TakeOFF
TAKeOFF consortium brings together international experts (from five research institutions) in filarial infections. This collaboration is aimed at tackling the obstacles to fight filariasis and podoconiosis diseases, hence the acronym TAKeOFF. Filariasis is one of the neglected tropical diseases (NTD) caused byfilarial nematodes and more than 200 million people are parasitized world-wide.
To address the filariasis and podoconiosis diseases, this consortium was established to provide both innovative treatment and morbidity management strategies which are of utmost importance in improving the care of patients, reducing suffering; and the prevention of morbidity, stigmatization and economic losses. Towards the advancement of the GPELF goals, this consortium seeks to establish a filarial clinical trial and research platform (F-CuRE) to address patient needs.
The Principal Investigators of TAKeOFF
Prof. Alexander Yaw Debrah (PhD)
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,Kumasi, Ghana
Tel: +233 3220 60351, 03220 63253 Mob: +233 20 9341317
Fax: +233 3220 62017
email: yadebrah@yahoo.com, yadebrah.chs@knust.edu.gh
Dr. Inge Kroidl, MD, MPH, DTM&H
Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical MedicineUniversity Hospital, LMU Munich
Leopoldstrasse 5
80802 Munich
Ph: +49-89-2180 17637
e-mail: ikroidl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
web: www.tropinst.med.uni-muenchen.de
Prof. Dr. med. Achim Hoerauf
Co-Coordinator TAKeOFFUniversity Health Center Bonn
Sigmund Freud Str. 25
House 63, Zone blue
53127 Bonn
Germany
Tel: +49 228 287-15673
Fax +49 228 287-19573
e-mail: achim.hoerauf@ukbonn.de
Upendo Mwingira
The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR)3 Barack Obama Drive
P. O. Box 9653
11101 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel: +255-22-2121400
Fax: +255-22-2121360
hq@nimr.or.tz/ info@nimr.or.tz
Prof. Samuel Wanji (Ph.D)
University of Buea, Faculty of science, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology;P.O.Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
Tel: 694727715
e-mail: swanji@yahoo.fr
Disease conditions being researched
Lymphatic filariasis (LF)
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is the most prevalent of the filarial diseases with an estimated 140 million people infected globally. One of the major public health problems associated with LF is morbidity which accounts for it being one of the leading causes of global disability leading to economic loss of hundreds of millions of dollars annually.