ZikaPLAN builds on expertise and existing relationships in a variety of research areas related to Zika and emerging infectious diseases. Members come from 5 continents, with 13 from Europe, 7 from South America, 3 from North America, 1 from Africa and 1 from Asia.
ZikaPLAN Consortium
Umeå University (UmU) – Sweden (coordinator)
Umeå University in Sweden is the ZikaPLAN coordinator. With its numerous, world-leading centres in medicine, social science and technology and its centre of excellence for Global Health Research (UCGHR), Umeå has established itself as one of the best young universities in the world.
Umeå places strong emphasis on combining northern and southern research agendas and implementing capacity building.
Staff participants: Prof. Annelies Wilder-Smith, MD, PhD (ZikaPLAN Director); Dr. Raman Kaur Preet, MPH; Prof. Peter Byass, PhD; Prof. Niklas Arnberg, PhD; Associate Prof. John Kinsman, PhD; Associate Prof. Joacim Rocklöv, PhD; Dr. Karl-Erik Renhorn
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) – United Kingdom
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is part of the University of London and is a world-leading, high-ranking institution for research and postgraduate education in public and global health. The School has over 80 funded Research Centres, groups and collaborative partnerships, specialising in hugely diverse areas and benefiting from multidisciplinary expertise.
Staff participants: Prof. Laura C Rodrigues; Prof. Rosanna Peeling; Prof. Jimmy Whitworth; Prof. John Edmunds; Dr. James Logan; Dr. Laith Yakob; Dr. Hannah Kuper; Dr. Michael Gaunt; Andreia Santos; Prof. Chris Drakeley
University of Glasgow (UGLAS) – United Kingdom
The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451 and is a world-leading research-intensive institution. The Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation is a centre of excellence conducting high quality basic, translational and clinical science in the disciplines of infection, immunology and inflammation. Virology research in the Institute is carried out within the leading international research centre: MRC - University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR).
Staff participants: Prof. Susan Barnett; Dr. Julia Edgar; Prof. Hugh Willison; Prof. Christopher Linington
The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (UOXF) – United Kingdom
The University of Oxford is one of the leading universities in the world. The involved Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health is a world-leading Centre within the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, and is comprised of research groups who are permanently based in Africa and Asia as well as across two sites in Oxford. The research ranges from clinical studies to behavioral sciences, with capacity building integral to all the activities.
Staff participant: Prof. Trudie Lang, PhD
Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) – United Kingdom
Queen Mary University of London is one of the UK's leading research-focused higher education institutions, ranked 9th in the UK among multi-faculty universities by the Research Excellence Framework. This project will be located in the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine (WIPM), which is one of five institutes within Barts and the London Medical School.
Staff participant: Prof. Joan Morris
Ulster University (Ulster) – United Kingdom
Ulster University is a multi-campus university in Northern Ireland, UK, and is ranked among the world's leading, internationally excellent institutions. It is one of the top ten universities in the UK for research in law, biomedical sciences, nursing and health sciences, and art and design. This project will be based in the Centre for Maternal, Fetal and Infant Research (MFIR) within the Institute for Nursing and Health Research (INHR).
Staff participants: Prof. Helen Dolk; Dr. Maria Loane
University of Leuven (KU Leuven) – Belgium
KU Leuven is currently the largest university in Belgium in terms of research funding and expenditure and is a charter member of League of European Research Universities (LERU). KU Leuven conducts fundamental and applied research in all academic disciplines with a clear international orientation. A multidisciplinary team of experts guides researchers in their interaction with industry and society.
Staff participants: Prof. Johan Neyts; Dr. Suzanne Kaptein; Dr. Leen Delang; Dr. Lotte Coelmont; Carolien De Keyzer
Erasmus Universitair Medische Centrum Rotterdam (EMC) – Netherlands
The Erasmus MC is the largest university hospital in the Netherlands and a leading institute for postgraduate education and research. The Erasmus MC is the national expertise center for the research and clinical care of patients with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and other immune-mediated neuropathies. The Erasmus MC expertise covers neurology, immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases, virology, epidemiology and public health.
Staff participants: Prof. Bart C. Jacobs; Prof. Pieter A. van Doorn
Institut Pasteur (IP) – France
Founded in 1887, the Institut Pasteur is an international research institute of excellence with a mission to advance science, medicine and public health. The Institut Pasteur is a private, non-profit foundation with recognized charitable status entrusted with four core missions of public interest – research, education, public health, and valorisation of scientific research via technology transfer and industrial partnerships. It is a recognized world leader in infectious disease research.
