== South-South Initiative for Tropical Disease Research ==

TDR supported South-South Initiative for Tropical Diseases Research
Executive summary of the Report of Activities

The executive summary covers the activities of the SSI since inception, its achievements, planned activites and fund request for continuation of the initiative in 2005/2006.
Detailed reports of each activites are provided in annex and indicated appropriately in the executive summary.

The South-South Initiative (SSI) for Tropical Diseases Research is an initiative of the Committee of Pathogenesis and Applied Genomics committee of TDR, launched in 2001, in response to an identified need to promote the utilization of common resources, applications of cutting-edge technologies, and sharing information and complementary expertise among scientists and institutions in disease endemic countries (DECs), as well as to harness the diverse research and training capability for understanding the diseases and for developing new interventions.

The first SSI Workshop was held in Harare, Zimbabwe (12-15 March, 2001) and was attended by 15 invited participants. Other participants from a Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM/TDR) Meeting held at the same time also joined the workshop. In this meeting the specific aims of the initiative were formulated. It was defined that the SSI intends to promote intercontinental technical and intellectual interaction amongst DECs researchers. Inter-regional (or intra-country) collaborations will also be stimulated when focusing on unique local issues and requirements. The SSI will assist in the development of research and training proposals. The types of research proposals should provide opportunity for technology sharing in a broad range of disciplines in tropical disease research. Each proposal must clearly demonstrate equal partnership and complementary expertise in technology and field research. The training activities should include cutting-edge technology, theoretical and practical courses and attended by students from DECs. The report of the first workshop was presented to PAG Committee.

The second SSI workshop was held in Tunis, Tunisia (31 March – 2 April, 2002) and was attended by 17 participants, including two members of PAG (Dr. R. Correa de Oliveira and Dr. W. Sirawaraporn), two facilitators (Dr. P. LoVerde and Dr. S. Melville) invited to assist in training on proposal writing and access to international funding resources. Four members of WHO/TDR staff also attended the workshop. In this workshop, four invited proposals were presented. A Coordination Committee was named constituted by Drs. B. Zingales (general coordinator); I. Guizani (coordinator for Africa); W. Sirawaraporn (coordinator for Asia) and R. Correa de Oliveira (coordinator for Latin America). Several points were discussed in relation to the identification of indicators of success, flaws and gaps and strategies for finding other funding sources. After the workshop, Dr. Zingales revised the four proposals to be submitted to PAG Committee. Two of these proposals were selected and funded by the PAG committee during its annual meeting. The report of this second workshop of SSI was presented to PAG Committee at that meeting.

The third SSI workshop was held in Cape Town, South Africa South Africa (23 – 26 April, 2003). Letters of intent (LOIs) were solicited before the meeting in order to expand the scope of applications. Nine researchers from selected LOIs were invited to present their full proposals. Dr. P. LoVerde and Dr. S. Melville served as facilitators for the proposal writing workshop. The progress reports of the two SSI proposals funded by PAG Committee were presented. The name of the initiative was changed to South-South Initiative for Tropical Diseases Research. One proposal of the selected LOIs discussed in the workshop was subsequently selected and funded by PAG Committee. The plan of activities for 2003-2004 contemplated (i) the creation of the webpage of SSI; (ii) the official announcement of the Initiative by TDR; (iii) the creation of a database of researchers of DECs; (iv) a call for LOIs and (v) the search of additional funds.

The fourth SSI-TDR workshop was held in Accra, Ghana (17-21, August 2004) with two days devoted to coordination meeting, review and assessment of progress on the initiative. In the Coordination Meeting (August 17-18th ), several points were discussed in relation to (i) identification of indicators of success, flaws and gaps; (ii) strategies for finding other funding sources; (iii) critical assessment of the value of the SSI-TDR; (iv) definition of the work plan for 2004-2005; and (v) further development and maintenance of SSI web page. The Coordinators developed strategies to meet the challenges and to address and bridge the gaps. A condensed report (DOC. 1) and a full report (DOC. 2) have been prepared and attached.

