GOVERNMENT
UNC, 3 others to get Gates grants
$21 million going to Chapel Hill to fight 3 tropical diseases - AP - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Thursday four grants totaling more than $68.2 million to UNC Chapel Hill and three other institutions to fight three tropical diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people each year in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The diseases -- hookworm, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis -- are transmitted by parasites and worms. They can cause death or lifelong disfigurement or stunt children's growth and mental development.
No vaccines exist to prevent most of these diseases and the few drugs that are available to combat them are expensive and have serious side effects, foundation officials said. "Many of the world's most debilitating illnesses are virtually unheard of in the rich world. But they're a fact of life for millions of people in poor countries," said Tachi Yamada, president of the global health program at the Gates Foundation. UNC will receive $21.3 million to develop effective, inexpensive drugs to treat the late stages of leishmaniasis and African sleeping sickness, or trypanosomiasis. Leishmaniasis causes lesions and disfigurement in its victims, and death when the parasites invade internal organs. African sleeping sickness produces fever and lymph node inflammation, impairment of the brain and nervous system in the late stage and, if not treated, death. The grant supports the work of an international consortium led by Dr. Richard Tidwell, a professor in UNC's Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy and principal investigator for the project.
No vaccines exist to prevent most of these diseases and the few drugs that are available to combat them are expensive and have serious side effects, foundation officials said. "Many of the world's most debilitating illnesses are virtually unheard of in the rich world. But they're a fact of life for millions of people in poor countries," said Tachi Yamada, president of the global health program at the Gates Foundation. UNC will receive $21.3 million to develop effective, inexpensive drugs to treat the late stages of leishmaniasis and African sleeping sickness, or trypanosomiasis. Leishmaniasis causes lesions and disfigurement in its victims, and death when the parasites invade internal organs. African sleeping sickness produces fever and lymph node inflammation, impairment of the brain and nervous system in the late stage and, if not treated, death. The grant supports the work of an international consortium led by Dr. Richard Tidwell, a professor in UNC's Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy and principal investigator for the project. 
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