News
Prof. Alexander Yaw Debrah Gives his Professorial Inaugural Lecture
Prof. Dr. Alexander Yaw Debrah, an alumni of IMMIP and cooperation partner for more than 20 years, gave his inaugural lecture on the occasion of being awarding full professorship. Prof. Achim Hoerauf, Director of IMMIP , who has been Prof. Debrah's mentor and collaborator for more than 20 years, attended the ceremony which took place at the KNUST in Kumasi, Ghana.
His lecture titled "Eliminating Filarial Diseases: A New Hope for an Old Battle" featured the milestones that had been achieved through clinical trials, in the search for alternative effective and and affordable treatments. Prof. Alexander Debrah and Prof. Achim Hoerauf are the coordinators of the BMBF funded TAKeOFF project.
Kumasi Ghana, 9th August 2024
KNUST Ghana and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bonn Sign a New Collaborations Agreement
A new Collaborations agreement was signed between the Kwame Nkruma University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bonn. The cooperation agreement, which was signed by Prof. Rita Dickson, the Vice Chancellor of KNUST, and the University of Bonn, Faculty of Medicine, will enable more research collaboration and a new students exchange program. It is forseen that within the exchange, program, 3 students from Ghana will come to Bonn and participate in the MSc Immunosciences, under the ImmunoSensation Excellence cluster. The signed agreement will make it possible for the units taken in Bonn to be recognize and credited to the students' degree programmes at KNUST.
From Bench to Bedside Public lecture
Prof. Achim Hörauf, Director IMMIP and the Speaker of the DNTDs, gave a public lecture in Ghana on research translation "From Bench to Bedside,- what it takes to bring laboratory discovery into clinical practice". The public lecture was organised by GWAC, (German-West African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention). The lecture showed how laboratory research and clinical trials, lead to the development of better treatment regimens and disease management. The research team at IMMIP and at the KNUST in Ghana have jointly conducted several international clinical trials and laboratory research on new treatment regimens for filariasis, and Prof. Achim Hoerauf used this as examples of from bench to bedside.
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
Fight Against American Trypanosomiasis
Chagas disease is estimated by the WHO to affect about 6-7 million people. Prof. Achim Hoerauf the Speaker of the German Network for Neglected Tropical Disease and Director IMMIP, was in Machareti, Bolivia to discuss potential collaborations in the fight against American trypanosomiasis.
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... Continue reading
