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Roopa's Visit to India
This month, BVGH's tireless Associate Director of Partnering and Scientific Affairs, Roopa Ramamoorthi, is traveling across India. Read more about Roopa's trip...
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Dear WIPO Re:Search Members,
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February was a busy month with meetings in Washington DC, London, Geneva and India! We met with many members and are encouraged by the enthusiasm and support we feel where ever we go.
I want to take a moment to thank the Founding Members of WIPO Re:Search - Alnylam, AstraZeneca, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi - for their commitment and willingness to share valuable resources and knowledge to advance the development of products for neglected diseases.
If you would like to access resources or establish partnerships to advance your neglected disease research and development programs contact Roopa Ramamoorthi or me for more information. We look forward to working with you to identify collaborations to advance the development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases, malaria and tuberculosis.
I'm pleased to welcome McMaster University and the International Organization of Intellectual Property Professionals to WIPO Re:Search. A special thank you to our colleagues at Novartis for encouraging McMaster to join!
Please share this newsletter with anyone who would benefit from joining WIPO Re:Search.
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Sincerely, Jennifer
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Cornerstones of Collaboration
Jennifer travels to Geneva, Switzerland for meetings. Read more...
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 Partnership Hub Central
Roopa and Jennifer have been busy meeting with researchers NIH, NCATS, WRAIR and others. Read more... |
Research Request
BVGH is soliciting Research Requests from WIPO Re:Search Members. Read more... |
Highlighted Contributions 
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New Member Announcements
This month, we are pleased to announce two new WIPO Re:Search Members: McMaster University and the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI).
 Founded in 1887, McMaster University is a world-class academic institution based in Ontario, Canada. The university employs more than 1,300 full-time faculty and is the recipient of $325 million of sponsored research funding. The Michael deGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research is internationally renowned for the interdisciplinary work against microorganisms. McMaster University will be joining as a Provider and User member. "McMaster is pleased to become a member of this international consortium. We are entering into our first agreement, with Novartis, and look forward to exploring many more to advance our research in neglected diseases," said Dr Elsie Quaite-Randall, Executive Director, of McMaster's Industry Liaison Office.
The  International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) is an global organization of intellectual property professionals in private practice with representatives from 86 countries around the world. FICPI is joining as a Supporter member. "FICPI is delighted to lend its support to WIPO: Research which aims to leverage the power of intellectual property to improve lives in the world's poorest nations," said Julian Crump, Secretary General of FICPI.
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 WIPO Re:Search in the News  Read the full-length article here. |
Cornerstones of Collaboration -- 2012 Partnering Highlights
Jennifer met with WIPO colleagues in Geneva to further develop the WIPO Re:Search strategic plan and meet leaders from other WIPO divisions. Tom Bom belles and Jennifer met with WIPO colleagues from the Department of External Relations, the Global Infrastructure Sector and Access to Information and Knowledge Division, the Technology Sector, Innovation Division and Communications to explore leveraging these groups to support WIPO Re:Search objectives. Keep an eye on the WIPO ReSearch website to learn about WIPO programs that could compliment your training and development needs.
While in Geneva Jennifer met with Eduardo Pisani, President of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) to discuss BVGH and WIPO Re:Search. Eduardo confirmed the IFPMA's commitment and support of WIPO Re:Search and encouraged us to continue the important work of the consortium.
Jennifer also met with leaders at the World Health Organization to share some of the accomplishments and collaborations established to date by members of WIPO Re:Search. Feedback from our technical advisor was positive and encouraging.
 | | Jennifer meets with Konji Sebati, Director, WIPO Department of Traditional Knowledge and Global Challenges (far left), Tom Bombelles, Consultant (left), and Christian Wichard, WIPO Deputy Director (right) at WIPO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland |
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Partnership Hub Central
Jennifer and Roopa visited the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) to meet with intramural researchers, extramural program officers and organization leaders. BVGH had the opportunity to learn more about National Institutes of Health (NIH) programs and resources that can be leveraged by WIPO Re:Search Members.These resources included courses offered, hosting opportunities for developing world researchers, in-kind resources as well as specific areas of expertise. Cliff Barry explained and showed off his impressive tuberculosis facility including the world class BSL3 robotics platform and animal models.
