Tuesday 21st October 2014, 6-7pm

House of Commons, Committee Room 2

Please join us to celebrate the achievements of UK support for the European and Developing Counties Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).

Every year, over four million lives are wasted due to just three diseases – HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and Malaria. These diseases impact the poorest people around the world hardest, holding back communities as they fight to live healthy and productive lives. In the case of HIV/AIDS, our best efforts to scale up treatment have pushed us to a tipping point where, with new tools, we could win this fight. For TB, we desperately need new tools to fight both the disease and the challenge posed by drug resistant strains.

EDCTP was established in 2003 to accelerate the development of new or improved tools against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria and – with substantial UK support – has contributed to a significant progression in this work. The EDCTP partnership unites countries in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, pooling resources and skills to effectively co-ordinate and implement clinical research.

As the leading investor in EDCTP, the UK has established a leading role in facilitating innovative R&D for global health. Since 2003, EDCTP achievements include supporting eight improved medical treatments, carrying out 100 clinical trials and training more than 500 African researchers. UK researchers and institutions have collaborated on 82 EDCTP projects to date. These projects benefit the UK through improved research capacity and public health gains and also build capacity and results worldwide.

This panel event will bring together experts and parliamentarians to showcase the role of innovative partnerships in Research and Development (R&D) for Poverty-Related and Neglected Diseases (PRNDs) and discuss how the UK is supporting pioneering approaches to investment in global health R&D. The event will also provide an opportunity to discuss these benefits of effective partnership between European and sub-Saharan African countries in the context of EDCTP achievements.

Speakers:

  • Dr Mark Palmer, Chair of the EEIG-EDCTP General Assembly and UK representative as Director of International Strategy for the Medical Research Council.
  • Professor Charles Mgone,Executive Director of EDCTP
  • Chaired by Baroness Suttie, Liberal Democrat Peer and Member of the APPG on TB
  • Professor Helen McShane, Principal Investigator, Oxford Martin Programme on Vaccines, Oxford University

Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session to allow discussion between those in attendance and the panel.

Please RSVP to [email protected]

Dr Palmer is Chair of the EEIG (European Economic Interest Group) – EDCTP General Assembly and the UK representative. He joined the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Research Management Group in 1999, and managed their units in The Gambia and Uganda, before becoming Director of International Strategy in 2006, responsible for the MRC’s international policy and co-ordination of global health strategy. He is chairman of the Governing Council of the International Agency for Research in Cancer and has been the UK lead for the health theme of FP7 and will be the lead for health in Horizon 2020.

Helen McShane leads the TB Vaccine Programme at Oxford University, supported by EDCTP, working to achieve proof-of-concept for a booster vaccination for HIV positive adults. The original new TB vaccine was developed at Oxford and made by Professor McShane during her PhD, and was the first new TB vaccine to enter clinical trials in 2002.

Baroness Alison Suttie was Deputy Chief of Staff and Special Advisor to Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg, and Campaign Manager for the 2010 Election. Prior to this she was Head of the Leader’s Office for the Liberal Democrats, and has also worked for the President of the European Parliament. She has worked extensively in Eastern Europe, and has recently travelled to both Romania, and further afield to Cambodia, to meet those working on TB programmes. Baroness Suttie is a Member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Tuberculosis.

Professor Charles Mgone became the Executive Director of EDCTP in January 2007. He holds a Master degree in Paediatrics and a PhD in Medical and Molecular Genetics. Prof. Mgone has worked as the Deputy Director and later as the Acting Director of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research. Before joining EDCTP, Prof. Mgone was Network Director of the African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET) where he was responsible for coordinating the African response to the malaria burden through accelerating the development of malaria vaccines and other interventions.