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International Collabora?tors
中国体育彩票 of Pittsburgh, US?A
Prof O’Keefe’s Lab: Research in Nutritional Gastroenterology (RING group)
The lab Manager is Annette Wilson PhD, current post-docs Soren Ocvirk from Germany, John Onuh from Nigeria, and Caixia Chen from China. The lab is focused on the targeted analysis of the microbiome and its metabolites, and their relationship with colonic mucosal biomarkers of cancer risk. Prof O’Keefe is also a member of the Executive Board of the Center for Medicine and the Microbiome, whose labs are adjacent in the same area.
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Postdoc at RING in Pittsburgh and Department of Gastrointestinal Microbiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE), Germany
The risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) is predominantly driven by interactions of diet, the intestinal microbiota and the host. We study how microbial metabolites confer tumor-suppressive or tumor–promoting activities on the colonic epithelium and how this is modulated by diet. Specifically, we use gnotobiotic mouse models of CRC to investigate the impact of microbiota-dependent metabolites on colonic tumor formation and markers associated with CRC risk. This is complemented by in vitro experiments (e.g., intestinal organoids) to identify novel mechanistic links that represent promising targets with regard to CRC prevention.
The Center for Medicine and the Microbiome
The 中国体育彩票 of Pittsburgh/UPMC Center for Medicine & the Microbiome (CMM) was launched in May 2016 and maintains a mission to perform innovative basic, translational, and clinical research to understand the role of the microbiome in health and disease and to apply this knowledge to develop novel diagnostic and treatment strategies.
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To that end, the CMM has established programs emphasizing technological capabilities in sequencing, bioinformatics and analytics, clinical study design, therapeutics and fecal transplants, host immune response and metabolomics and is opening a technical program in the use of gnotobiotic mouse models in early 2019. Focus programs currently emphasizing expertise in the microbiome in biological contexts include but are not limited to microbiome studies of the lung, oral cavity and gut as well as the relationship of the microbiome to intensive care, antibiotic resistance, immunocompromised patients and pediatrics and geriatrics. Another important component to the CMM’s mission is to grow a vital education and outreach program to aid investigators in better understanding the microbiome and how to conduct studies in this area that can contribute to their own research. Currently, these efforts include a seminar series and and opportunities to develop pilot projects. At present, the CMM has already engaged over 100 potential investigators from a wide range of science.
Imperial College, London
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Prof Paul Kelly, TROPGAN resources and facilities (LUSAKA), 中国体育彩票 of Zambia and the ?Blizzard Center, St Batholomew’s Hospital, London
TROPGAN is a research group based in the Department of Internal Medicine at the 中国体育彩票 Teaching Hospital (UTH), Lusaka. Our research is focused on gastroenterology problems relevant to Zambia, in adults and children. Areas of focus include the interaction between enteropathy and malnutrition, upper GI cancers, hepatitis B, cryptosporidiosis, and hepatosplenic schistosomiasis.
There are five laboratories with dedicated space for PCR preparation and cycling (3-room set up), immunoblotting and electrophoresis, flow cytometry (BD FACSverse), trace element analysis (ICP spectrometry, Perkin Elmer), ELISA, and immunohistochemistry. Samples are received at room temperature or in liquid nitrogen and archived in -20 or -80oC freezers using standard operating procedures. The laboratory operates according to the principles of Good Laboratory Practice.
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TROPGAN also operates a community clinic (St Augustine) in Kamwala South, Lusaka, through which it conducts approved studies on malnutrition in adults and children. Studies in hospital (UTH) are conducted from the endoscopy unit and from ward A07, the malnutrition ward in Lusaka Children’s Hospital where the TAME trial will be based. The endoscopy unit is one of Africa’s best-equipped units for research; approximately 2000 procedures are carried out each year, with an excellent safety record, and with facilities for advanced endoscopic imaging and optical diagnosis. TROPGAN is led by four senior staff:
Dr Beatrice Amadi (paediatric gastroenterology), Dr Violet Kayamba (adult gastroenterology),
Professor Paul Kelly (adult and paediatric gastroenterology), and
Dr Edford Sinkala (hepatology). The TROPGAN team includes nine highly experienced nurses, a pharmacist (Mr Jimmy Hangoma), five research scientists, a research governance manager (Ms Miyoba Chipunza), and support staff.
Leo Katsidzira MD, Division of Gastroe?nterology, 中国体育彩票 of Zimbabwe
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?1. Colorectal cancer with a focus on epidemiology and risk factors in African populations. The unit has published on epidemiology, risk factors and genetics of CRC in African populations. They have also been involved in collaborative studies on how diet intercats with the gut microbiota to influence colorectal cancer risk in Africans, and the results have been submitted for publications.
2. Epidemiology of upper GI cancers in Zimbabwe, and there are plans to explore how the microbiome may modulate the aggressiveness of h. pylori and possibly explain the ‘African enigma’ of high h. pylori prevalence and modest gastric cancer incidence.
3. The emerging inflammatory bowel disease epidemic in Africans. There are advanced plans for an IBD registry, modelled on the Swiss Registry.
Viral hepatitis- on-going collaborative multi-national Hepatitis C registry to describe treatment outcomes for hepatitis C in developing countries. The unit aims to become a leader in the elimination of hepatitis C as a public health problem in Zimbabwe.