First Half of 2021 Eneanya OA, Koudou BG, Aboulaye M, Elvis AA, Souleymane Y, Kouakou MM, Weil GJ, Fischer PU. Progress towards onchocerciasis elimination in Côte d’Ivoire: A geospatial modelling study. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Feb 10;15(2):e0009091. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009091. eCollection 2021 Feb PMID: 33566805. This study reviewed dramatic improvements in onchocerciasis endemicity that have occurred […]
Category: NEWS
Publications from Clinical Trials
The DOLF project is pleased to share several recent publications from clinical trials and community studies of alternative treatments for lymphatic filariasis. All of these have been published with open access. The first two articles (by Campillo et al and Ouattara et al) provide further strong evidence in support of the WHO recommendation to use […]
Dr. Fatorma Bolay
Dr. Fatorma Bolay, the director of the Division of Public Health Research at the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) has passed away. He was the director of the former Liberian Institute for Biomedical Research (LIBR) and DOLF-Project collaborator since 2011. Dr. Bolay navigated the LIBR through difficult times in Liberia and was a […]
Onchocerciasis elimination in Côte d’Ivoire
The DOLF Project has just published an article on the spatial distribution of onchocerciasis (Oncho) in Côte d’Ivoire before and after the introduction of mass distribution of ivermectin. This work was based on extensive Ministry of Health mapping and surveillance data collected between 1975 and 2016. Data included village geolocations, village-level prevalence and intensity estimates […]
Publication on IDA in India
The DOLF Project (dolfproject.wustl.edu) is proud to announce publication of an important paper on the safety and efficacy of a triple drug combination treatment (IDA) for lymphatic filariasis (LF) in India. With almost 9,000 participants, this was the largest of five IDA safety and efficacy studies that DOLF coordinated with financial support from the Bill […]
The DOLF Program welcomes Nicole Fetcho as the new Program Manager
Previously Nicole was DOLF’s Data Manager for 15 months before stepping into the role as Program Manager. Nicole served for one year in AmeriCorps conducting HIV prevention with high-risk populations in Cleveland, Ohio. After AmeriCorps, Nicole received her Master’s in Public Health from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis with a specialization […]
New clinical trial for treatment of LF in Cote d’Ivoire
DOLF project studies have demonstrated the safety and superior efficacy of IDA (a triple drug regimen of ivermectin, DEC, and albendazole) for treatment of lymphatic filariasis (LF). Moxidectin is a new drug that was recently approved for treatment of onchocerciasis. It is more effective than ivermectin for long-term clearance of O. volvulus parasites from the […]
DOLF Project Ophthalmologists Publish Short Case Report
DOLF project ophthalmologists Michael Gyasi and Augustine Hong have published a short case report of a patient with ocular onchocerciasis. This includes a photo and a very interesting video with motile microfilariae in the anterior chamber of the eye (open access, see “supplements”) that people may want to use for teaching or social mobilization. Microfilarial […]
Update on IDA treatment published
DOLF researchers provide update on long term effect of IDA triple drug treatment for lymphatic filariasis. N Engl J Med. 2018;382(20):1956-1957
DOLF Team Collaborates for Upcoming IDA Rollout in Indonesia
The DOLF team recently collaborated with the Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta and the Indonesian Ministry of Health to host a 1.5-day meeting in early February in Jakarta to discuss strategic planning for the upcoming rollout of IDA mass drug administration (MDA) in the country. The attendee list also included a representative of the Bill and Melinda […]
DOLF Laboratory Core Improves Microscopy Technology
The lab in St. Louis received an Olympus VS120-S6 microscope and slide scanner. Microscopy is essential to study the effect of drugs on adult Onchocerca volvulus worms. However, drug-related morphological changes are sometimes difficult to differentiate from age-related changes of the worms. Unfortunately, is the technical expertise to judge worms in histological nodule sections vanishing […]
DOLF Research-Roll-Out of IDA for LF Elimination in PNG (ENB)
Dr. Christopher King and his team from Case Western Reserve University and Dr. Alison Krentel from the Bruyere Research Institute in Ottawa have returned to East New Britain to continue their research. Dr. Krentel will train local staff on procedures for assessing the acceptability of the triple drug mass drug administration that was provided province-wide […]
DOLF initiates a trial of IDA triple drug treatment for Oncho
DOLF researchers and staff traveled to Hohoe, Ghana in December 2019 to work with Nick Opoku’s team at the University of Health and Allied Sciences to initiate a trial of the triple drug treatment IDA in persons with onchocerciasis. This study is testing the same IDA combination (ivermectin plus DEC and albendazole) that is so […]
Two New Members Join the DOLF Team
New publication Accepted to PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (Links to an external site)
Researchers uncover molecular changes associated with treating lymphatic filariasis
Introducing Teresa Tufte – Global Health Program Manager
New Global Health Program Manager (Operations) – The DOLF Project Teresa joins the DOLF project as the Global Health Program Manager for Operations taking over for Rachel Anderson. She joins us with two years of health care research and data analysis experience at the State of Massachusetts’s Center for Health Information and Analysis. Prior to […]
