Neglected Global Diseases Initiative at UBC

innovation.ubc.ca/news/june-06...
@news.ubc.ca @innovationubc.bsky.social @msfaccess.org @medicinespatentpool.org @isntd.org @who.int @dndi.org @uaemcy.bsky.social @petersinger.bsky.social @jodyvance.bsky.social

Canadian researchers have developed a groundbreaking treatment for “black fever” parasitic disease! The Wasan lab is working to get a new oral medication into the hands of those who need it. x.com/CIHR_IRSC/st...

There's been a lot of discussion lately around mRNA vaccines.

Learn about them from mRNA researcher & Nobel Prize winner Prof. Katalin Karikó.

Science, solutions & solidarity.

Just out: LSTM’s blog post on our latest paper exploring how nitisinone kills malaria mosquitoes, even the resistant ones, through tarsal contact.

From rare disease drug to vector control tool.

@aacostaserrano.bsky.social

📄 Paper: doi.org/10.1186/s130...

#malaria #vectorcontrol #entomology #HPPD

FGS film FIG

Do you know about Female Genital Schistosomiasis? It's a neglected condition that affects 56Million women and girls. It is one of the most overlooked sexual and reproductive health issues in Sub-saharan Africa. Learn more about the role you can play in tackling FGS - bit.ly/FIG-schisto

Targeting a Vaccine

Please read and share explainer on #MRNA #vaccines
#medsky
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/b...

Building bridges for global health: UBC SPPH and Kenya’s AMIU sign landmark cooperation agreement - UBC School of Population and Public Health The UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and Amref International University (AMIU) in Kenya sign Statement of Cooperation to address global health challenges through collaborative researc...

Exciting news! The UBC School of Population and Public Health and Amref International University in Kenya have signed a Statement of Cooperation to address #GlobalHealth challenges through collaborative research and education.

Learn more about the partnership: bit.ly/4lqtvZK

SPPH’s new Master of Global Health program reframes global health for today’s complex, interconnected challenges. Learn why this matters and how you can be part of the solution: spph.ubc.ca/mgh/

Dr. Aslam Anis, SPPH Director, and Dr. Khumbo Kalua, Global Health Program Director, visited Amref International University in Nairobi to advance our partnership in global health education and research, including field placements for UBC’s new MGH program. Read more: spph.ubc.ca/spph-strengt...

Great Research by NGDI UBC Co-Founder Dr. Bob Hancock. How research on newborns in West Africa led to the development of a tool in Canada that predicts a deadly condition in babies worldwide cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54375.html
@canadahealthwatch.ca @msf.ca @petersinger.bsky.social

Survival of Transplanted Allogeneic Beta Cells with No Immunosuppression | NEJM The need to suppress a patient’s immune system after the transplantation of allogeneic cells is associated with wide-ranging side effects. We report the outcomes of transplantation of genetically m...

Important first-in-human report today for donor pancreatic islet beta-cell transplant to an individual w/Type 1 diabetes. With genome editing, there was no immune response induced or need for immunosuppression. Major implications for transplantation in general @nejm.org
www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

A recent study by @IDDOnews.bsky.social and @WHO.int has highlighted the need for more research on #noma, a fatal disease if left untreated. To improve the situation, the team call for standardised reporting, increased surveillance and earlier detection 🥼🔬

Learn more 👉 buff.ly/JjHoBfd

Upcoming Event 💡Sepsis Forum is back! Join us on October 23rd for a day of collaboration between sepsis researchers, clinicians, and survivors. Learn more and register for the event here: sepsis.ubc.ca/events/sepsi... #Sepsis #SepsisCare #SepsisForum

The contagion scale: which diseases spread fastest? How transmission rates shape our response to infectious disease threats.

An “extraordinarily virulent” virus that takes the number one spot on the list of the most infectious diseases on the planet is making a comeback. Check out this ranking of diseases from most to least infectious: bit.ly/4lds932

Public Health Success Is Fragile - The Return Of Measles Is Proof Measles is surging and vaccine hesitancy is up. In his book "Booster Shots," Dr Adam Ratner explains why measles is back and how we can control this deadly infectious killer.

When I was a medical resident in South India in the 1990s, I rarely saw kids with measles. And I did not see much of polio or diphtheria or whooping cough either. None of this was a matter of luck. It was because vaccination coverage in that region of India was high

www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...

