News
Prof. Achim Hoerauf was part of the expert pannel at the Science Summit at the UN General Assembly in New York
Prof. Dr. med. Achim Hoerauf, Director IMMIP, was selected to speak at the 9th Science Summit, on the occasion of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York City.
The goal of the summit was to discuss the current critical scientific challenges affecting our planet. The central theme chosen for this year's summit was "The Role of Science in Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)." The event, organized by ISC Intelligence in Science, brought together global leaders, scientists, policymakers and experts from diverse fields from around the world.
For a better health situation in sub-Saharan Africa: Research Networks for Health Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa” (RHISSA)
Prof. Achim Hoerauf and Prof. Alexander Debrah (Ghana), presented the outcome of the BMBF funded project TAKeOFF, and its objective in the second round of funding in a session entitled "Research Networks for Health Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa (RHISSA) ", hosted by the Project Management Agency of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, DLR. Continue reading
Prof. Achim Hoerauf Re-elected as Speaker of the DNTDs
During the German Network against Neglected Tropical Diseases meeting held on the 6th of June 2023 in Berlin, Prof. Achim Hoerauf was re-elected as the speaker of the network. Prof. Achim Hoerauf is the Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at Bonn University Hospital.
eWHORM Project Launched to Eliminate Worm Infections in Sub-Saharan Africa
African and European partners join forces to enable the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) “Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases” (NTDs) and reduce the burden of disease associated with worm infections.
Worm infections (helminthiases) affect around 1.5 billion people worldwide, making them one of the most prevalent infections in humans. Parasitic worms (helminths) are often transmitted through insect bites or contaminated soil in areas with limited access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare. These infections can cause chronic and debilitating health problems, such as lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), loiasis (African eye worm), mansonellosis, and trichuriasis (whipworm infection). Full press release here: www.ewhorm.org
IMMIP scientists Dr. Kenneth Pfarr,Prof. Achim Hoerauf and Prof. Marc Hübner are part of the eWHORM project.
The Search for New Treatment for River Blindness
The World Health Organization estimates that 1.15 million people have lost their vision due to river blindness, while 220 million require preventive therapy against onchocerciasis. For over 25 years, the Institute of Medical Microbiology Immunology and Parasitology, at the University Hospital Bonn and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, in Kumasi Ghana have been conduction clinical trials in river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. Prof. Achim Hoerauf and his long-term research partner and friend Prof. Alexander Debrah filmed a short documentary on their work in Ghana. In addition to showing the work done in the field, positive feedback from the community members is also captured in the documentary.
Development of the antibiotic Corallopyronin A against filariasis
More than 72 million people in the tropics are infected with the nematodes Onchocerca volvulus, Wuchereria bancrofti and Brugia malayi. Infections with these worms can lead to severe dermatitis and blindness or elephantiasis - a disease in which the legs in particular become extremely enlarged. In dogs, a similar parasite can cause life-threatening canine heartworm disease. With the natural compound Corallopyronin A, Prof. Achim Hörauf and his team at the Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology (IMMIP) Continue reading...
Code for a Cure: Combating River Blindness with Data & AI
A team of experts at Capgemini, in collaboration with University Hospital Bonn and Amazon Web Services, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that will accelerate the speed of clinical trials aiming to establish new treatments for River Blindness, a neglected tropical disease which affects over 20 million people globally. Currently, the specialist work of clinical trials can only be carried out manually by a handful of global experts, so the winning model could save years of work and speed up the development of new treatments.Continue reading
eWHORM kicked officially off their activities!
During July 12th and 13th the eWHORM consortium, coordinated by the University Hospital Bonn and Prof. Marc Hübner gathered at the University Hospital Bonn to launch their activities. Partners from 10 different institutions engaged into workshops aiming at establishing the project’s initial tasks, with the overall objective of improving clinical research infrastructure of the african partners and establishing an adaptive clinical trial for tropical helminth diseases. For more details, please visit https://www.ewhorm.org/.
Pictures by Sam Hoeman
First National Conference on Podoconiosis in Cameroon
Despite its significant public health burden, morbidity and stigmatization, podoconiosis remains a disease with no specific global health program, as a result the disease is only visible in the shadow of programs of lymphatic filariasis or skin NTDs. The first national conference was therefore organized to highlight the results of earlier works carried out this far and also set the stage for an advocacy for a tropical disease that is considered very neglected.
