On the road to global health
Washington University researchers and international partners go to great lengths to help solve some of the world’s most pervasive health challenges.
A global network
Medical school Professor Gary Weil, MD, leads a large global network of researchers and organizations in the Death to Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis (DOLF) Project, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
$7 million grant aids efforts to eliminate neglected tropical diseases
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at eliminating river blindness and elephantiasis, two neglected tropical diseases that annually sicken millions.
Funding aids new test for ‘river blindness’
The neglected tropical disease known as river blindness is caused by the parasitic worm O. volvulus, pictured, and is spread by the bites of black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers. Washington University scientists have received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop an improved diagnostic test for the disease, which is most common in sub-Saharan Africa.
Better detection for elephantiasis worm infection
A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that eventually leads to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the current test, according to results of a field study in Liberia, in West Africa, led by Washington University researchers, including Kurt Curtis.