4.5
Tropical diseases
Keywords
Communicable diseases, therapeutics, clinical trials,
maternal health, child health, vaccines
Expertise
The University has a long history of involvement in
developing country/tropical medicine research, with
particular expertise in clinical research. In partnership with
the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine the University
runs the Wellcome Trust Tropical Centre and the Malawi-
Liverpool-Wellcome Trust clinical research programme
in Blantyre, Malawi. This programme is a major
overseas research focus of the Wellcome Trust and an
internationally recognised centre in the field of tropical
disease research.
The breadth of our research activities includes the
studies of health systems, medical anthropology, applied
epidemiology, clinical trials and the development and
testing of therapeutics and diagnostics. We also perform
detailed microbiological and immunological studies
to understand the basis of disease processes. We
complement our human health research with activities
in tropical veterinary medicine.
Our research portfolio includes respiratory infections,
gastro-intestinal infections, neurological disease, severe
bacterial infections, HIV, tuberculosis, maternal and child
health and infectious threats to food security. In response
to the changing demographics in the developing world
we launched new research into key non-communicable
disease which have a growing incidence in less
developed regions of the world.
Our established long-term partnerships, coupled with
the depth and range of biological research skills and
the broad experience of our staff allow us to provide
‘
one-stop’ access to developing country and tropical
disease research.
Capabilities and facilities
•
Vaccine trials and tropical disease studies through
the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical
Research programme
•
Undergraduate and post-graduate medical training in
Malawi (eg joint Malawi-Liverpool PhDs)
•
International clinical partnerships and research
collaborations
•
Ethical, multidisciplinary research in developing
countries with a strong focus on development
•
UK laboratory facilities for infection studies
•
Experience of hosting researchers or transferring
staff, skills and experience to developing countries.
Relevant centres and groups
•
Wellcome Trust Tropical Centre
•
Centre for Genomic Research
•
BBSRC Proteomics Facility
•
National Centre for Zoonosis Research
•
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Health & Wellbeing
28
