WHO consultancy on malaria

Call for applications (Ref: 2014/03)

Application deadline: 14 July 2014

The WHO Global Malaria Programme is currently looking for a consultant to work with its Diagnosis, Treatment and Vaccines Unit on a project to stimulate the creation of a private sector market for malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, the United Republic of Tanzania (mainland) and Uganda.

The consultant will be expected to conduct a review of literature on the introduction of diagnostic testing into the private sector for diseases of public health importance other than malaria, map the landscape of international or regional efforts and the activities to harmonize regulation of in vitro diagnostic tests and develop the outline of a road map for implementing quality assured RDTs. He or she will also conduct a broad review of options for field-based quality control of malaria rapid diagnostic tests, review positive control well (PCW) specifications and investigate various potential options for future PCW use in national malaria programmes.

The consultancy is to start as soon as possible for a period of six months.

Full details can be found here.

Malaria Consortium Request for Proposal: Data collection for Thailand Malaria Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) Survey 2014

Background:

Malaria Consortium (MC) has recently announced a request for proposals to conduct the data collection for the Thailand Malaria KAP survey 2014.

The KAP Survey 2014 will provide useful information on what the KAP of Thai citizens and migrant/mobile populations are and, along with data collected in 2012, indicate how KAP is changing over time. This data will be used by partner organisations to tailor interventions to achieve maximum impact among these populations. The KAP also provides data on specific performance indicators that will help organisations evaluate contributions to malaria elimination in Thailand.

Project needs:

MC will be responsible for overall study design; ethical approval; data analysis; and report-writing for the KAP Survey 2014. MC will, however, hire a firm/institution to execute the data collection portion of the study. Specifically, the firm/institution will:

• Propose a methodology for data collection, based on the questionnaire provided by MC. The bidder is free to suggest any method of data collection; however, MC would prefer electronic means, where the bidder shall be responsible for obtaining and programming the device to be used.
• Undertake training of data collection staff under the supervision of MC.
• Pilot the final questionnaires under the supervision of MC.
• Obtain household lists for all villages/clusters in the final sample.
• Coordinate with local health officials to conduct community sensitization and data collection.
• Conduct data collection in the field using the questionnaire, under the supervision of MC.
• Submit bi-weekly reports to update MC on progress of training, data collection, etc.
• Complete data entry training (if necessary) under the supervision of MC and undertake data entry of all completed questionnaires (if paper-based).
• Provide datasets from the data entry activities to MC.
• Ensuring completed questionnaires (if paper-based) are safely delivered to MC.

Number and location of study participants:

• 1,250 households (1 person per household) in 82 villages across Thailand
•    60 households (1 person per household) in 4 refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border.

The proposal must include the following information:

• Completed technical and price components
• Company qualification & references
• Any additional services that MC should consider in the bid

Selection Criteria:

• Relevant experience of the bidder
• Qualifications and competence of the personnel proposed
• Adequacy of technical approach and proposed work plan
• Price                        
• Bid compliance to the RFP requirement

Submission:

All proposals are submitted to Mr. Alongkorn Nuanyai via Email (a.nuanyai@malariaconsortium.org) or to the following address:

Malaria Consortium Thailand (Chiang Mai Office)

268/10 Thung Hotel Soi 6

Thung Hotel Road

Watkate, Muang

Chiang Mai 50000

Important Dates:

•  The proposal/bid deadline is 4^th July, 16:00. All bids received after this time will not be considered.
• Winners will be informed within 30 days after the deadline
• Project duration: July – November 2014

Interested? The full Request for Proposal document, with more details about proposal structure can be found here.

If you have any questions, or are interested in applying, please contact Paul (paul.ada@mahidol.ac.th), Tim (tim.mahidol@gmail.com), or Glad (gladgeorge.rot@mahidol.edu) at the Office of Research Services. 

Wellcome Trust - Sustaining Health

The Wellcome Trust has just announced a second call for entries to their Sustaining Health grants. These grants are given to interdisciplinary research proposals for pilot projects that look to address health and sustainability challenges, specifically focusing on the interplay between health, nutrition, and the environment.

Two sub-themes are particularly of interest, though projects outside of these areas are also welcome:

• The health impact of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures
• How to feed 9 billion

Funding is 250,000GBP, but in exceptional cases can be up to 500,000GBP.

The first step in the application process is to submit a concept note, which you can download here. This is a very brief outline of your proposal (4 pages). Successful applicants will be invited to submit a preliminary application at the end of August.

Important dates:

• Deadline to submit concept note: 25 July 2014
• Invites to submit preliminary applications will be sent by 20 August 2014
• Deadline for preliminary applications: 26 September
• Invites to submit full application sent during week commencing 10 November 2014
• Deadline for full applications: 14 February 2015

For full details about the grant opportunity, please click here 

If you are interested in applying for this grant opportunity, please email  Paul, Tim, or Glad at the Office of Research Services.

International Study and Research for FTM staff and students

Australia offers several different scholarship and fellowship programs, which allow applicants from other countries to study or conduct research in Australia. Travel, tuition and living costs can be covered, and the programs run from a few weeks to several years in duration. The following information covers some opportunities which may be of interest to junior researchers and students at FTM:

1.       Australia Awards Scholarships and Fellowships – This prestigious program aims to give the ‘next generation of global leaders an opportunity to undertake study, research and professional development.’ Current scholars include scientists, and people from the ASEAN region. Click here for more information.

