27 September 2013
Dundee's quest for new treatments for neglected diseases to be explored at Café Science event
The University of Dundee's efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases in the developing world will be discussed at the next Café Science event to take place.
Professor Alan Fairlamb of the University's Drug Discovery Unit will outline the cutting-edge work being carried out in order to develop new medicines for diseases such as Leishmaniasis, Chagas Disease, and African Sleeping Sickness at Chambers Coffee House and Restaurant on Monday, 30th September.
"Dundee is leading a new battle on tropical diseases," explained Professor Fairlamb. "Infectious diseases are responsible for more deaths and disability in sub-Saharan Africa than all other causes combined. As a result there is a huge difference in average life expectancy between Africa and the developed world.
"Many of the currently available treatments for these neglected diseases of poverty are not fit for purpose so affordable, safer new drugs are urgently needed. Despite these gross inequalities in health, only 10 per cent of global expenditure on the research and development of new treatments is devoted to diseases that afflict 90 per cent of the world's population, a situation we refer to as the 10:90 gap.
"In my talk, I will be explaining something of our work to overcome gaps in the discovery, development and delivery of new treatments for neglected diseases and describe how the University of Dundee is contributing in the fight towards health for all."
The DDU was created to respond to a lack of capacity in the UK for early stage drug discovery in the academic sector, and matches the goals of both the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and the UNICEF-UNDP-World Bank-WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases.
Its aim is to translate basic science into lead compounds to validate putative drug targets, to use as tools to investigate disease pathways and, when appropriate, advance to pre-clinical drug candidates.
Café Science was launched in January 2008, and has attracted almost 5000 visitors since then. The monthly events are informal discussions led by leading local researchers that allow members of the public the opportunity to learn more about the ground-breaking science at the Universities of Dundee, St Andrews and Abertay, the James Hutton Institute, and Dundee Science Centre.
"Neglected Diseases - Dundee's Quest for New Medicines" takes place at Chambers from 7pm on Monday, 30th September. The event is free and open to all. There is no need to book in advance but an early arrival is recommended.
More information is available at www.cafesciencedundee.co.uk/
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
