The review and final selection of proposals for the 2023 LRI grants budget round has concluded, after which the applicants were notified of the outcome. This budget round was highly competitive, with 62 Letters of Intent received from researchers around the globe. From these, 21 were invited to submit a Full Proposal, and after extensive review, eight proposals were approved for funding, with most LRI research priorities represented in the accepted proposals and several specifically answering to this round’s focus on cost-efficient case finding strategies and development and validation of lab or field-based diagnostic assays.
The list of approved proposals can be found below, and more information can be accessed through the provided links.
Congratulations to all researchers! We are looking forward to projects with great impact.
- Compassion training for reducing stigma and improving quality of care for persons affected by leprosy
This study aims to address the following research question; To what extent can compassion training that specifically addresses stigma improve compassion and quality of care offered by health workers to persons affected by leprosy and other stigmatising health conditions?
- The role of persons affected as agents of change in their community; leprosy peer mentors to support case detection, DMDI and stigma reduction
The primary research question of the study is: How can persons affected by leprosy support early case detection and DMDI in rural settings, specifically in the Upper West Region of Ghana?
- Setting an external quality assessment (EQA) programme for enhancing capacity building focusing to the microbiological tools used in the diagnosis of leprosy and the detection of drug resistance
This study aims to conduct an international study involving laboratories participating in the leprosy diagnosis all over the world aiming at sharing a pilot external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for microbial diagnosis of leprosy and drug susceptibility testing (DST).
- Leprosy incidence, clustering and risk factors: Evidence from 5-year follow-up trial Maltalep and Ideal study in Bangladesh
The primary objective of thie study is to analyse the data over a 5-year follow-up period to compare the incidence of leprosy in the three cohorts, and to perform in-depth statistical analysis taking cluster effects into account.
- Evaluation of M. leprae specific RPA assay incorporated in mobile suitcase lab for rapid diagnosis of clinical and sub-clinical leprosy in Bangladesh
This study will address the following question: What are the diagnostic/clinical sensitivity and specificity of ML-RPA assay toward detection of leprosy using a mobile suitcase laboratory platform?
- Evaluation of five transcriptomic biomarkers for leprosy in a Colombian population
This study aims to determine, in Colombian population, whether differential transcriptomic expression of Hes-1 gene (skin) and RISK4LEP gene signature (blood) areas present in newly diagnosed leprosy patients (mainly PB) as compared to healthy controls without known contact with leprosy patients.
- Personalised footwear for foot ulcers in leprosy by baropodometry through an innovative community engagement model
This study will address the following question: Can a low-cost technology for measuring baropodometry, undertaken at the community / primary care levels, help design personalised MCR footwear that reduces the risk of new ulcers among people affected by leprosy with a history of plantar ulcers?
- Addressing healing after multi-drug treatment centred around perspectives of persons affected by leprosy, their families and healthcare providers: a qualitative study
This study will address the following question: What are the perspectives of persons affected by leprosy, their families and healthcare providers on living with chronic aspects of leprosy, to formulate a guideline that can address care after multi-drug treatment?