Combo antiviral treatment benefits high-risk patients battling severe flu

Notably, the dual therapy group had significantly lower 28-day mortality compared to their monotherapy peers and was associated with a shorter viral shedding time.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/i...

@phinformatics.bsky.social is proud to welcome Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance Network (CHAMPS) to @taskforce.bsky.social! PHII is honored to be the coordinating informatics office for the CHAMPS program. 🛟 🧪

Study: Rapid nasal-swab test cuts anti-MRSA antibiotic use in pneumonia patients

Among hospitalized pneumonia patients, screening for MRSA colonization with a nasal swab-based rapid PCR test cut duration of anti-MRSA antibiotics by 2 days.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/a...

Canadian Researchers have developed a novel oral treatment for parasitic infections with funding from CIHR. @who.int @msf.ca @medicinespatentpool.org @lshtm.bsky.social

cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54163.html...

How many plasmids can bacteria carry? A synthetic biology perspective | Open Biology Plasmids are pinnacle tools in synthetic biology and other biotechnological applications. They serve as the simplest approach to introduce recombinant DNA, which is then transcribed into RNA that func...

How many #plasmids can #bacteria carry? royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Novel Bivalent mRNA‐LNP Vaccine for Highly Effective Protection against Pneumonic Plague (Adv. Sci. 26/2025) mRNA Vaccine Against Pneumonic Plague In article number 2501286, Dan Peer, Ofer Cohen, Emanuelle Mamroud, and co-workers show the design of an effective mRNA vaccine against pneumonic plague. The cov...

Researchers have developed an mRNA vaccine against the bacteria that causes plague.

advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

@skamrad.bsky.social @kiranrpatil.bsky.social show xenobiotics impact growth of gut bacteria and their metabolic homeostasis by affecting amine metabolism ➡️ www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

The source of dietary fat influences anti-tumour immunity in obese mice - Nature Metabolism This study shows that animal-based high-fat diets accelerate tumour growth and impair anti-tumour response to melanoma in obese mice, whereas plant-based high-fat diets do not.

The results of a study in Nature Metabolism highlight the significance of diet in maintaining a healthy immune system and suggest that modifying dietary fat may improve cancer outcomes in obesity. #medsky 🧪

Canadian researchers have developed a groundbreaking treatment for “black fever” parasitic disease! The Wasan lab is working to get a new oral medication into the hands of those who need it. x.com/CIHR_IRSC/st...

Lenacapavir PrEP ‘special cases’: young people, missed doses and drug interactions An entire session at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2025) in Kigali, Rwanda was devoted to the PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 studies of the six-monthly injectable PrEP dr...

More than 1 in 4 of the 1.8 million new HIV infections every year is in the 15-24 age range - making young people a prime target for long-acting injectable PrEP.
#IAS2025

Controversial drug ivermectin could be the key to reducing mosquito bites — and the spread of malaria As malaria spreads globally, the US has also seen a handful of homegrown cases in recent years for the first in decades.

Approximately 2,000 malaria cases a year are reported in the U.S. While the overall risk for Americans remains low, @johnshopkinsmmi.bsky.social Associate Professor Prakash Srinivasan comments on the importance of recognizing symptoms so you can act quickly if needed.

nypost.com/2025/07/31/h...

Open Letter: Vaccine-PLUS Strategy Needed for Measles Outbreaks | Ontario School Safety Dear Premier Ford, Dr. Moore, and Hon. Ministers Jones, Calandra, Piccini and Dunlop: We are writing on behalf of Ontario School Safety (OSS), a grassroots, fully volunteer organization dedicated to ...

In Ontario, Canada, @onschoolsafety.bsky.social tried to get govt and Public Health to adopt a #VaccinePLUS strategy to reduce spread. The science and data are there for it…but no takers:

www.ontarioschoolsafety.com/updates/open...

Please see our NGDI UBC Co-Founder Dr. Robert Hancock at this webinar event on March 25th
events.frontiersin.org/deciphering-...
@ubcpress.bsky.social @petersinger.bsky.social @madhupai.bsky.social

Congratulations to NGDI UBC Advisory Board Member Dr. Khumbo Kalua for his role in establishing this new relationship- Building bridges for global health: UBC SPPH and Kenya’s AMIU sign landmark cooperation agreement: spph.ubc.ca/building-bri...

NGDI UBC AI Research to Identify New Compounds to treat Emerging Infectious Diseases