Funded by Wellcome, ACORN (A Clinically-Oriented antimicrobial Resistance Network) is an AMR surveillance project that collects clinical and microbiology data on community- and hospital-acquired infections. ACORN will assess the impacts of AMR on the duration of hospitalisation and mortality in collaboration with the WHO Global AMR Surveillance System (GLASS) team.
OUCRU and HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases host a one-day research dissemination workshop for policy, healthcare, community, and research stakeholders. The workshop is the culmination of an OUCRU project: \u201cCommunity-based participatory research to promote engagement with underserved communities at risk of Hepatitis C virus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam\u201d.
OUCRU Public and Community Engagement team produced a video based on their project \u201cCommunity-based participatory research to promote engagement with underserved communities at risk of Hepatitis C virus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam\u201d. This video was made by community members of the community-based participatory research to the project. The video is in Vietnamese with English subtitles
The three presentations and expert discussion by Dr Rob Commons, Dr Alison Roth and Dr James Watson, chaired by Professor Sir Nicholas White (Mahidol Oxford Research Unit) and Dr Chau Nguyen Hoang (Oxford University Clinical Research Unit), are now available.
DART (Dengue Advanced Readiness Tools), is a new project supported by Wellcome to use climate data to better predict and prepare for infectious diseases outbreaks.
Photographs have the power to inform and engage viewers. Earlier this year,\u00a0The Lancet\u00a0invited submissions for Highlights, the publication\u2019s annual photography competition.\u00a0Highlights 2022\u00a0featured 14 winning photographs telling stories from a wide variety of health-related topics that captured the world\u2019s attention in 2022. One of the powerful images selected was\u00a0from Pearl Gan, OUCRU\u2019s Photographer in Residence.
The number of studies reporting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data has increased in Africa, South and South East Asia according to new research in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Researchers analysing clinical trial data for the new antimalarial drug tafenoquine find that higher doses are needed to cure reliably vivax malaria infection.
OUCRU Indonesia launches a new exhibition by photographer Yoppy Pieter based in Jakarta, Indonesia. This exhibition documents, through a series of intimate and beautiful images, the invisible burden of leprosy and other skin diseases in Sumba, an island in Nusa Tenggara Timor province, Indonesia.
November 18 \u2013 24 is World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. Antimicrobial resistance has been a key focus in OUCRU\u2019s research for many years. Our objective is to understand and improve antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in agriculture, the community, and hospitals. Our approach is interdisciplinary \u2013 led by a number of OUCRU\u2019s research groups and public engagement teams.
OUCRU\u2019s Public and Community Engagement team develops training and resources on the topic of stress management and communication skills. Run by the Public and Community Engagement team, the Youth Ambassadors programme also links young people to medical research that impacts their lives and connects researchers to the health issues that young people care about.
This online exhibition showcases short films and photographs created by health-care workers and community members and documents the socio-cultural impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam.
Today is World Hepatitis Day. OUCRU and hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have been collaborating on hepatitis C clinical trials since 2018. Our research is centred around predictive factors for selecting persons who could be successfully treated with shorter durations of antiviral therapy. OUCRU\u2019s social science and public engagement teams are currently working with underrepresented groups to create community-led strategies to link care and treatment for populations at risk for viral hepatitis. Our aim is to have a more significant impact on the treatment strategy and access to care for patients with hepatitis C in Vietnam and worldwide in the future.
OUCRU\u2019s Director, Professor Guy Thwaites, has recently contributed to an analysis of antibacterial agents in preclinical and clinical development by the World Health Organisation (WHO), as part of the WHO advisory group on research and development of antibacterial treatments.
OUCRU research article titled \u2018Combination of inflammatory and vascular markers in the febrile phase of dengue is associated with more severe outcomes\u2019 was recently awarded the 2021-2022 Alexandre Yersin Prize for Outstanding Publications.
Healthcare workers and community members in Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam have been documenting their personal experiences of Covid-19. They have each made their own \u2018digital diary\u2019, using a range of creative tools and with technical support from the project team. These diaries form part of the SPEAR project: exploring the experiences and impacts of COVID-19 for healthcare workers and vulnerable communities.
Sanaria Inc. announced that two new Phase 2 trials of its pioneering malaria vaccines have started. The first is in 6- to 10-year-old children living in Bancoumana, Mali, a malarious region of West Africa. The second is in Indonesian soldiers based in Sumatra, Indonesia. The soldiers will be deploying for six to nine months this coming August to an intensely malarious district in eastern Indonesia.
