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Advancing Science for Global Health
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$14M awarded for chronic disease research training through NCD-Lifespan program

September / October 2012 | Volume 11, Issue 5

Close up of hand holding a smoking cigarette
Photo by David Snyder
for Fogarty/NIH

Fogarty's NCD-Lifespan awards
will tackle chronic diseases in
developing countries.

To counteract the rapid rise of chronic diseases in developing countries, Fogarty has awarded $14 million in grants to 15 research institutions. Its Chronic, Non-Communicable Diseases and Disorders Across the Lifespan (NCD-Lifespan) program will fund training in research areas related to non-communicable health problems, with the ultimate goal of producing locally relevant, evidence-based interventions.

"Non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease continue to ravage developing regions of the world, with a lack of trained clinicians and researchers compounding the epidemic," said Fogarty Director Dr. Roger I. Glass. "Awards from the NCD-Lifespan program will help break new ground by building chronic disease expertise where it's needed most."

Training will cover a diverse range of subjects, including a trauma and injury project in Uganda, a substance abuse effort in Ukraine, and courses on nutrition and chronic diseases in Ghana, Malawi and Bangladesh. Other projects will focus on improving mental health infrastructure in Southeast Asia, training in China related to gene-environment interaction and an implementation sciences institute in Mexico and India. In addition, cancer and tobacco control training will be provided in Kenya. Finally, a planning grant will support cardiovascular research training in India with a focus on biostatistics and modeling.

Chronic disease deaths are projected to increase by at least 20 percent in Africa and Southeast Asia by 2020, according to the WHO. In 2008, more than two-thirds of cancer deaths and over 80 percent of deaths from cardiovascular disease and diabetes occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Fogarty launched the NCD-Lifespan program to address these health issues as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mental illness, drug addiction and alcoholism, and developmental and neurological disorders.

Fogarty's NIH funding partners for the awards include the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute of Mental Health.

More Information

2012 NCD-Lifespan Awards

Access full details for the NCD-Lifespan awards in NIH RePORTER.

Full Awards

Two-year Planning Grants

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