This is the youngest programme within IPR’s Tropical and Infectious Diseases Department.

One of our goals is to provide insight on the late stage of Human African Trypanosomiasis, a disease whose outcome is invariably fatal if untreated, using various animal models.

The late stage of Human African Trypanosomiasis is considered one of the hallmarks of the disease and its study especially on its occurrence and development could substantially improve on the management and therapy of the disease in endemic as well as epidemic areas.

The programme is headed by Dr.Maina Ngotho who is also the Head of Animal Resources department. He is assisted by Christopher Kinyanjui. Dr Ngotho has worked on sleeping sickness research, with particular experience in the non-human primate model of sleeping sickness, since 1990 resulting in varied publications in peer reviewed journals. He is also a member of the WHO/TDR Network of GLP trainers.

With the existing physical infrastructure that has enabled IPR to gain international recognition as biomedical research centre, and the availability of human resource, the human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) programme has already started to take root. A collaborative effort between Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB, Belgium), Instituto de Parasitologia y Biomedicina (IPB-CSIC, Spain), University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM, Mozambique) and Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND, Switzerland) and IPR has resulted in a grant submitted for funding and approved under the FP7 of the EU. The proposed study aims to address research into new diagnostic techniques and chemotherapy of HAT utilising the nanobody technology. The IPR will be responsible for testing for diagnostic and chemotherapeutic potential of the technology in the pre-clinical Vervet monkey model of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense before field tests in humans. It is anticipated that successful implementation will result in capacity building for HAT as well as application of the technology to other infectious diseases already established at IPR.

The newly established neuroscience department with electronic monitoring facilities for daily monkey activity rhythm further supports research in sleeping sickness especially on how the disease causes the disruption of the sleep wake cycle.