Unlike past grants the team has received, the money will not be used for medical research, said Ford von Reyn '67 Med'69, the Geisel team leader. The grant will instead be used to improve current care for Tanzanians infected with the two diseases.
"We want to make sure that the providers in Tanzania will understand the best practices," said Richard Waddell, Geisel professor and associate director of Dartmouth's Global Health Tanzania DarDar programs. "They will have a better understanding of HIV and TB co-infections and the best practices in place for dealing with these health issues and we will provide them the most updated training that is available."
This grant is the third that von Reyn's team has received from the Fogarty International Center. Von Reyn used money from a previous grant to create DAR-901, the first effective vaccine against tuberculosis in over 80 years and the only vaccine that can treat HIV-tuberculosis co-infection.
Paul Palumbo, director of Geisel's international pediatric HIV program, said von Reyn's vaccine research helped the team obtain the new grant and led to the development of DarDar's collaboration with Muhimbili University.
"We got started around tuberculosis," he said. "The vaccine established the foundation to conduct our current and future research."
The grant will "empower" Tanzanian doctors to eradicate tuberculosis and HIV in their own country, Geisel professor Timothy Lahey said.
"We hope they will be joined by more promising young investigators who turn HIV and TB into bad memories," he said.
While working in Tanzania means dealing with a lack of safe drinking water and reliable electricity, Lahey said he valued the opportunity to meet and research people with tuberculosis and HIV.
Tanzania is an epicenter of the HIV and tuberculosis epidemics, which will make it easier for researchers to learn about these diseases than in developed countries with intact infrastructures.
Waddell also received a grant of over $300,000 to help Muhimbili University strengthen and manage its research grant portfolio, which will allow more doctors in Tanzania to be directly involved in research.
"We are working with the university to establish and expand an office of sponsored research, similar to ours here, so they can manage large research grants and meet [National Institutes of Health] guidelines," he said.
Von Reyn's determination and ability to identify adept doctors helped him obtain the grant, Lahey said.
"Fortunately, one of his major talents is to identify talented collaborators who just need a chance to shine," Lahey said. "In Tanzania and here in the United States, he has done that consistently, and now has a loyal and outstanding team who want to make a difference in the world."
As a result of previous grants, 12 doctors from Tanzania have received master's of public health degrees from Dartmouth and two others have received PhD degrees.
