Research & Pharm Solutions

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Le comité Qualité est garant de la politique Qualité de l'IPT: 
la politique Qualité version française

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African Consortium (ALC):

Developing a paradigm for eliminating neglected diseases in Africa

About ALC

The ALC was created in response to the call for proposals to the Welcome Trust and The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, joint program managed by the Science For Africa Foundation (SFA). This consortium supports collaborative research led by Africa-based scientists with the goal of advancing scientific research across Africa. It aims to groom the next generation of research and public health leaders who can drive locally relevant, high-quality health research that influences science, policy, and practice in Africa and globally. The program has a pan-African scope, including North, West and East African, Francophone and Anglophone, countries.

Hosted at the Institut Pasteur de Tunis (IPT), under the direction of Pr. Ikram Guizani, the ALC focuses on building leadership and excellence in science and public health to address challenges of controlling and eliminating leishmaniases in Africa. The IPT is the first institution in North Africa to be selected to lead a research consortium funded by the joint initiative of Welcome Trust and UKaid.

ALC is managed through a bilingual secretariat co-hosted at the IPT and at the University of Ibadan Research Foundation, under the guidance of ALC director and co-Director, Pr. Ayoade MJ Oduola.

ALC launch meeting and inception workshops May 2024

Rationale for ALC

Africa continues to struggle with numerous Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), including leishmaniases. This group of vector-borne parasitic diseases affects over 30,000 people annually, imposing a heavy burden on millions across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the poorest populations in North, East, and West Africa. This situation exacerbates cycles of poverty and impedes socio-economic development. Over the past decades, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) outbreaks have resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 Africans. Despite notable progress in the last 30 years, these diseases persist due to various challenges, including limited resources, inadequate infrastructure, and insufficient access to healthcare services.

Addressing leishmaniases, which range from cutaneous to visceral forms, requires a comprehensive and multifaceted approach. Effective control programs must include accurate patient diagnosis and treatment, robust vector surveillance, and the identification of high-risk populations and regions. Preventive measures should encompass active detection, mass drug administration, vector control, improved sanitation, and health education. Strengthening healthcare systems to ensure access to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care is also essential.

In addition to these strategies, community engagement in NTD control and elimination efforts is crucial. Training local healthcare workers and volunteers, utilizing innovative technologies for surveillance and data collection, and fostering collaboration between governments, international organizations, NGOs, research institutions, and local communities will enhance the effectiveness of interventions. Advocacy to raise awareness about the burden of leishmaniases and the need for sustained investment in control and elimination efforts is also vital.

ALC objectives

The African Leishmaniases Consortium (ALC) aims to create a comprehensive program based on a holistic approach with four main pillars, each addressing specific goals : Scientific quality, research leadership, Infrastructure, Management and Research Culture, Scientific Citizenship.

Our scientific objectives are:

1. Advancing science and technology: We focus on applying recent developments in genomics and artificial intelligence to develop new tools and strategies for controlling and monitoring leishmaniases.
2. Improving diagnosis and management: We aim to use these new tools to enhance the diagnosis of the disease, manage patient care more effectively, and improve vector control.
3. Mapping and risk prediction: We work on creating detailed maps to track disease distribution and predict risk areas, which will be useful for program planning and implementation.
4. Strategic research and policy development: We are establishing a Think Tank to conduct strategic research and use evidence to develop effective policies and strategies for controlling

They will be achieved through a continuum of research projects that are framed by 7 research priority project networks (RPPN) each focused on a dedicated research area that will support the research training of PhDs, Postdocs and Mid-career Researchers. Twenty-eight fellows will be competitively selected for support through different rounds of call for applications.

ALC will also establish a signature workshops program and a Think Tank that will translate research outputs into asset-based policy options and imperatives.

ALC Leaders

The African Leishmaniases Consortium (ALC) consists of eight partner institutions from eight countries in Africa and Spain. The consortium’s activities are led by:

• Pr. Ikram Guizani from the Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisia, as Director
• Pr. Ayoade MJ. Oduola from the University of Ibadan Research Foundation, Nigeria, as Co-Director
• Dr. Meryem Lemrani from the Institut Pasteur du Maroc
• Dr. Elisa Sicuri from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain
• Pr. Nuria Casamitjana from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain
• Pr. Seydou Doumbia from the University Clinical Research Center - USTTB, Mali
• Pr. Maowia Mukhtar from the Bioscience Research Institute, Sudan
• Dr Endalamaw Gadisa from the Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Ethiopia
• Dr. Kamal Eddine Benallal from the Institut Pasteur d'Algérie

The ALC leverages the leadership, complementary strengths, and expertise of its partners to achieve its goals.

Funders

• Science For Africa Foundation (SFA)
• Welcome Trust,
• Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

 ALC actuality

ALC is excited to announce the upcoming launch of fellowship calls. These fellowships are designed for PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and early/middle-career researchers who are committed to contributing to the fight against Leishmaniases. For more information and to apply, please visit our Fellowships calls page.

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About

At VISION, we aim to translate data into life-changing biologicals, for the benefit of local populations. VISION strategy relies on bridging up academic and non-academic practices, skills and resources between widening (WICs) and non-widening partnering countries to empower their R&I skills and environment. VISION has the will to enable the WICs scientific community to wisely identify and exploit the huge potential of research data that bear great promise for a biologics/mRNA vaccine development. Such an objective will not only allow WICs to keep pace with the rapidly changing vaccinology deployment, but it will also foster the discovery of innovative bioproducts and approaches, therefore consolidating WICs regional positioning in terms of R&D. Through VISION, the WICs partners will reinforce their intrinsic smart specialization orientations, given their strategic partnership with European and regional non-academic entities. Here, we aim to contribute more proactively to the local and regional innovation policies, by making VISION a spot of regional open innovation platforms, where academia, government, industry, and civil participants work together to drive structural changes far beyond the project scope. In doing so, VISION perfectly adheres to the vision and expectation of the WIC governments, which urges researchers to enhance the socio-economic impact of their research activities.