Our heartfelt congratulations to Melissa Kapulu, Francis Ndungu and Emelda Okiro from KWTRP, and to Hoa Thi Ngo and Sophie Yacoub from OUCRU who have been awarded Associate Professorships
A first-of-its kind randomised controlled trial compared two different antitoxin treatments for tetanus. A comparison of human and equine intramuscular antitoxin in adults found that intramuscular equine antitoxin is safe and effective for treating tetanus in adults. Addition of additional intrathecal (spinal) antitoxin does not add any benefit compared to treatment with intramuscular antitoxin alone.
The Eijkman Oxford Clinical Research Unit in Indonesia and Sumba Foundation collaborated with photographer Yoppy Pieter to express the human face of leprosy in Sumba, a remote island in eastern Indonesia. The project aimed to visualize the story of leprosy and raise awareness of this debilitating and heavily stigmatised disease
What do we mean by 'Research Culture' and how has fostering a multinational, collaborative culture helped us deliver world-class research? Let's explore the research culture at OUCRU.
Why does OUCRU place an important focus on engaging with its important partners, policy makers, the press, the community, and young people? Explore our work in policy & public engagement.
Each year on 24 March, World TB Day is commemorated to raise awareness of this devastating and deadly disease. The theme for this year\u2019s World TB Day is \u201cInvest to End TB. Save Lives\u201d, conveying the urgent need to invest resources to ramp up the fight against TB and achieve the commitments to end TB made by global leaders.
A triple artemisinin-based combination therapy (TACT) of artemether-lumefantrine plus amodiaquine (AL+AQ) for uncomplicated falciparum malaria in areas with a high prevalence of artemisinin resistance is a well-tolerated, effective treatment for multidrug-resistant parasites, say a team of MORU-led researchers.
In the last two years, OUCRU has worked with our partners and collaborators to conduct various research and engagement projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This portfolio provides an overview of all the on-going projects that our entire programme have been working on to contribute to the understanding and management of COVID-19 and its national, regional and global impact.
Are you curious about what a leading regional research hub for infectious disease look like? OUCRU is a large-scale research programme with offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi (Vietnam) and Jakarta (Indonesia). In this video, our leading scientists will take you on a tour of OUCRU's facilities and introduce you to our host institutions: the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases (Hanoi, Vietnam), and the Eijkman Institute (Jakarta, Indonesia)
After over 30 years of working in infectious disease in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Nepal, OUCRU has developed and established its foothold as a crucial regional research hub in infectious diseases, bridging the gap between research and treatments all over the world. What have we done? How did we do it? And what will OUCRU continue to focus on in the next 5 years?
OUCRU Public and Community Engagement Department has compiled a directory of services for Vietnamese communities and people living in Vietnam. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, OUCRU has been actively involved in Covid-19 diagnostics, treatment, research, health education, and community engagement. We have worked in collaboration with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and respected medical and research institutes across Vietnam.
Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), a leading clinical and public health research unit, and Dragon Capital Group, an established financial institution focused on Vietnam and other Southeast Asian emerging markets, announced a two-year partnership to support the development of high-quality intensive care for those with life-threatening infectious diseases in Vietnam.
A downloadable resource for educators, health & research professionals to help develop young peoples\u2019 understanding of AMR and positive actions they can take to mitigate it.
Until recently, Plasmodium falciparum dominated the malaria research landscape, and Plasmodium vivax infection was considered benign and inconsequential. We now know that this is not true: if not properly diagnosed and treated, P. vivax can lead to life-threatening syndromes and death. Professor Kevin Baird from EOCRU in Jakarta, Indonesia talks to OutBreak News Today
Despite unprecedented disruptions caused globally by SARS-Cov-2, OUCRU has responded remarkably and addressed almost every important aspect of the pandemic, from its societal impact to viral genomic surveillance and COVID-19 therapy
A new, extensive systematic review has identified significant research gaps in the treatment of scrub typhus which could be improved by developing a database for individual participant data (IPD) to enable more detailed analyses to address important knowledge gaps such as the optimum dosing for children and to improve patient outcomes.
Hopes that tamoxifen could improve survival for a deadly form of fungal meningitis have been dashed by the results of a clinical trial conducted by University of Oxford researchers and published today in eLife.
