical and epidemiological research on specific criteria for diagnosing P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria.
2. Cost-effectiveness of rapid diagnostic tests.
3. Development of community based techniques for the transmission control
4. Development of community based techniques for the surveillance against the reintroduction of the transmission at local, regional and national level.

Studies between Countries

1. Possibility of studying specific phenomena in border areas that have an impact on the occurrence of malaria.
2. Studies on the compatibility of common therapy schemes between countries.
3. Studies on integrating information systems.

Treatment

1. Factors that influence health care at the peripheral level and the availability of antimalarial drugs.
2. The relationship between the behavior of people who seek care an other risk factors for developing complicated, severe malaria (adherence and compliance).
3. Factors that affect results of care as they relate to interaction between the health worker and the patient (for example, patient counseling).
4. The behavior of people who seek care and its relation to the cost of treatment and adherence to it.
5. Development of new approaches to improve care for and treatment of malaria in the home, including increasing mothers' ability to recognize and to attend the signals and symptoms of severe malaria.
6. Studies related to formal and informal networks of distribution of anti-malaria including aspects of quality, potency, purity and false products.

Prevention of Malaria in Pregnancy

1. Development and evaluation of effective strategies for protecting women during pregnancy.
2. Study on treatment during pregnancy.

Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets

1. Identification of local epidemiological situations and risk groups where use of mosquito’s nets to intercept vectors could be effective.
2. Pilot studies in areas where this could be effective.
3. Innovative alternatives without use of insecticides for vector control.

Selective Vector Control

Monitoring of vector resistance to insecticides to help develop national policies on insecticide use in disease control.

Detection of Epidemics

1. Development of methods for prediction, early detection, and prevention of epidemics.
2. Analysis of past and current epidemics, including meteorological and demographic data, to identify the causes and develop appropriate interventions to reverse or eliminate basics factors and determine future actions.

Others

1. Integration of Malaria programs in the local health services.
2. Studies on mortality related to malaria.

Geohelminthiasis and Schistosomiasis

1. Development or adaptation of simple methods for monitoring drug resistance in soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis.
2. Development of test for rapid evaluation of the prevalence of intestinal schistosomiasis in highly endemic areas.
3. Recalculation of the Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) associated with schistosomiasis
4. Studies on the effectiveness and safety of larger dosages of a single drug and use of a drug cocktail against Trichuris trichiura to increase effectiveness of the regular therapy.
5. Studies on the effect of increasing the single dose of praziquantel to 60 mg/kg or more, preventing side effects and maintaining adherence.
6. Development of vaccines for hookworm, other nematodes and schistosomes.
7. Studies on how to relate active treatment to cost - recovery systems for drug supplies in heath systems.
8. Studies to examine the safety and effectiveness of currently co administering the antihelmintic drugs used; antihelmintics and micronutrient supplements; and antihelmintics and the drug administered during other programs.
9. Studies to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of administering anthelmintics to children aged 12-24 months.
10. Studies to improve data collection methods for local decision - making on hw to approach and implement intestinal parasite elimination programs.
11. Studies on how health education can best prevent reinfection.
12. Use of heminithiasis prevalence as a proxy indicator of poverty and poverty - related diseases.
13. Develop effective, feasible measures in (micro) control of focal transmissions, including mapping, use of molluscicides, and environmental management.

For posting or distribution purposes,
the above document can be downloaded and printed in MS Word.

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