Impact

The project will pave the way to a local empowerment and impact through several key impact pathways. A direct impact is envisioned on academic and non-academic talents in the three WICs partners that will act as key actors and game changers in mRNA vaccine and biologics development and R&I empowerment. Through this newly established ecosystem, the economic sector, with an emphasis on R&I, will enable the creation of highly competitive business cores including start-ups. Other impact pathways are expected on policy making towards improving laws, policies and regulations/ethics pertaining to mRNA vaccines and biologics manufacturing in widening countries. Finally, based on open science and RRI, the general public will benefit from the implementation of a complete ecosystem of collaborative work between various stakeholders for the adoption of R&I concepts and the development of sustainable solutions for citizen health problems.

VISION Strategic Objectives

VISION intends to achieve its goals by creating a thriving and sustainable R&I environment, and by placing dedicated personnel as Talents at the center of a R&I strategy to sustainably foster scientific excellence with concrete beneficial socio-economic outcomes. In this endeavor, VISION will address the following Strategic Objectives (SO).

SO1. Increase R&I capabilities in Widening countries (WICs) to become a premium spot at capturing the economic and social benefits from scientific research. We will create a networking R&I think tank of experts from Widening (IPT, TK) and European (IP, CRG) excellence academic institutions, as well as private entities in Widening countries (CI, DA) and Europe (MER, QT). The consortium will produce a roadmap on activities and regulatory framework supporting a R&I system to bridge the existing gaps between discovery, development and validation of mRNA vaccines and biologics and unleash the potential to address pressing health challenges, while considering the current strengths and weaknesses of R&I support systems at partnering countries.

SO2. Place IPT in pole position as a Training Hub for R&I activities, bridging non-widening European academic and non-academic healthcare entities with their Widening counterparts. This will be achieved by setting up an efficient, high-performance, and sustainable Training platform with both seconded personnel and a dynamic set of human resources dedicated to training purposes and mentoring.

SO3. Promote a sustainable Widening R&D environment through continued mentoring and secondment of skilled young researchers. We will cultivate an ecosystem to foster data-driven research and innovation, market-oriented research, entrepreneurial spirit and a business development culture to ensure increased socio-economic impact. VISION will nurture a cross-sectoral ecosystem to drive the national health biotech R&I system into a smart specialization strategy, as well as updating, improving, and adapting R&I policies, regulation  and legislation at both the national and regional levels, with the goal to address the needs and expectations of the society

SO4. Instill a Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) spirit among community members, by communicating to stakeholders and promoting an increased interaction with the society at large with a more effective contribution to communication and dissemination. A special focus will be devoted to ethics, open science and public engagement

WP Objectives

Implementing the VISION project will be conducted following the presented diagram in Figure 2 (see Excellence section). The project is designed to strengthen vaccine and biologics development and manufacturing in widening partners through the implementation of a capacity building program based on mobilities and training to tailor WICs talents with required skills. Within WP2, the Training Hub aims to provide appropriate modules to address in-demand and lifelong needs by matching intersectoral valances (WP2). Benchmarking and gap analysis will be performed in WP3 and WP4 to have an in-depth assessment of the gaps and capacities and make appropriate matchmaking among the participant competencies to implement a relevant secondment/intersectoral mobility schedule for the reinforcement of mRNA technologies and mastering preclinical and clinical studies according to international ethical and regulatory guidelines and frameworks (WP5). VISION will provide a perfect opportunity to set up intersectoral interactions to foster a favorable environment of translational research, biobusiness and development entrepreneurship (WP6) with the aim to foster the dynamics of socio-economic actors (new knowledge, new medicine practices, ethics, creation of new markets, general public). A well-defined management and decision schema (WP1) will ensure the continuous partners’ support to VISION with a smooth interaction and waterfall execution. Due consideration will be provided to synergistic actions and connection among the WPs to ensure an efficient consolidation of the WPs outcomes. Furthermore, through VISION, IPT will set up key measures to foster a favorable environment of translational research, biobusiness and development entrepreneurship (WP6), while sustainably maintaining VISION achievements at high performance levels within and beyond the project period. In addition, a separate work package will be dedicated to go further in the exploitation of the impact that communication and dissemination should create by targeting specifically, citizens, start ups, industries, policy makers and funding agencies and exploit new participatory tools to support the implementation of collaborative work which focus on sustainable solutions related to R&I (WP7).The VISION scheme is essentially promoting innovative inter-sectoral collaboration in R&I through a various and rich cross-sectoral exchange of staff, with a focus on widening partners. This diverse and heterogeneous consortia will hence develop an intersectoral talent circulation at the benefit of widening partners, allowing collaboration with each other and participating in mutual (academic vs non-academic and widening vs non-widening) learning exercises.

Partners

Widening Countries

Institut Pasteur de Tunis (IPT), Academic, Tunisia

Connect’Innov (CI), Non-Academic, Tunisia

Darnitsa DA), Non-Academic, Ukraine

Institute for Virology, Vaccines and Sera Torlak (TK), Academic, Serbia

Non-Widening Countries

Institut Pasteur (DARRI / CRT / Biomics) (IP), Academic, France

Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Academic, Spain

Quantoom Biosciences (QT), Non-Academic, Belgium

Merck Life Science (MER), Non-Academic, France