Malaria at the mother-child interface

孕妇和儿童是最容易感染疟疾的群体，疟疾每年直接导致100万儿童死亡。孕期疟疾在流行地区的低出生体重分娩中占很大比例，因此间接导致婴儿时期额外死亡的人数不计其数。我们的广泛目标是在坦桑尼亚建立一个卓越中心，专注于孕妇和儿童的疟疾，重点是研究和干预。这项提案是在申请全球网络研究单位奖的同时提交的，该奖项将支持母子界面上的疟疾研究。我们在这项建议中的具体目标是：1)在坦桑尼亚建立支持孕产妇和幼儿生物医学研究的技术基础；2)提供热带卫生和妇幼卫生方面的医疗技术员、硕士、博士和博士后培训；3)为东非地区的学生、科学家和临床医生举办年度讲习班，重点是孕妇和儿童中的疟疾，重点是药物治疗、研究伦理和最新科学进展。我们打算在坦桑尼亚中心内发展设施和科学专业知识，使未来能够就区域和国际上的孕产妇和儿童健康问题进行合作研究。我们预计，该中心将成为建立科学网络、制定有关预防和治疗妇女和儿童的公共卫生政策的重要区域资产，并成为干预性研究的场所，包括研究行为措施(例如母乳喂养)和疫苗，以降低这些脆弱人群的疟疾发病率和死亡率。

Pregnant women and children are the groups most susceptible to malaria, which directly kills 1 million children each year. Pregnancy malaria accounts for a large proportion of low birth-weight deliveries in endemic areas, and therefore indirectly contributes to an untold number of additional deaths during infancy. Our broad objective is to establish a center of excellence in Tanzania to focus on malaria of pregnant women and children, with an emphasis on research and intervention. This proposal is submitted in conjunction with an application for a Global Network Research Unit Award that will support studies of malaria at the mother-child interface. Our specific aims in this proposal will be: 1) establish the technical basis within Tanzania to support maternal and early childhood biomedical research; 2) provide training at the medical technologist, MSc, PhD, and postdoctoral levels in tropical health and maternal/child health; 3) institute a yearly workshop for students, scientists and clinicians from the East African region that will focus on malaria in pregnant women and children, with an emphasis on drug treatment, research ethics, and recent scientific advances. We intend to develop facilities and scientific expertise within the Tanzanian center that will allow future collaborative research on maternal and child health issues, both regional and international. We anticipate that this center will become an important regional asset for scientific networking, formulation of public health policy regarding prophylaxis and treatment of women and children, and a site of interventional studies, including research into behavioral measures (e.g., breastfeeding) and vaccines that may reduce malaria morbidity and mortality in these vulnerable populations.