The workshop (August 19-20th) was attended by seven PIs of DECs whose LOIs had been selected; four PIs who are currently funded by the PAG Committee; four facilitators for grant writing (Drs. P. Loverde, C. Clayton, I. Quakyi and W. Sirawaraporn); and the members of the Coordination Committee. The activities developed during the workshop included: progress report of ongoing funded projects; oral presentation of the proposals of selected LOIs; proposal writing activities under supervision of the facilitators and oral presentation and discussions of updated new proposals. A full report has been prepared and is attached (DOC. 3).

Dr. W. Sirawaraporn was requested to develop the SSI-TDR website (www.ssi-tdr.net) that is hosted at the Center for Bioinformatics and Applied Genomics (CBAG) at Mahidol University. The website is serving as a resource to obtain information about the initiative, member registration, announcements, protocols, training courses and training materials. Since June 18, 2003 the SSI website has received almost 5,000 visitors with over 80% from Africa. As of 28 February 2005, 213 researchers have registered as members of the initiative.

The Coordinators identified challenges and gaps of the Initiative and discussed the mechanisms and the strategies to meet the challenges and to bridge the gaps.

Development of workshops - Following the initial objectives of SSI and believing that the initiative has reached the necessary maturity to expand its activities, not only to promote research collaboration among scientists in the South, but also to strengthen their research capability and human resource development, the SSI proposes to organize two workshops/meetings. During these workshops, the selected members of SSI together with international experts in the field will develop a framework and proposals for two projects, which will involve diverse collaborating research groups in DC and DECs, targeting a better understanding of the diseases processes and the identification of diagnostics tools, therapeutic targets and/or vaccine candidates using comparative genomics, functional genomics, transcriptome, proteomics and/or metabolomics approaches. A workplan will be developed, which will facilitate using the proposed program concept to seek funds from donors to support research groups/institutions in both DC and DECs that will participate in the implementation of the projects. The group will also develop mechanisms and frameworks for the selection of the research groups/institutions, the implementation of the projects and the promotion of technology transfer and sharing. Two meetings will be needed to initiate the project and to follow up on it progress after one year. (See details in the attached DOC. 4). A proposal was developed to hold these meetings in the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy. In case of positive evaluation of the application for the first meeting, the center will provide free access to the center facility accomodation and travel grants for the participants from DECs. TDR will be requested to support the travel of DC participants (1 from Australia, 2 from the States and 1 from UK) balance of DEC if not all covered.

Traininig workshops on cutting edge technologies. The SSI has been invited to join in the current negotiations between TDR and other funding agencies for holding a series of workshops sponsored jointly by these agencies. TDR, EMBO and Howard Hughes Foundation will be sponsoring a second workshop on transfections in malaria. The joint approach is valuable and represents a potential mechanism to ensure the sustainable expansion of implementation of advanced research technologies in areas of interest and priorities of the SSI.

Maintenance and Improvement of the SSI webpage. Since its launch in 2003 the webpage has been regularly updated using different sources of information useful to investigators in DECs. The maintenance of the site is presently achieved to incorporate capacity building approach costing 5,000 USD a year. Dr. W. Sirawaraporn has enlisted the services of an MSC student involvedin bioinformatics and computer training to facilitate activities on the website. An estimate for maintaining the site during the next 3 years (rent, personnel, maintenance, informatics…) through this mechanism is attached. Following on the discussions about the future challenges to address, the SSI webpage could support the development of a database among SSI scientists. (See additional information in DOC. 2).

Fifth Workshop of the SSI. The annual workshops are fundamental for the goals of the Initiative as they serve as an important venue for potentially assisting investigators and identifying leading edge technologies that could be introduced to DECs investigators through training workshops. It also provides opportunities to review and assess success of activities of SSI as well as validating the agenda for the subsequent phases of development of the initiatives. The next workshop and meeting of SSI are planned to occur in Bangkok (Thailand) in October 2005. Dr. Sirawaraporn has agreed to be the host and local organizer of the workshop. A call for LOIs will be launched in May 2005. For support to this activity, funds have been requested from the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Nevertheless the support of the PAG Committee is fundamental to sustain the SSI activities and infrastructure. This year, SSI will also be inviting representatives of other funding agencies in order to explore additional support for the initiative.