DOLF Obtains $2.4 Million to Fund Research in Papua New Guinea
The DOLF project has received a 2.4 million dollar grant to support studies to assess the impact of an IDA implementation program in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea (PNG) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . Prior DOLF studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the “IDA” three-drug combination drug therapy […]
Major Publication Accepted to PLOS Medicine
The DOLF Project is proud to announce publication in PLOS Medicine of results form a major safety study investigating the use of a triple drug combination “IDA” as a treatment regimen for lymphatic filariasis. The study enrolled more than 26,000 participants in five countries. Results from this study suggest that IDA is safe enough for […]
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
TRANSLATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL FIELD RESEARCH ON LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS AND ONCHOCERCIASIS Our group at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct cutting-edge research to support elimination programs for lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. We are seeking postdoctoral fellows to (1) participate in applied field research […]
DOLF Researcher Dr. Christine Dubray Keynote Speaker
DOLF Researcher Dr. Christine Dubray, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, was the keynote speaker for the Washington University Medical School’s 21st Global Health & Medicine Symposium held on April 17. The title of her talk was, “A global health career on the front lines, and what I […]
Up to $24 million will help to eliminate 2 tropical diseases (Links to an external site)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports DOLF research to fight elephantiasis, river blindness
DOLF Project Research On A New Treatment For LF Is Published In The NEJM
DOLF investigators Christopher King and James Kazura from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland with colleagues at the Papua New Guinea Institute for Medical Research and at Washington University in St. Louis have just published important results from a randomized clinical trial. This trial tested the safety and efficacy of a new triple drug treatment […]
Behind the Scenes for the DOLF ONCHO Studies in Ghana:
Identifying solutions for enrollment, regulatory requirements, drug procurement, and improved collaboration for an international clinical trial in Hohoe Ghana By Rachel Bick and Philip BudgeOctober 5, 2018 The DOLF Project recently sent two team members, Philip Budge and Rachel Bick, to visit the Nick Opoku and the DOLF Onchocerciasis research team in Hohoe, Ghana. Our […]
Potentially Game-Changing Research for Treating Onchocerciasis has Started in Ghana
The DOLF project, a collaboration of partners from Africa, Asia, the U.S. and Europe, has secured a new grant of 2.1 Million dollars from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant will fund a clinical trial of a new treatment for onchocerciasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms that is also known as River […]
2018 Summer Research Program Reflections – Complexities Behind LF
2018 Summer Research Program Reflections – Complexities Behind Lymphatic Filariasis July 12,2018 The blog is following the student participants in this year’s Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program (https://publichealth. wustl.edu/resources/summer-research program/). Each student will be providing their own reflections from a Summer Research Program Seminar Series (https://publichealth. wustl.edu/series/summer-research program-seminars/ ) event. Some students will […]
2018 GAELF Meeting – Media Report
At the 2018 GAELF Meeting, Dr. Gary Weil shared perspectives on how the new treatment combination (IDA) could accelerate elimination of LF.
Introduction – Global Health Research Program Manager
The DOLF project is pleased to announce that Rachel Bick has joined our team as Global Health Research Project Manager Rachel brings international experience in global health and a strong academic background to this role. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Factors Psychology degree from the University of Utah and a Master of Public Health […]
Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) released their fifth progress report on the London Declaration on NTDs. The report describes the progress made toward achieving the goals set out by the London Declaration toward the control, elimination, and eradication of 10 NTDs. DOLF research on a more effective triple drug combination for lymphatic filariasis […]
1st DOLF Meeting: October 11-14th, St. Louis, MO-USA
Top row: Eric Ottesen, Phillip Miller, Peter Fischer, Alex Debrah, Ron Don, Achim Hoerauf, Tom Kanyok, Julie Jacobson, Chris King, Kerstin Fischer, Tania Supali, Sabine Mand, Charles Mackenzie, Dan Goldberg, Kapa Ramaiah, Rao Ramakrishna, Andrew Majewski, Dao-Jun Jiang. Bottom row: Gary Weil, Amy Rush, Yao Sodahlon, Eddie Thomsen, Manasseh Baea, Fatorma Bolay, Amy Klion, Wilma […]
WUSTL receives $13 million Gates Foundation global health grant toward elimination of tropical diseases
January 28, 2010 By Michael C. Purdy Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a five-year, $13 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve efforts to eliminate two parasitic diseases, elephantiasis and river blindness. These diseases belong to a group of infections known as neglected tropical diseases, which […]