Infectious Diseases in Africa: Measurement of Immune Responses

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It has been calculated by WHO that twenty-five million people live with HIV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa, among them 20% are also smear-positive for TB infection. Africa is also taking the highest toll every year for deaths related to malaria infection with approximately 300,000 deaths/year most of which occur in children under the age of five years. In this grant, we believe that training of young scientists should be conducted along with the implementation of in situ physical infrastructures, such as laboratories. It is important that in-country scientists have access to knowledge and training around some of the novel assays used currently to seek correlates of immunoprotection for these infectious diseases. By organizing this conference, entitled: ?Infectious Diseases in Africa: Measurement of Immune Response? (National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa, November 10-11 2007), our objectives are: 1) To provide young African investigators with the most recent data that may explain pathogenesis of HIV, TB or malaria; 2) To allow young investigators the opportunity to discuss their own research projects with experts in the field; 3) To foster collaborations and enable an African network of scientists to be formed, where region-specific problems can be addressed in the future.