Treatment trial partners

INTEGRATE brings together 15 leading research institutes, health facilities and humanitarian organizations to form a global alliance against Lassa fever:

ALIMA

ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action) is a medical humanitarian organization based in Dakar, Senegal, that has been saving lives since 2009 in emergency situations in Africa and beyond. ALIMA’s unique model focuses on building alliance and promoting collaboration between local health workers, national medical organizations, and researchers. ALIMA strives to transform humanitarian medicine by fostering research and innovation to improve care and help communities prepare for the future. ALIMA has treated more than 13 million patients in 15 countries, and launched more than 30 research projects – notably on malnutrition, maternal and child health, malaria, Ebola and COVID-19.

Alex Ekwueme – Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA)

AE-FUTHA is a tertiary health facility with major responsibilities of training, clinical services and research. AE-FUTHA has a referral centre for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of viral infections and serves as a referral centre for the diagnosis and treatment of LF and COVID-19 infections.

ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases

ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases is an autonomous agency of the Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research). Its missions are to facilitate, evaluate, coordinate, and fund research into HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

The Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)

The Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) is Germany’s largest institution for research, teaching, consulting and care in the field of tropical diseases and emerging infectious diseases. It is an independent, non-profit institution in the form of a foundation under public law as well as a national reference center for tropical infectious agents and WHO collaborating center for arboviruses and hemorrhagic fever viruses. The BNITM is a member of the Leibniz Association.

Centre de Recherche Médicale de Lambaréné (CERMEL)

CERMEL is a non-profit medical research institution working on translational and clinical research against infectious diseases including malaria and emerging viral diseases. Over the years the research center has played an important role in the research and academic landscape of Gabon and beyond. It provides internship opportunities for young physicians and post-docs and actively participates in national health and research policy discussions. CERMEL is a center of excellence for GCP compliant clinical trials based on its long-standing expertise, participating in the EDCTP funded network of excellence CANTAM and the network PANDORA-ID.

Federal Medical Centre Owo (FMCO)

The Federal Medical Centre Owo (FMCO), in Ondo State, Nigeria was established in 1993 as one of the pioneer Federal Medical Centres in Nigeria. Equipped with radiological diagnostic facilities including a well-equipped molecular laboratory, FMCO is a centre of excellence in the management of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and Lassa fever.

Fondation pour la Recherche Scientifique (FORS)

FORS is a non-profit biomedical research centre in Benin. FORS has conducted clinical studies assessing malaria vaccine candidate. Currently the site is conducting a large epidemiological study of LF in three districts in the northern part of Benin (the ENABLE study, described above).

Hamburg University (UHAM)

Hamburg hosts academic research groups at Universität Hamburg and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, both of which make significant contributions to a better understanding of infections. UHAM provides expertise in bioaanlysis and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling to provide quantitative insights into the treatment of Lassa fever.

Infectious Diseases Unit of Donka Hospital

Donka hospital Infectious Diseases Unit is the national reference unit for infectious disease in Guinea such as Ebola Virus disease clinical management and has several years of experience in research, notably in COVID-19 (ANTICOV platform trial)

Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH)

Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) is a federal government of Nigeria teaching hospital located in Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria. ISTH aims to become a centre of excellence in teaching, research and service on health issues in rural and suburban/small urban town communities, with a specific focus on managing and controlling viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly Lassa fever.

Médecins Sans Frontières – Operational Centre Brussels (MSF-OCB)

Médecins Sans Frontières is an international, independent medical humanitarian organization that provides medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. The MSF-OCB is an operational platform of MSF, which manages projects in more than 40 countries.

PAC-CI

PAC-CI is a Franco-Ivorian research team on infectious diseases. Research projects coordinated by PAC-CI were initially clinical, epidemiological and biological, then opened up to health economics, sociology, anthropology and statistical modeling. PAC-CI is currently conducting ten clinical researches and has high experience in the design, conduct and analysis of multinational adaptive trials.

Phebe Hospital

Phebe Hospital is a 100-bed medical center that serves a population of approximately 450,000 people. Phebe hospital has been the major LF hospital in Liberia. In collaboration with UNC, Phebe hospital has established a robust clinical research platform with ongoing active and passive surveillance programs for LF including longitudinal follow up of patients with acute LF and LF survivors.

University of Bordeaux

As a leading international research university, UB promotes the development of training, research and knowledge transfer within numerous Clusters of Excellence including health and clinical research in the South. UB is a highly experienced institution in the design, conduct and analysis of adaptive platform trials.

University of North California (UNC)

UNC is an academic institution that provides, for several years, support to Phebe hospital for the clinical and laboratory management of LF patients. UNC has worked on other VHF, such as Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia and has also great experience in conducting adaptive trial, for example on COVID-19 in USA

CORAL (Clinical and Operational Research Alliance):

The CORAL (Clinical and Operational Research Alliance) platform was created in 2016 by ALIMA, INSERM (French National Institute for Health Research) and PAC-CI (an Ivorian research center) following their collaboration in the response to the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Guinea. The aim of this platform is to combine research and humanitarian action in order to improve the quality of care delivered to populations in crisis situations and thus reduce mortality. The CORAL platform carries out research projects on both emerging infectious diseases and mother and child health.

EDCTP3

The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) exists to accelerate the clinical development of new or improved health technologies for the identification, treatment and prevention of poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases, including (re-)emerging diseases. The Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking (Global Health EDCTP3) builds on the first and second EDCTP programmes and is a partnership between the EU and the EDCTP Association, whose members are several European and African countries.