TY - JOUR
T1 - ZikaPLAN
T2 - addressing the knowledge gaps and working towards a research preparedness network in the Americas
AU - Wilder-Smith, Annelies
AU - Preet, Raman
AU - Brickley, Elizabeth B.
AU - Ximenes, Ricardo Arraes de Alencar
AU - Miranda-Filho, Demócrito de Barros
AU - Turchi Martelli, Celina Maria
AU - Araújo, Thália Velho Barreto de
AU - Montarroyos, Ulisses Ramos
AU - Moreira, Maria Elisabeth
AU - Turchi, Marília Dalva
AU - Solomon, Tom
AU - Jacobs, Bart C.
AU - Villamizar, Carlos Pardo
AU - Osorio, Lyda
AU - de Filipps, Ana Maria Bispo
AU - Neyts, Johan
AU - Kaptein, Suzanne
AU - Huits, Ralph
AU - Ariën, Kevin K.
AU - Willison, Hugh J.
AU - Edgar, Julia M.
AU - Barnett, Susan C.
AU - Peeling, Rosanna
AU - Boeras, Debi
AU - Guzman, Maria G.
AU - de Silva, Aravinda M.
AU - Falconar, Andrew K.
AU - Romero-Vivas, Claudia
AU - Gaunt, Michael W.
AU - Sette, Alessandro
AU - Weiskopf, Daniela
AU - Lambrechts, Louis
AU - Dolk, Helen
AU - Morris, Joan K.
AU - Orioli, Ieda M.
AU - O’Reilly, Kathleen M.
AU - Yakob, Laith
AU - Rocklöv, Joacim
AU - Soares, Cristiane
AU - Ferreira, Maria Lúcia Brito
AU - Franca, Rafael Freitas de Oliveira
AU - Precioso, Alexander R.
AU - Logan, James
AU - Lang, Trudie
AU - Jamieson, Nina
AU - Massad, Eduardo
N1 - Funding Information:
This project, ZikaPLAN is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 734584. Some authors have received additional research funding. For example, TS is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections (Grant No. IS-HPU-1112-10117), and NIHR Global Health Research Group on Brain Infections (No. 17/63/110). MERG as a group has received funding from Wellcome Trust UK, Department for International Development UK, Medical Research Council UK, the Brazilian funding through CNPq, Secretaria de Vigilância de Saúde (SVS), and Fundação do Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia (FACEPE). We acknowledge all our consortium members and their institutions, as listed above, and we are thankful to many other institutional staff members (all the administrators and financial managers) who participate and support the implementation of the ZikaPLAN project in different capacities. We are grateful to our Scientific Advisory Board members (Duane Gubler, James Sejvar, Herman Goossens) and Ethics Advisory Committee member (Anna Durbin) for their timely support and guidance at various stages of the project so far. We appreciate our collaborative work with ZIKAction (Grant Agreement No. 734857) and ZIKAlliance (Grant Agreement No. 734548) which allows advancing common efforts and strengthening the research output. Our utmost thanks go to Professor Laura C. Rodrigues who initiated the links between MERG and ZikaPLAN. Lastly, we would like to thank Frank Deege, Nextco, The Netherlands, for guiding us through developing a sustainability plan beyond the funding period.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Zika Preparedness Latin American Network (ZikaPLAN) is a research consortium funded by the European Commission to address the research gaps in combating Zika and to establish a sustainable network with research capacity building in the Americas. Here we present a report on ZikaPLAN`s mid-term achievements since its initiation in October 2016 to June 2019, illustrating the research objectives of the 15 work packages ranging from virology, diagnostics, entomology and vector control, modelling to clinical cohort studies in pregnant women and neonates, as well as studies on the neurological complications of Zika infections in adolescents and adults. For example, the Neuroviruses Emerging in the Americas Study (NEAS) has set up more than 10 clinical sites in Colombia. Through the Butantan Phase 3 dengue vaccine trial, we have access to samples of 17,000 subjects in 14 different geographic locations in Brazil. To address the lack of access to clinical samples for diagnostic evaluation, ZikaPLAN set up a network of quality sites with access to well-characterized clinical specimens and capacity for independent evaluations. The International Committee for Congenital Anomaly Surveillance Tools was formed with global representation from regional networks conducting birth defects surveillance. We have collated a comprehensive inventory of resources and tools for birth defects surveillance, and developed an App for low resource regions facilitating the coding and description of all major externally visible congenital anomalies including congenital Zika syndrome. Research Capacity Network (REDe) is a shared and open resource centre where researchers and health workers can access tools, resources and support, enabling better and more research in the region. Addressing the gap in research capacity in LMICs is pivotal in ensuring broad-based systems to be prepared for the next outbreak. Our shared and open research space through REDe will be used to maximize the transfer of research into practice by summarizing the research output and by hosting the tools, resources, guidance and recommendations generated by these studies. Leveraging on the research from this consortium, we are working towards a research preparedness network.
AB - Zika Preparedness Latin American Network (ZikaPLAN) is a research consortium funded by the European Commission to address the research gaps in combating Zika and to establish a sustainable network with research capacity building in the Americas. Here we present a report on ZikaPLAN`s mid-term achievements since its initiation in October 2016 to June 2019, illustrating the research objectives of the 15 work packages ranging from virology, diagnostics, entomology and vector control, modelling to clinical cohort studies in pregnant women and neonates, as well as studies on the neurological complications of Zika infections in adolescents and adults. For example, the Neuroviruses Emerging in the Americas Study (NEAS) has set up more than 10 clinical sites in Colombia. Through the Butantan Phase 3 dengue vaccine trial, we have access to samples of 17,000 subjects in 14 different geographic locations in Brazil. To address the lack of access to clinical samples for diagnostic evaluation, ZikaPLAN set up a network of quality sites with access to well-characterized clinical specimens and capacity for independent evaluations. The International Committee for Congenital Anomaly Surveillance Tools was formed with global representation from regional networks conducting birth defects surveillance. We have collated a comprehensive inventory of resources and tools for birth defects surveillance, and developed an App for low resource regions facilitating the coding and description of all major externally visible congenital anomalies including congenital Zika syndrome. Research Capacity Network (REDe) is a shared and open resource centre where researchers and health workers can access tools, resources and support, enabling better and more research in the region. Addressing the gap in research capacity in LMICs is pivotal in ensuring broad-based systems to be prepared for the next outbreak. Our shared and open research space through REDe will be used to maximize the transfer of research into practice by summarizing the research output and by hosting the tools, resources, guidance and recommendations generated by these studies. Leveraging on the research from this consortium, we are working towards a research preparedness network.
KW - European Commission
KW - Guillain-Barré syndrome
KW - Zika
KW - birth defect
KW - congenital Zika syndrome
KW - encephalitis
KW - epidemic preparedness
KW - microcephaly
KW - research capacity building
KW - sustainability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073726043&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85073726043&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/16549716.2019.1666566
DO - 10.1080/16549716.2019.1666566
M3 - Article
C2 - 31640505
AN - SCOPUS:85073726043
SN - 1654-9716
VL - 12
JO - Global health action
JF - Global health action
IS - 1
M1 - 1666566
ER -