Meetings: June-July 2015
BIO2015
EDCTP was represented at the BIO2015 international meeting in Philadelphia, United States of America from 16 to 18 June 2015. The EDCTP team consisted of Dr Michael Makanga (Director of South-South Cooperation and Head of Africa Office), Dr Gabrielle Breugelmans (North-North
Networking Manager) and Gert Onne van de Klashorst (Communications Officer). The main objective was to network and inform potential partners from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. The European Commission gracefully hosted EDCTP in its stand in the exhibition hall of the conference.
EDCTP country visit to South Africa
From 29 June to 3 July 2015 an EDCTP team visited EDCTP-funded projects at Stellenbosch University and University of Cape Town in South Africa. The team consisted of Mr Abdoulie Barry (Director of Finance and Administration), Dr Pauline Beattie (Operations Manager), Dr Thomas Nyirenda (South-South Networking and Capacity Development Manager) as well as Mr Jean Marie Vianney Habarugira and Ms Michelle Nderu (Project Officers).These country visits are a regular part of EDCTP’s monitoring and evaluation of its projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The visits also serve our networking and advocacy strategies.
The EDCTP team conducted technical and financial assessments for selected projects at Stellenbosch University, Task Allied Sciences, Groote Schuur Hospital, the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine and the Lung Institute. In addition the team visited the clinical trial site at the Khayelitsha Site B Township clinic established by researchers from University of Cape Town.
The selected projects included amongst others: the Network of excellence TESA; the PanACEA consortium for TB-treatment clinical trials; the TB-NEAT study which evaluates novel and emerging technologies for TB diagnosis; the XACT project, which studies the utility of intensified case finding combined with novel TB diagnostics performed at community-based clinics; and the TB-IRIS project, a phase 2b randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of prednisone for patients with HIV-associated TB starting early antiretroviral therapy.
