Duke Receives Four-Year, $4M NIAID Grant To Study HIV, Infectious Diseases in Tanzania
Duke University Medical Center on Tuesday announced it has received a four-year, $4 million NIH grant to study infectious diseases among HIV-positive people in Tanzania, the AP/NBC17.com reports (AP/NBC17.com, 8/24). The grant, which is the first and only one to be awarded this year through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' International Studies of AIDS-Associated Co-Infections program, will be used to develop inexpensive and low-tech methods of testing and diagnosing infectious diseases that often affect HIV-positive people. At least 60% of the grant will be spent in Tanzania, and the majority of the funds will go toward establishing a medical research infrastructure, including investment in equipment, laboratory space and training. The researchers plan to study which infectious diseases are most common among HIV-positive people in the area, how often those diseases occur and how the diseases affect the morbidity and mortality of AIDS patients in the region. About 10% of the people in the northeast Tanzanian region, where the research will be conducted, are HIV-positive (Duke release, 8/24). "This grant moves Duke to the forefront of working in international health," Dr. John Bartlett, Duke medical center professor and principal investigator, said (AP/NBC17.com, 8/24).
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