Jennifer and Roopa also had the opportunity to reconnect with the leaders of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) bioproduction facility and facilitated an introduction for their assay group with the NIH program officer in Acute Viral Diseases to obtain additional diverse dengue samples from around the world.
The South African Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) have signed a CDA that will enable IDRI to provide structure-activity relationship (SAR) support for natural product derived anti-tuberculosis compounds developed by the MRC and its consortium partners.
    
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Highlighted Contributions
Eskitis University at Griffith University in Australia, the newest member of WIPO Re:Search has already made significant contributions to the WIPO Re:Search Database. These are profiled below.
Nature Bank is a unique biodiversity resource made available by Eskitis Institute to WIPO Re:Search Members. Based on natural products from Australia, China and Papua New Guinea, the natural products library comprises over 45 000 samples of plants and marine invertebrates, over 200 000 semi-purified fractions, over 3 250 pure compounds and over 400 naturally-occurring fragments. Nature Bank is enhanced for drug-like characteristics in accordance with Lipinksi's rules. The collection is stored under nitrogen and can be reformatted on demand into 96-, 384- and 1536-well microplates. This resource can be used for phenotypic or target based screening against various parasites. The institute can also undertake screening in house with assays provided by collaborators.
Link to database listing
Bioaffinity Mass Spectrometry: Eskitis Institute has established a mass spectrometry based medium throughput screening platform capable of identifying compounds binding to proteins and drug leads. The proteins can be analyzed in their folded native state without labeling. Reference: Vu H., Pham N.B. and Quinn R.J. (2008) Direct screening of natural product extracts using mass spectrometry. Journal of Biomolecular Screening 13(4): 265-275.
Link to database listing
These contributions were recently uploaded to the WIPO Re:Seach database. If you are interested in collaborations around these contributions please email Roopa.
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 SPECIAL FEATURE
Roopa's Visit to India
This month, BVGH's tireless Associate Director of Partnering and Scientific Affairs, Roopa Ramamoorthi, is traveling across India.
Beginning in Lucknow, Roopa's journey will take her through New Dehli, Pune, and Bangalore (see map at right). During her trip, Roopa will attend the 5th International Symposium of Drug Development for Orphan/Neglected Disease, the Vaccine World Summit, visit the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), meet with many potential WIPO Re:Search members, and identify new, exciting opportunities to expand the global consortium.
Follow Roopa's journey real-time via our Twitter feed.
During the CTDDR meeting, Roopa had the opportunity to speak with representatives from DNDi, London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). These conversations focused on existing WIPO Re:Search collaborations and opened the door for new partnerships between consortium members.
We will include details from Roopa's meetings in a special Snapshot feature next month.
 | | Bara Imambara in Lucknow, India |
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Research Request  WIPO Re:Search Members - have you hit a barrier in your NTD research? Are you looking for a partner to help fill R&D gaps? Why not ask the WIPO Re:Search community? We will post Member Research Request in this section in future issues of the Snapshot newsletter. Please email your request with a brief description to Roopa.
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Upcoming Global Health Events |
Dates
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Event Title
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Location
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Web Link
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13-14 April
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Global Health and Innovation Conference
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Yale University
New Haven, CT
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Website
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16-18 April
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World Vaccine Congress
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Washington, DC
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Website
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21-25 April
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Kinetoplastid Molecular Cell Biology Meeting
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MBL
Woods Hole, MA
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Website
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22-25 April
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BIO International Convention
(BVGH will be attending and participating)
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Chicago, IL
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Website
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25-28 April
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Society for the Advancement of Science in Africa (SASA): Pushing the Frontiers of Science in Africa
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Polokwane, South Africa
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Website
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Are you attending a global health event?
Do you have a Research Request to highlight in the Snapshot?
We want to hear from you! Please send feedback and suggestions via email.
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