Gates foundation awards university £65,000 for leishmania research

SCOTTISH researchers have been awarded more than £65,000 to develop a vaccine for a deadly disease, affecting millions in the developing world. The University of Strathclyde has received a $100,000 (£65,329) Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The money will be used to support a project conducted by Dr Owain Millington and Dr Gail McConnell, who are working on a laser-targeted system to vaccinate against the leishmania parasite.

Leishmaniasis is a chronic, disfiguring and potentially fatal disease, but many of the medications used against it have serious side effects and it is often resistant to treatment.

Dr Millington said: "The leishmania parasite is hugely damaging and one of its worst features is that it manipulates the immune system to prolong its survival. This means there's an urgent need for new drugs to control the diseases it creates, and protect against infection.

"There has been a great deal of research into the development of vaccines, but it has had only limited success in preventing infection."