Staff participants: Dr. Louis Lambrechts, PhD; Isabelle Conclois
Fundación Universidad del Norte (UNOR) – Colombia
The Fundación Universidad del Norte is the largest medical school on the Caribbean coast of Colombia with its own hospital and up to 200 medical students per semester. The Departamento de Medicina has clinicians, medical entomologists, epidemiologists, statisticians, biochemists and molecular immunologists to forward the study of local (tropical) diseases. The Universidad del Norte is located in the city of Barranquilla where all four serotypes of dengue viruses (DENVs) are endemic. It recently experienced a large chikungunya virus (CHIKV) epidemic and is presently in the middle of a Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic.
Staff participants: Dr. Andrew Falconar; Dr. Claudia Romero-Vivas
Universidad del Valle (UVAL) – Colombia
The Universidad del Valle (Univalle) is a state-funded university. It is also the largest and most influential university in South West Colombia. Research is central to Univalle´s mission. There are 159 research groups and 13 scientific journals produced and edited at Univalle by all Academic Faculties. In recent decades, Univalle has taken the lead on research projects focused on major public health problems that affect Colombia and the Americas.
Staff participants: Dr. Lyda Osorio MD, PhD; Dr. Beatriz Parra; Dr. Andres Zea-Vera MD, PhD; Prof. Carlos Padro MD
Fondation Mérieux (FMER) – France
Fondation Mérieux, established in 1967, is an independent family foundation, recognized as a state-approved charity with a long history in global health and the mission to strengthen local capacities in developing countries to reduce the impact of infectious diseases on vulnerable populations. With teams working in 20 countries, Fondation Mérieux builds and coordinates international networks and develops partnerships with developing country health authorities and governments, public and private academic research bodies and hospitals, international organizations, development banks, foundations, NGOs, and the healthcare industry.
Staff participants: Prof. Hubert P. Endtz MD, PhD; Sebastien Quesney; Florence Koumurian-Pradel PhD; Koren Wolman-Tardy
University of Liverpool (ULIV) – United Kingdom
The University of Liverpool is in the Russell Group of pre-eminent UK Universities, internationally recognized for its outstanding research and teaching. Building on more than 100 years of tropical medicine expertise, the University’s Institute of Infection and Global Health brings together academics in cognate disciplines from across the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. With more than 300 members, it carries out world-leading research in emerging and zoonotic infections, with extensive research programs in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Staff participants: Prof. Tom Solomon MD PhD; Prof. Lisa Ng PhD; Dr. Lance Turtle; Dr. Anu Jacob; Dr. Michael Griffiths; Prof. Julian Hiscox
La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, San Diego (LJI) – United States
Founded in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology is one of only a few non-profit biomedical research institutes in the world focused on understanding the immune response to infectious agents and cancers and on advancing progress toward the prevention, treatment and cure of immune system diseases. Its researchers, many of them world-renowned scientists, are exploring and providing insights into the body's defence system at the molecular and cellular levels.
Staff participant: Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sc
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) – United States
The University of North Carolina School of Medicine is a professional school within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. It is one of the top ranked medical schools and research institutions in the USA. The Department of Microbiology and Immunology has focused on a commitment to excellence in the teaching and training of scientists and medical practitioners. Faculty laboratories are organized under one of three departmental research programs: Immunology, Microbial Interactions, and Virology.
Staff participants: Prof. Dr. Aravinda de Silva; Dr. Stefan Metz
Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (ITM) - Belgium
The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (ITM), Belgium, is one of the world's leading institutes for training, research and assistance in tropical medicine and health care in developing countries. ITM houses three scientific departments, a specialized outpatient clinic and various support services, and employs over 400 staff. Through fundamental and applied research, advanced education and expert services, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (ITM) advances medical science to solve tropical, poverty-related and global health threats.
Staff participants: Prof. Kevin K. Ariën, PhD; Dr. Ralph Huits MD, DTM; Dr. Lieselotte Cnops, PhD; Dr. Joannes Clerinx MD, DTM; Johan Michiels
Fundação de Apoio à Universidade de São Paulo (FUSP) – Brazil
The Fundação de Apoio à Universidade de São Paulo - FUSP is a non-profit organization created to contribute to the efficiency of the University of São Paulo and to support the University's Institutes, Faculties, Research Nuclei and other organs, providing the necessary facilities and flexibility to manage external funds for the University. In its 19 years of existence, FUSP has already dealt with more than 2,300 projects and in the last 5 years it managed funds of the order of US$ 250 million.
