[Federal Register: March 31, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 61)]
[Notices]               
[Page 16505]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr05-69]                         


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 
Antimalarial Drug Resistance and Prevention of Malaria During 
Pregnancy; Notice of Intent To Fund Single Eligibility Award

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
intent to fund fiscal year (FY) 2005 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program to increase the epidemiological and operational data generated 
in the West African sub-region upon which policy makers can base their 
decisions and bring cutting edge malaria control tools from the bench 
to the field. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for 
this program is 93.283.

B. Eligible Applicant

    Assistance will be provided only to the Malarial Research and 
Training Center (MRTC), Department of Epidemiology and Parasitic 
Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bamako, 
Mali.
    The Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC) is the only 
institution in West Africa that has the experience and infrastructure 
required. The MRTC designed and developed the Genotype Resistance Index 
(GRI), a crucial component of the proposed work. MRTC has also 
conducted the only full scale randomized controlled trial comparing 
chemoprophylaxis and intermittent preventive treatment for the 
prevention of malaria during pregnancy. They have demonstrated through 
this and other field-based and laboratory-based research projects that 
they are capable of executing complex scientific malaria research. MRTC 
is housed under the Department of Epidemiology and Parasitic Diseases, 
Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry, University of Bamako, 
Mali. The MRTC was founded in 1992 to conduct laboratory and field 
research related to malaria. Units within MRTC include Entomology and 
Molecular Biology, Vector Ecology, Malaria during Pregnancy, 
Transmission Blocking Vaccine Unit, GIS Unit, Parasite Epidemiology, 
Malaria Vaccine Development Unit, Biostatistics and Data Management, 
Drug Resistance/Molecular Biology, Parasite Immunology and 
Immunogenetics, Parasite Molecular Biology, and Informatics. Because of 
its institutional linkages with the Ministry of Health, including the 
National Malaria Control Program, MRTC is able to share its research 
findings and work with the Ministry of Health to adapt them into policy 
and programs. For more than a decade, MRTC has been working with all 
levels of the Ministry of Health to conduct health research. MRTC 
conducts its own data entry and has developed and built data management 
and analytic capacity within the Center. The team at MRTC has extensive 
experience in the conduct of in vivo antimalarial drug efficacy 
studies, supporting laboratory investigations (molecular marker 
identification, measurement of antimalarial drug levels, identification 
of P. falciparum phenotype, and in vitro efficacy studies), and the 
conduct of malaria during pregnancy research. MRTC scientists and 
collaborators have numerous published scientific papers indicating the 
scientific soundness of research conducted by the Center.
    The combination of access and an institutional linkage to the 
Ministry of Health, experience conducting antimalarial drug resistance 
work in Mali, equipment for the conduct of polymerase chain reaction 
(PCR), laboratory expertise in P. falciparum antimalarial drug 
resistance marker identification, international stature in research on 
malaria during pregnancy, experience in conducting trials regarding 
malaria during pregnancy in Mali, the expertise to read placental 
malaria blood slides, an infrastructure capable of data management and 
analysis, and a reputation for conducting sound scientific work makes 
MRTC the only organization with these attributes and the only vendor 
who can perform the necessary work.

C. Funding

    Approximately $100,000 is available in FY 2005 to fund this award. 
It is expected that the award will begin on or before June 1, 2005 and 
will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project period of up 
to five years. Funding estimates may change.

D. Where To Obtain Additional Information

    For general comments or questions about this announcement, contact: 
Technical Information Management, CDC Procurement and Grants Office, 
2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, Telephone: 770-488-2700.
    For technical questions about this program, contact: Dr. Trudy 
Messmer, Scientific Review Administer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS C-19, 
Atlanta, GA 30333, Telephone: (404) 639-3770, E-mail: TMessmer@cdc.gov.

    Dated: March 25, 2005.
William P. Nichols,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 05-6344 Filed 3-30-05; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163-18-P