Translational Medicine

Dr Nicola Burgess-Brown heads the Biotechnology Group at the SGC, which generates proteins suitable for structural and functional studies. Recombinant protein expression in host cells such as bacterial or insect cells facilitates the production of large amounts of proteins, which can be used for crystallisation to obtain the protein structure, or in cellular assays to look at their function. Collaborations with partners such as academics, industry and patient groups aim to find compounds that can be developed into potential drugs.

The development of new medicines is dependent on the identification of novel drug targets. CHEMICAL BIOLOGY

In the search for new medicines for cancer or inflammatory disorders, small molecules are invaluable tools for testing the activity of possible target proteins. Those small chemical compounds can also affect the morphology and phenotype of cell samples collected from patients, opening the possibility to develop new therapeutics.

Dr Direk Limmathurotsakul's research focuses on the epidemiology of melioidosis, a bacterial infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei. Melioidosis is endemic in at least 45 countries, but greatly under-reported. Up to 50% of cases seen in hospital die. Our researchers at MORU have produced a rapid diagnostic test that aims to improve both diagnosis and public awareness. Better coordination between researchers and policy makers is needed to face upcoming emerging infectious diseases.

Dr Claudia Turner heads the clinical research program at the Cambodia Oxford Medical Research Unit (COMRU), in collaboration with the Angkor Hospital for Children. Whereas children mortality has dramatically decreased over the past 15 years, almost half the remaining mortality still occurs during the first 4 weeks of age. Neonatology, or care of newborns, doesn't need to be difficult or expensive. Low cost intervertions involving communities, such as keeping babies warm, save lives.

Dr Chris Paton studies the use of open-source Electronic Health Records (EHR) software, online learning and mobile technology to improve healthcare delivery in low-resource settings. LEARNING HEALTH SYSTEM

In a learning health system, health care providers use electronic health records to identify problems, implement local solutions and check if the solutions are effective.

Health informatics, or the use of IT in healthcare, needs to find innovative solutions for low income settings, such as the use of open-source softwares and mobile technology. This approach has been used to deliver training to rural healthcare workers in Kenya.

With 390 million infections occuring each year, dengue is the most important mosquito-borne viral infection, and no vaccine is currently available. DENGUE

The majority of people infected with the dengue virus experience a flu-like febrile illness, but in a small proportion of patients, particularly children, the virus causes the blood vessels to become leaky which can induce shock and lead to death. Improved diagnosis and understanding of the disease process enable better outcomes for patients with severe dengue.

Growth hormones and cytokines regulate the key physiological processes of growth and differentiation as well as responses to injury and infection. FIBRODYSPLASIA OSSIFICANS PROGRESSIVA

Growth factors and signals are fundamental to many diseases. A single point mutation in the DNA coding for a bone morphogenetic protein is responsible for the development of FOP, a very debilitating disease where muscles are progressively turned into bones. Understanding these mechanisms allowed the selection of a drug, currently used to treat cancer, that may possibly be repurposed to treat FOP.

In pregnant women, severe malaria is responsible for high maternal mortality, and uncomplicated malaria results in in high morbidity. Professor Rose McGready works on the treatment and epidemiology of uncomplicated malaria in pregnancy. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable as pregnancy reduces the immunity to malaria, increasing the susceptibility to malaria infection and the risk of illness, severe anaemia and death. For the unborn child, maternal malaria increases the risk of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, premature delivery and low birth weight - a leading cause of child mortality.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are a stigmatised group in Africa, but a predominant actor in the transmission of HIV. Professor Eduard Sanders is interested in putting together public health interventions to reduce HIV transmission in vulnerable populations, facilitating the early diagnosis of acute HIV infections and preventing its further spread. He also researches bacterial sexually transmitted infections in high risk populations, and HIV-1 early treatment trials.

Misfolded proteins can either create the loss of a cellular function, or escape degradation, causing aggregation diseases. Dr John Christianson's research focusses on ER-associated degradation, which is responsible for clearing non-functional and orphan translation products. These processes play a central role in inherited diseases such a cystic fibrosis and various forms of cancer. Dr Christianson's long term goal is to identify novel points of interventions for cancer therapies.