Department of Clinical Research
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Head of Department:
Alison Grant
Tel: +44(0)20 7927 2256 Fax: +44(0)20 7637 4314 The research interests of the Department of Clinical Research focus on diseases of public health importance in resource-constrained settings. The Department has particular strengths in mycobacterial disease (tuberculosis and leprosy), malaria, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, eye health, and tropical and travel medicine. Activities include trials of new therapies, vaccines and educational interventions; population and clinic-based epidemiological studies; the development and evaluation of new diagnostic tests; studies investigating the immunological and molecular correlates of pathogenesis and protective immunity, and genetic polymorphisms conferring protection or susceptibility to infectious diseases; health services research which aims to identify the most efficient and cost-effective way to deliver health care; and health policy analysis. Major research programmes and groups coordinated within the Department of Clinical Research include:
Current projects and recent publications are listed on staff webpages. Our workSeveral members of the Department practise clinical medicine at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, in purpose-built accommodation within the University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, five minutes' walk from the School. However, our research is multidisciplinary, extending from basic laboratory science (immunology and molecular biology) through clinical medicine to epidemiology, public health and economics. We collaborate extensively with other Departments in the School, in the UK and overseas, especially in Africa, but also in Asia and South America. Department staff are based in The Gambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa and India, and we have research degree students based in many other countries. The Department has particular strengths in research on HIV and related infections. Work on the interaction between HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections focuses particularly on HSV-2, and the effect of HSV treatment on HIV transmission, with studies in Ghana, Burkina Faso, CAR, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and South Africa. Several staff research interactions between HIV infection and tuberculosis in Zambia, Malawi and South Africa, including trials of population-based tuberculosis case finding; novel strategies using isoniazid preventive therapy; and studies of new diagnostics. Work in leprosy includes research into the pathogenesis and treatment of leprosy reactions, interaction with HIV, and investigation of new drugs, with studies in India, Nepal, Ethiopia and Brazil. Eye health projects, ongoing in India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Brazil, include work on causes of blindness, retinopathy of prematurity, and the effect of services for children with impaired vision. Work on trachoma in The Gambia and Tanzania ranges from studies of pathogenesis to interventions to control this disease. TeachingCourses based primarily within the Department of Clinical Research include MScs in Tropical Medicine and International Health, Community Eye Health and Sexually Transmitted Infections & HIV; Diploma courses in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H), Community Eye Health and Tropical Nursing; and short courses including Travel Medicine. For medico-legal reasons, members of the Department of Clinical Research are not able to advise members of the public on the management of individual patients by telephone, mail or email. Patients with tropical, travel-associated or infectious diseases can be seen at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Mortimer Market Centre, Capper Street, London WC1E 6AU (http://www.thehtd.org/ ). In case of emergency (eg. if you think you may have malaria or dysentery), a walk-in service is available at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases during working hours (9am-5pm Monday - Friday). At other times (nights or weekends), emergencies should report to the Accident and Emergency Department of University College Hospital, London WC1E 6AU, where they will be seen by the on-call team from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. If your illness is not an emergency, your general practitioner should send a referral letter requesting an appointment to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (address above, fax number 020 7380 9761). Members of the public needing health advice or immunisations before travelling can contact the Travel Clinic at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, at which the following services are available:
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