African Sleeping Sickness News and Research

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African trypanosomiasis is also known as sleeping sickness. There are two types of African trypanosomiasis, East and West, named for the region of Africa in which they were historically found. People can get the disease if they are bitten by an infected tsetse fly, which is only found in Africa. Treatment is available for African trypanosomiasis, but it is fatal if left untreated.

Protein M: an interview with Rajesh Grover, PhD, senior staff scientist, Lerner laboratory, TSRI

Protein M is a cell surface protein from Mycoplasma Genitalium that binds to all human antibodies.

26 Feb 2014

Researchers observe mating for the first time in microbes responsible for African sleeping sickness

Caught in the act! Researchers from the University of Bristol have observed mating for the first time in the microbes responsible for African sleeping sickness. This tropical disease is caused by trypanosomes, single-celled parasites that are found in the blood of those afflicted.

5 Jan 2014

Study shows X-ray lasers can generate complete 3-D model of protein from scratch

A study shows for the first time that X-ray lasers can be used to generate a complete 3-D model of a protein without any prior knowledge of its structure.

25 Nov 2013

Furamidine drug may also be useful in treating cancers, immune-related diseases

A class of drugs used to treat parasitic infections such as malaria may also be useful in treating cancers and immune-related diseases, a new WSU-led study has found.

12 Nov 2013

Genetic variations in African Americans with kidney disease contribute to rapid decline in kidney function

New research provides direct evidence that genetic variations in some African Americans with chronic kidney disease contribute to a more rapid decline in kidney function compared with white Americans.

10 Nov 2013

Researchers on the way to find cure against African sleeping sickness

Researchers at Umeå University have identified drugs targeting infections of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei and are thereby well on the way to find a cure against African sleeping sickness. This is the kernel of a thesis, which will be publicly defended on 8 November 2013.

6 Nov 2013

Meclizine drug has the potential to treat certain infectious diseases and cancer

Meclizine, an over-the-counter drug used for decades to treat nausea and motion sickness, has the potential for new uses to treat certain infectious diseases and some forms of cancer, according to Dr. Vishal M. Gohil, Texas A&M AgriLife Research biochemist.

31 Oct 2013

NIH awards 10 new grants to support genomics research in Africa

The National Institutes of Health has awarded 10 new grants totaling up to $17 million over the next four years to support genomics research in Africa, as part of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) program

2 Oct 2013

University of Warwick professor wins Discovery STAR Award to identify new treatment for Chagas disease

Domainex Ltd., a drug discovery company specialising in translational research support, has announced that the recipient of its first Discovery STAR Award; Professor Vilmos Fulop of the University of Warwick.

3 Sep 2013

WHO includes new paediatric therapeutic options to EMLc

This week the World Health Organization released its newly updated 4th WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children, in which three treatments developed by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative and its partners have now been included.

12 Jul 2013

New centre to boost development of drugs against TB, malaria and African sleeping sickness

A major new centre to boost the development of drugs to tackle the foremost diseases of the developing world is to be created at the University of Dundee.

13 Feb 2013

TU Darmstadt’s biosensor can diagnose African sleeping sickness before it breaks out

African sleeping sickness is an infectious disease that is widespread south of the Sahara Desert. Although the around sixty million people residing in tropical Africa run the risk of becoming infected with the disease every day, only around four million of them are monitored for the disease by disease-control authorities.

13 Dec 2012

'Greater commitment' needed to fight NTDs

In a guest post on USAID's "IMPACT Blog," Rachel Cohen, regional executive director of DNDi North America, writes, "The United States government and its country partners should be commended for the tremendous achievements in the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) NTD Program" and the National Institutes of Health.

20 Sep 2012

Microbiologists reveal how T. brucei’s key proteins organize to replicate its mtDNA

A group of diseases that kill millions of people each year can't be touched by antibiotics, and some treatment is so harsh the patient can't survive it. They're caused by parasites, and for decades researchers have searched for a "magic bullet" to kill them without harming the patient. Now, a team of microbiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has made an advance that could one day lead to a new weapon for fighting parasitic diseases such as African sleeping sickness, chagas disease and leishmaniasis.

11 Jul 2012

Clemson researcher to continue African sleeping sickness study

Clemson University researcher James Morris received a $360,079 competitive renewal grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his study of Trypanosoma brucei, the single-celled parasite that causes African sleeping sickness.

3 Apr 2012

Researchers identify fexinidazole as potential new therapy for visceral leishmaniasis

Researchers at the University of Dundee have identified fexinidazole as a possible, much-needed, new treatment for the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis.

3 Feb 2012

DWH signs collaboration agreement with CPDD

Developing World Health (DWH), a leading medical charity based in Stirlingshire, Scotland and committed to developing effective treatments for neglected tropical diseases, has signed a collaboration agreement with the internationally respected Consortium for Parasitic Drug Development (CPDD), based at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

27 Jan 2012

ASBMB names Yale scientist as winner of inaugural Alice and C.C. Wang award

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has named Elisabetta Ullu, professor of internal medicine and cell biology at the Yale University School of Medicine, the winner of the society's inaugural Alice and C.C. Wang award.

29 Dec 2011

DFMO appears to protect against nonmelanoma skin cancers

An antiparasitic agent used to treat African sleeping sickness might someday be used to prevent nonmelanoma skin cancers. Researchers found that DFMO, or α-difluoromethylornithine, still appeared to protect against nonmelanoma skin cancers years after people stopped taking the drug, according to a poster presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.

24 Oct 2011

How will NTDs suffer as global health agenda adds NCD focus?

In this post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog, Charles Ebikeme, a writer for the All Results Journals who has worked as a research scientist on African sleeping sickness, examines a "blurring" link between non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), writing, "The topsy-turvy nature of NTDs extends far beyond infectious diseases and is becoming increasingly more complicated."

7 Oct 2011