Project

Leprosy Research Network (IDEAL - Initiative for Diagnostic and Epidemiological Assays for Leprosy)

Duration
November 2005 - January 2007

Funders

Heiser Foundation

Partners

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

Background

The “Initiative for Diagnostic and Epidemiological Assays for Leprosy” (IDEAL) resulted from two workshops under the auspices of the TDR programme of WHO. The first workshop, held in Geneva in November 2002, identified two fields of leprosy research in which advances are needed in order to eliminate leprosy. These are:

• Nerve damage
• Early diagnosis and transmission.

In October 2003 a second workshop was organized in Amsterdam, in which the research needs in the field of early diagnosis and transmission were further identified and made explicit in a proposal for a comprehensive leprosy research program. As a direct result of this workshop, the IDEAL Consortium was formed to coordinate and facilitate research leading to new tools for leprosy control, and ultimately to a reduction in leprosy transmission.

Objectives
We aim to formulate comprehensive strategies for the development of new tools addressing transmission and infection:

• For transmission, molecular epidemiological tools will be developed which will allow the identification of transmission chains.
•  For infection, a test for T-cell immunity will be developed in a simple format that will be applicable in the field.

Both tests will be developed using well-characterised clinical samples, and evaluated in the field. The combination of the two approaches (early diagnosis and transmission studies) will, for the first time, allow the development of rational interventions for the prevention of leprosy which can then be aimed at those people who are at the highest risk of developing leprosy.

Activities

IDEAL aims at the application of new developments in the fields of molecular typing of Mycobacterium leprae, the cause of leprosy, and specific antigen/epitope definition to field studies towards better understanding of the epidemiology and transmission of leprosy, and the improved diagnosis of leprosy infection. The three main areas of research in this program are:

• Assays for molecular epidemiology
• Immunology-based diagnostic assays
• Field studies related to transmission and diagnosis

The IDEAL Consortium consists of approximately 30 partners in endemic and non-endemic countries with backgrounds in laboratory-based and field-based research.

Projectnumber

6800033

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