UK:Brazil Joint Centre Partnership in leishmaniasis

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Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease of humans that primarily affects the poorest people in developing countries. There is currently no effective vaccine and treatment relies on chemotherapy with inadequate drugs as the first line approach for reducing the burden of disease. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most severe form of the disease and in Brazil it is caused by transmission of the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum by sand flies; this leads to ~3,500 cases a year with ~10% deaths. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is also a significant public health concern, with Leishmania braziliensis being the most prevalent species. The UK:Brazil Joint Centre Partnership in leishmaniasis (JCPiL) will research the biology of the Leishmania parasite and its interaction with the mammalian host, primarily the human. Studies will be focused on understanding parasite genetic diversity in the context of variations in factors produced by Leishmania that evoke disease, mechanisms of immune evasion, diversity of host response and immunopathology. The Centre is built on a strong track record of current or recent joint projects with Brazil involving investigators from 3 UK Universities (York, Durham and Glasgow) and 3 Brazilian States (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Piaui). Close collaborative working between Brazil and the UK investigators will facilitate the translation of fundamental research into new diagnostics and therapies. To this end the JCPiL will fund five inter-related projects and a workshop will take place to promote research at the interface of basic and clinical science, to extend existing collaborations between UK and Brazil and to develop new partnerships and interdisciplinary ways of working. Overall, we expect the outcome from this partnership to be a greatly improved understanding of how the parasite causes disease and how this knowledge can be exploited to develop novel therapies to treat leishmaniasis.