UK:Brazil Joint Centre Partnership in leishmaniasis

利什曼病是一种被忽视的人类热带疾病，主要影响发展中国家的最贫穷人口。目前还没有有效的疫苗，治疗依赖于药物不足的化疗作为减轻疾病负担的一线方法。内脏利什曼病(VL)是这种疾病最严重的形式，在巴西，它是由沙蝇传播婴儿利什曼原虫引起的；这导致每年约3,500例病例，约10%的死亡。皮肤利什曼病也是一个重大的公共卫生问题，巴西利什曼原虫是最流行的物种。英国：巴西利什曼病联合中心伙伴关系(JCPiL)将研究利什曼原虫的生物学及其与哺乳动物宿主(主要是人类)的相互作用。研究将侧重于在利什曼原虫产生的引起疾病的因素的变化、免疫逃避机制、宿主反应的多样性和免疫病理学的背景下了解寄生虫的遗传多样性。该中心建立在目前或最近与巴西联合开展的项目的良好记录基础上，这些项目涉及来自3所英国大学(约克大学、达勒姆大学和格拉斯哥大学)和3个巴西州(S、里约热内卢和皮奥伊)的调查人员。巴西和英国调查人员之间的密切合作将有助于将基础研究转化为新的诊断和疗法。为此，JCPiL将资助五个相互关联的项目，并将举办一个研讨会，以促进基础科学和临床科学之间的研究，扩大英国和巴西之间现有的合作，并发展新的伙伴关系和跨学科的工作方式。总体而言，我们预计这一伙伴关系的结果将大大提高对寄生虫如何导致疾病的理解，以及如何利用这些知识开发治疗利什曼病的新疗法。

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.