Staff participants: Jorge Kalil PhD; Associate Prof. Esper Kallas PhD; Prof. Benedito Fonseca PhD; Prof. Amilton Antunes Barreira MD; Prof. Wilson Marques Júnior; Valeria Brondi; Prof. Eduardo Massad MD
Instituto Butantan (IB) – Brazil
Instituto Butantan is a public Brazilian biomedical research-manufacturer center affiliated to the São Paulo State Secretary of Health. The Institute was founded in 1901 and is internationally renowned for its research, educational and R&D programs and more recently for the production of new vaccines, notably for rotavirus, dengue and zika virus. Butantan Institute also runs internationally recognised educational and R&D programs.
Staff participant: Alexander Precioso MD
Associação Técnica–Científica de Estudo Colaborativo Latino (ECLAMC) – Brazil
The Associação Técnica–Científica de Estudo Colaborativo Latino program has been working on the clinical and epidemiological investigation of developmental congenital anomalies in Latin American hospitals since 1967. The ECLAMC hospital network in South America encompasses health professionals at 211 hospitals from 12 countries. ECLAMC is already participating in one of the MRC Zika Rapid Response projects together with colleagues from Ulster University.
Staff participant: Prof. Iêda Maria Orioli
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) – Brazil
The Fundação Oswaldo Cruz runs more than a thousand research and technological development projects, which produce knowledge, processes and products for the control of a wide range of diseases and other topics related to public health. Fiocruz has 18 programs for post graduate studies in several areas, a technical school and one of Brazil's largest public laboratories for vaccine production. The team at Fiocruz has expertise in clinical, virological and public health research.
Staff participants: Dr. Ana Maria Bispo de Filippis; Dr. Patricia Brazil; Dr. David Brown; Dr. Cristiane Soares
Instituto Medicina Tropical Pedro Kourí (IPK) – Cuba
The Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí, (IPK) is a Cuban research institution known worldwide thanks to the number of remarkable results and awards it has obtained. IPK is a leading authority in the fields of microbiology, parasitology, tropical medicine, clinical infectology and epidemiology of communicable diseases at national and international levels. IPK has two main centers, the hospital and the center for research, diagnostics and surveillance.
Staff participants: Prof. Maria G. Guzman, MD, MSc, PhD; Prof. Mayling Alvarez, MSc, PhD; Prof. Ariel Martinez, MSc, PhD
Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) – Senegal
Institut Pasteur de Dakar is a leading institution in research, public health and training in West Africa in the field of infectious diseases namely malaria, arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fever (AVHF), influenza, diarrheal diseases and antimicrobial resistance. The AVHF unit of Institut Pasteur de Dakar has been a WHO Collaborating Center for arbovirus and viral hemorrhagic fever since 1963 and has been involved in all major outbreaks of yellow fever, dengue, Rift valley fever, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, Marburg, Ebola and Zika throughout Africa.
Staff participants: Dr. Amadou Alpha Sall; Dr. Ousmane Faye; Dr. Oumar Faye; Dr. Gamou Fall
Schweizerisches Tropen- und Public Health-Institut (STPH) – Switzerland
Established in 1943, the Schweizerisches Tropen- und Public Health-Institut (Swiss TPH) has become a world-renowned Institution for teaching, research and services in the field of International Health Development. Swiss TPH objectives are to improve public health, strengthen health systems and to reduce poverty through partnerships, mutual learning, contribution and achievements.
Staff participant: Christoph F. R. Hatz, MD, DTM&H (London)
International Vaccine Institute (IVI) - Republic of Korea
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is an international non-profit organization established in 1997 under a treaty with 35 countries and the WHO as signatories. The institute's mission is to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for the world's developing nations. IVI's 130 members of staff work in state-of-the-art laboratories and offer expertise in epidemiology, translational research, clinical trials, vaccine production and regulation, and basic vaccine sciences addressing new vaccines that include vector-borne viral diseases (dengue).
Staff participants: In-Kyu Yoon, MD; Jae Seung Yang, PhD
Universidade de Pernambuco (FESP-UPE) – Brazil
Fundação Universidade de Pernambuco is the public university of the State of Pernambuco. FESP-UPE's mission is to contribute to the sustainable development of Pernambuco through teaching, research and university extension activities. It is a multi-campus university combining both teaching and research units and three university hospitals. Their “Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde” (Health Sciences Postgraduate Program) offers experience in multidisciplinary research projects and collaborative work with other Brazilian and foreign institutions, including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Staff participants: Prof. Ricardo Ximenes; Prof. Democrito de Barros Miranda Filho; Prof. Celina Turchi Martelli MD