Planning enteric infection research in south India

Christian Medical College, Vellore

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this planning grant is to enable submission of a Global Infectious Disease Research and Training application in 2005. We aim to establish training in enteric infectious diseases-related research based on a longstanding and ongoing collaborative partnership between investigators at Tufts-New England Medical Center T-NEMC)/Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and our institution, Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital, Vellore, India, which has a strong independent and collaborative medical research program. The aims of this planning grant are to: (1) permit consultation with T-NEMC/TUSM and CMC faculty to design and carry out a needs assessment for enteric infectious disease research to enhance and complement existing research at CMC; (2) enable the Program Director to consult with CMC and T-NEMC/TUSM collaborators to define the short-,medium- and long-term training components which will be required to address the identified needs. (3) faciliate faculty and administrative interactions to define roles and commitments to mentored research that complements ongoing NIH-funded research in order to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in support of national and international policies for disease control and prevention; (4) prepare training programs to successfully compete for NIH funding; and (5) plan to develop CMC as a regional center of excellence for infectious disease research training, increasing global infrastructure and capacity for dealing with endemic and emerging infectious diseases. This planning grant will focus on identification of the requirements to build a research infrastructure that will promote interdisciplinary study of enteric infection, from epidemiology and pathogenesis to treatment and prevention, building around the available core of expertise within CMC with multidisciplinary collaboration faculty at T-NEMC/TUSM.