Project description
New strategies to prevent Leishmania transmission in India
Leishmania parasites cause visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a neglected tropical disease that severely threatens public health across the Indian subcontinent and East Africa. Progress towards elimination has stalled in its final stages, demanding the swift development of new vector control tools. The ERC-funded TRANSPHORM project is developing new strategies to prevent Leishmania transmission and control sand fly vectors. Specifically, it aims to enhance treatment for patients with post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), who are key reservoirs for VL. The project will study the effects of drugs on both patients and sand flies, test ivermectin as an insecticide and evaluate a targeted mass drug administration approach. Ultimately, it aims to improve leishmaniasis control and PKDL treatment.
Objective
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania parasites, forms a significant health challenge in the Indian subcontinent and Eastern Africa. Despite substantial progress towards elimination, critical challenges persist in the ‘last mile’ to achieve and maintain elimination. I propose the innovative 5-year TRANSPHORM project, where I will develop novel pharmacological strategies to prevent Leishmania transmission and control sand fly vectors. Patients with the skin infection post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) are one of the main transmission reservoirs for VL in India. We will examine how treatment can be more focused on reducing the infectiousness of these patients and when they stop being infectious to sand flies. In addition, I will investigate drug exposure within sand flies taking a blood meal on patients on treatment and its effect on parasite survival to determine optimal drug regimens from a transmission perspective. New vector control tools for VL are urgently needed in the maintenance phase of elimination. A proof-of-concept study will evaluate whether ivermectin can be used as an insecticidal agent to treat PKDL patients and the optimal dose to kill sandflies feeding on them. Lastly, a targeted mass drug administration approach, using single-dose ivermectin and/or a short antileishmanial drug regimen, will be evaluated in a cluster randomized trial on community members around VL and PKDL index patients, aiming to reduce sand fly populations and prevent transmission in a more targeted way compared to current vector control strategies.
Together, this project will provide the data and various novel pharmacological vector control tools to support and enable VL control programmes to reach and maintain elimination. In addition, the project will ultimately result in improved and optimized treatments for PKDL and other forms of leishmaniasis. This innovative approach has the potential to transform leishmaniasis control.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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751 05 Uppsala
Sweden
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