Using cutting-edge genomic sequencing techniques, researchers at the University of Oxford have identified almost all the genomic variation that gives people resistance to 13 of the most common tuberculosis drug treatments.
The malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax causes frequent, chronic infections that represent a major unrecognized burden on global health, according to a review by Kevin Baird of the Eijkman-Oxford Clinical Research Unit in Indonesia and Katherine Battle of the Institute for Disease Modeling in the United States
The fast spread of the highly infectious Delta variant underscores the need for faster identification of COVID-19 mutations. Uniting governments and medical communities in this challenge, the University of Oxford and Oracle\u2019s Global Pathogen Analysis System (GPAS) is now being used by organizations on nearly every continent. Institutions using the platform include OUCRU in Vietnam and institutions in Canada, Chile, Australia and the UK. GPAS is also now part of the Public Health England New Variant Assessment Platform.
Following the meeting of the Medical Sciences Divisional Committee to consider applications for the conferral of the title of Associate Professor, we are pleased to announce that Rashan Haniffa, Dorcas Kamuya, Isabella Oyier, Le Van Tan and Timothy Walker have been awarded the title Associate Professor
Nguyen Lam Vuong, Sophie Yacoub & colleagues have identified a combination of biological markers in patients with dengue that could predict whether they go on to develop moderate to severe disease. Biomarkers are used to identify the state or risk of a disease in patients; these findings could aid the development of biomarker panels for clinical use and help improve triage and risk prediction in patients with dengue.
A trial in infants and toddlers in Burkina Faso showed that experimental malaria vaccine R21/MM confers 77% protection, an unprecedented level and the first malaria vaccine to exceed WHO\u2019s goal of 75% efficacy. While a larger trial is needed to assess its safety and efficacy, R21/MM may substantially reduce child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. But this vaccine may be less relevant to Asia Pacific where malaria causes severe morbidity and mortality in all age groups, asymptomatic malaria infections are frequent, and the vaccine may not be effective against P. vivax.
The pioneering work of members of the University of Oxford has been recognised in The Queen's Birthday Honours List. The honorands include Professor Peter Horby and six researchers that have played key roles in leading the University\u2019s response to the Coronavirus pandemic, from the development of new vaccines to the discovery of new drug treatments. Professor Guy Thwaites is appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
COVID-19 in Nepal is out of hand and slowly, but surely tracking the infection in India. Although many healthcare workers have been vaccinated throughout the country, the actual vaccination rate is likely very low for the entire country. Buddha Basynat discusses Nepal\u2019s COVID response so far, and why vaccines are an urgent priority.
Director for the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Nepal, Professor Buddha Basnyat is a medical doctor based in Kathmandu, Nepal. His research interests are infectious diseases and high altitude medicine, and he has almost 300 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. One of his primary interests is to encourage young people to do clinical research.
Nepal is seeing a COVID surge that is proportionately similar to India. While we try to treat the sick by increasing hospital space and ensuring oxygen supply, we must also plan for an exit strategy. Over-preparation rather than under-preparedness needs to be our mantra, with widespread vaccination the key to get us out of this pandemic, by Professor Buddha Basnyat
World Immunization Week highlights the role vaccinations play in improving the health of communities. As the COVID pandemic continues to impact countries worldwide, governments are facing challenges related to coverage, equity and sustainability of routine immunisation alongside access and the particular maintenance requirements related to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Communication with communities has been key to ensure continued engagement with the vaccine programs despite the challenges of current contexts.
Anuraj Shankar from our EOCRU unit in Jakarta, Indonesia, with Elizabeth Prado and Leila Larson describe a meta-analysis showing that responsive caregiving boosts infants\u2019 brain development. Parenting group sessions and home visits improve cognitive, language, and motor skills. And nutrition-only programmes have much less effect than comprehensive interventions.
The Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) Trial, the world\u2019s largest clinical trial for COVID-19 treatments, has now expanded internationally with Indonesia and Nepal among the first countries to join. The first patients have been recruited to RECOVERY International.
The Indonesian government policy to exclude the elderly in the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination program could hinder the vaccine\u2019s impact in lowering mortality rates. COVID-19 mortality rates in Indonesia, the highest in Southeast Asia, are dominated by those in the 60 years and above age bracket. In this article published in The Conversation, Kartika Saraswati and fellow DPhil students elaborate how, by prioritising vaccination for elderly, Indonesia may optimally reduce the hospital burden and COVID-19 deaths amidst a limited vaccine supply during the first vaccination phase.
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