2.       International Postgraduate Research Fellowships – The IPRS offers both two year masters programs and three year PhD programs, in order to attract top quality postgraduate students to areas of research strength in Australia. Support is also available for dependents of successful applicants. For more information, follow this link.

You can also search through the database on this website to find programs that best suit you. If you have any further questions, or would like advice on applying, please contact ORS though paul.ada@mahidol.ac.th, tim.mahidol@gmail.com or gladgeorge.rot@mahidol.ac.th

NIH D43 training grant

The NIH has announced a training grant aimed specifically at young researchers. This is a competing renewal application for the training program entitled “Enhancing vivax malaria research in
Thailand” (D43TW006571).

The program aims to provide both long and short term training to scientists from malaria endemic regions of Thailand and Myanmar, to help junior researchers establish and develop careers as malaria researchers. The program will run for five years. The following positions are available:
           

·         Junior faculty members will be able to apply for $15,000 for a two year training program in malaria research. 5 junior faculty members will be trained over a 5 year period. The junior members will be mentored, and will work collaboratively with the postdoctoral fellows and PhD students.

·         Postdoctoral Fellows will be able to complete 2-3 year programs. 4 Fellows will be trained during the 5 year period. All postdoctoral fellows will be hosted at endemic area universities, allowing them to develop the skills necessary to become successful researchers in the region. Postdoctoral Fellows will receive a salary.

·         6 PhD students will be accepted for up to 5 years. Trainees will register and receive their PhD's through Mahidol University. PhD students will receive tuition fees and a stipend.

Participants will receive training in three main thematic areas - Changing malaria epidemiology, Drug resistance and Transmission blocking vaccines. These topics will cover a wide variety of subjects, and will allow participants to develop a wide range of relevant skills necessary to become successful independent researchers.

Short term training will also be available through an annual workshop held at Mahidol University. Topics will include epidemiology, biostatistics, drug resistance management, in vitro culture techniques for P. vivax, bioethics, and scientific writing (publications and grant proposals). 

For more information, contact the co-PD:

Dr. Jetsumon Sattabongkot Prachumsri
Deputy Dean for Research, Mahidol University - jetsumon.pra@mahidol.ac.th 

NIH/Fogarty Global Infectious Disease Research Training Program (D43) PAR-14-193

NIH/Fogarty Global Infectious Disease Research Training Program (D43)

Participating Organization(s)	National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Components of Participating Organizations	Fogarty International Center (FIC) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Funding Opportunity Title	Global Infectious Disease Research Training Program (D43)
FOA Number	PAR-14-193
Companion Funding Opportunity	PAR-14-194, D71 International Research Training Planning Grant
Eligibility	U.S. and low- and middle-income country (LMIC) institutions. Thailand is a middle-income country.
Funding Opportunity Purpose	The application should propose a collaborative research training program that will strengthen the capacity of an LMIC institution to conduct infectious disease (excluding HIV/AIDS and select agents). FIC will support research-training programs that focus on major endemic or life-threatening emerging infectious diseases, neglected tropical diseases, infections that frequently occur as co-infections in HIV infected individuals or infections associated with non-communicable disease conditions of public health importance in LMICs. FIC will also support revisions to existing GID research training grants to support training for LMIC advanced post-doctoral researchers to conduct research on the relationship of infectious disease to chronic disease conditions of public health importance.

Key Dates

Earliest Submission Date	June 29, 2014
Application Due Date	July 29, 2014
Scientific Merit Review	October/November 2014
Advisory Council Review	January 2015
Earliest Start Date	March 2015
Award Budget	Applications budgets are limited to $200,000 per year for new awards and $250,000 per year for renewal awards (total direct costs).
Award Project Period	The maximum project period is up to 5 years for new and renewal awards.

For further details, please follow these links:

Part 1.Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

 For further information and assistance with your grant application, please do not hesitate to contact us at the

Research Administration Unit (International Sponsored Research)

Office of Research Services, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University:

E-mail: tropmed.mahidol.univ@gmail.com 

Fogarty Planning Grant for Global Infectious Disease (GID) Research Training Program (D71) PAR-14-194

Fogarty Planning Grant for Global Infectious Disease

(GID) Research Training Program (D71)

PAR-14-194

Summary:

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)invites new planning grant applications for the Global Infectious Disease (GID) Research Training Program from applicants at low- and middle-income research institutions (LMICs). Thailand is a middle-income country.

The application should propose plans to develop a collaborative research training program with a U.S. institution that will strengthen the capacity of the applicant institution to conduct infectious disease (excluding HIV/AIDS and select agents) research.  

Planning grants should describe the planning process and detailed vision  for developing a research-training program that focuses on major endemic or life-threatening emerging infectious diseases, neglected tropical diseases, infections that frequently occur as co-infections in HIV infected individuals or infections associated with non-communicable disease conditions in LMICs.

Key dates:

Open Date (Earliest Submission Date):    June 29, 2014

Letter of Intent Due Date(s):                            30 days prior to the application due date

Application Due Date(s):                                 July 29, 2014

Scientific Merit Review:                                   October/November 2014

Advisory Council Review:                                January 2015

Earliest Start Date:                                           March 2015

Award Budget

Limited to $28,000 per year direct costs + 8% MTDC

Award Project Period

Maximum project period is 1 year.

Further Details:

Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

 For further information and assistance with your grant application, please do not hesitate to contact us at the

 

Research Administration Unit (International Sponsored Research)

Office of Research Services, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University:

E-mail: tropmed.mahidol.univ@gmail.com 

Telephone: ext 1332