The Neglected Global Diseases Initiative (NGDI) has received core funding of $120,000 to continue its mission to deliver interventions to those in need. Support was garnered from the Offices of the Vice President Academic and Vice President Research & International and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI). Vice-Provost David Farrar comments, “NGDI’s continues to provide UBC researchers and students with an important forum for their work in this area.”
“The contin
ued support of the UBC community highlights the importance of the work in which NGDI researchers are engaged,” said new Director, Dr. Richard Lester, assistant professor of infectious diseases in the department of medicine. “Our ability to advocate for the health of neglected populations and promote UBC’s outstanding research in this area of global health has been enhanced with this funding commitment.”
Dr. Robert McMaster, VCHRI Executive Director and a researcher in visceral leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease states, “The majority of these diseases contribute greatly to the amount of suffering and poverty in the world today. The NGDI’s mission to work towards delivering interventions where they are needed aligns with VCHRI’s mandate for healthier lives through discovery.”
“The NGDI’s mandate of research for neglected diseases of poverty really highlights some of the excellent basic research happening in our faculties of science and pharmaceutical sciences,” states Dr. Helen Burt, Associate Vice President Research.
The new funding coincides with a move of the offices of the NGDI to the Vancouver General Hospital UBC site at 564 – 828 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC.
Neglected Global Diseases Initiative at UBC: The Neglected Global Diseases Initiative at UBC (NGDI‐UBC) brings together the technical expertise and perspectives of a variety of disciplines at UBC – including bench science, pharmaceutical and health research, business, social policy, and law – to develop interventions for neglected global diseases and ensure their delivery to those in need. For more information, visit www.ngdi.ubc.ca.
For more information about the VP Academic and VP Research and International Office visit www.vpacademic.ubc.ca and www.research.ubc.ca.
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute: A world leader in translational health research, is the research body of Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. VCHRI includes three of BC’s largest academic and teaching health sciences centres — Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, and GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre — as well as many other hospitals and public health agencies across Vancouver Coastal Health. VCHRI is academically affiliated with UBC Faculty of Medicine and is one of Canada’s top funded research centres receiving between $80-100 million in research funding annually. Over 1500 personnel are engaged in a variety of research centres, programs and evolving research areas. www.vchri.ca
For more information contact:
Dr. Richard Lester
Assistant Professor, Div. of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine
Director, Neglected Global Diseases Initiative
Director, Global Health & Tropical Medicine Program
Phone: 604-789-2908
Email: rlester@mail.ubc.ca
Jocelyn Conway
Coordinator
Neglected Global Diseases Initiative
Phone: 604-218-4849
Email: jocelyn.conway@ubc.ca