Field Courses and Training

PBEE has made the availability of field training in the biology of infectious diseases a cornerstone of our program. In cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), we have expanded the field component to make field training available to all students in PBEE.

Students in the Training Program will now be able to develop research projects and rotations in both national and international field sites. Formal agreements to date have been established between Emory and CDC for training students in Kenya, India, Venezuela, Montana and New Mexico. We expect Emory-CDC cooperative agreements to be expanded to include cites in Puerto Rico, Thailand, and Argentina in the near future.

To promote field experience in the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, Emory has reached the following agreement with the participating field sites. Students are welcome to take a rotation at any of the field sites and pursue a research topic there in collaboration with local researchers and training grant faculty. Emory will cover the costs of travel to and from the field sites and the field station will cover all costs while at the field site. The course schedule at Emory has been structured so that elective courses are scheduled during the spring term. Consequently, students may spend the spring and summer terms at a field site taking a rotation, learning field methods and developing potential thesis topics without disrupting their course requirements or preliminary exam preparation. Students will be encouraged to acquire this field experience through appropriate rotations even if they think they will only do laboratory-based research.

Kenya
The CDC Research Station in Kenya was established in 1979 by the Division of Parasitic Diseases (DPD), as part of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). KEMRI is an organization of the Kenyan Ministry of Health and is responsible for conducting research into the major public health problems of the country. Over the past 24 years, CDC's investment in the Research Station has resulted in a well-trained staff of Kenyan scientists, clinicians, laboratory technicians, and field workers. Five CDC scientists are residents at the field station. The Research Station is located in an area in western Kenya where P. falciparum malaria and HIV are major public health problems. This area of Kenya has intense malaria transmission and a high prevalence of HIV. Diarrheal and respiratory pathogens are also major causes of infectious disease morbidity and mortality in western Kenya.

The KEMRI/CDC Research Station has well-developed malaria and HIV and immunology laboratories with the capability to perform research diagnostic tests (PCR, lymphocyte subtyping, cytokine assays, FACS facility) as well as standard procedures (serology, hematology, microbiology, microscopy). There is also a microbiology laboratory that performs primary isolation and identification of enteric organisms (V. cholerae, Shigella) and respiratory organisms (S. pneumoniae) as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing for these pathogens. Research on the immunology of schistosomiasis is also conducted. Long-standing links with rural communities allow ready access for surveillance, specimen collection, and experimental field studies. A computer network and GIS/GPS capability have been established. A VSAT satellite link has improved Internet and communication capability. The strong and well-established relationships with KEMRI, the Kenya Ministry of Health, and the United States Embassy in Nairobi provide a receptive environment for research.

Present work on malaria focuses on understanding the population dynamics of the major vector of malaria in Africa, Anopheles gambiae, through detailed analysis of the microbial community upon which the larvae of this species feed, quantitative modeling, and spatial analysis. Work on the behavioral effects of insecticides used to treat mosquito nets for malaria control is also ongoing. At the epidemiological level, ongoing demographic surveillance of a population of 125,000 people allows linkage of studies of malaria transmission with changing patterns of child mortality. The current immunology projects study the development of natural immunity in young children and pregnant women, and the role of host genetic factors in disease pathogenesis and protection. There is also molecular surveillance for malaria drug resistance and for understanding the population dynamics of malaria parasites. The same issues are also studied in the context of HIV/malaria co-infection.

Venezuela
Emory and CDC maintain a project on malaria parasite genetic diversity in collaboration with The Laboratory of Population Ecology and Genetics Ecology Center at the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, IVIC, in Caracas, Venezuela. The project has two specific aims (a) to study the geographic extent of the genetic diversity of genes considered to be vaccine candidates and how this diversity is generated and maintained, and (b) to investigate the correlation between variables associated with severity of disease and the number of clones per host. The facilities at IVIC include two laboratories of 300 square feet each equipped to perform basic molecular biologic techniques (access to an automatic sequencer ABI 377, three thermocyclers, spectrophotometer, DNA speed-vac, centrifuges, incubators, laminar flow hood, refrigerator (+4 to -10), freezers (-20 and -80), equipment for gel electrophoresis, protein electrophoresis, analytic balance, and other minor equipment). There is access to clinical laboratories in the field, specifically in the states of Amazonas, Bolivar and Sucre where almost 90% of the malaria cases take place. Other diseases can be included if specific proposals between IVIC and Emory researchers are approved by the internal review board.

The laboratories at IVIC are equipped with fast Internet connection, 8 desktop computers (Pentium III and IV) and a Linux cluster with 16 CPU, Pentium III 800 Mhz. The computers have phylogenetic and population genetic software, as well as molecular modeling software, installed and maintained by specialized personnel. Students can use a common office of 300 square feet with phone, fax, and Internet access. In addition, IVIC has common facilities that are available to visiting scientists and students, including lodging, cafeteria, and transportation from and to Caracas, a clinic and one of the best libraries in Latin America.

India
CDC investigators (Dr. Udhayakumar, PI for the group) and scientists from Malaria Research Centre (MRC) and Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribals (RMRCT) are collaborating on a major malaria study in India. The major aim of this project is to understand the epidemiology, immunology and population dynamics of malaria in central India. India spends about 50% of its national health budget on malaria control efforts. The CDC-India study will be conducted in the Jabalpur region of Madhyapradesh State in central India. Jabalpur is the third largest city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Jabalpur is the capital city for the Jabalpur province comprising of eight districts. Madhya Pradesh is a highly malarious state, most of which comes from Jabalpur province, accounts for 23% of all malaria cases in India. The majority of malaria cases occur in tribal populations (mostly belonging to Gond Tribes) who reside in numerous villages surrounding the city of Jabalpur. Both P. vivax and P. falciparum are common (endemic) in this area but highly seasonal in their distribution: P. vivax during monsoon and P. falciparum in post monsoon season which may persist up to winter (July- January).

Emory students and faculty are being recruited to use the facilities at MRC/RMRCT in Jabalpur. RMRCT campus is a 40-acre campus belonging to the government of India. This is a completely secured facility with 24-hour access to laboratories for the scientists. This is a residential campus with most of the scientists and staff residing on campus. MRC/RMRCT is a 5152.7-square meters facility with 15 scientists, five clinicians, 50 laboratory staff supported by 25 administrative staff. The institute has immunology, biochemistry, parasitology, entomology and clinical laboratories that have a tissue culture facility for immunologic studies. The institute also has a genetic counseling center with diagnostic capabilities for the identification of the most common hemoglobin associated polymorphisms (such as sickle cell trait and beta-thallasemia) as well as various centrifuges, refrigerators, -20 freezers, -70 freezers and liquid nitrogen storage facility. There are computers for data management, data entry and connection for Internet and e-mail along with three dedicated computer staff. The institute has a mini library and subscribes to 80 journals related to parasitic diseases and biomedical journal. The institute has 10 vehicles for field and local use. The institute also has a modern guesthouse with facilities to host international visitors for an affordable price. The guesthouse is strategically located within a few minutes of walking distance from the institute which allows any visiting scientists easy access to the lab after regular hours.

New Mexico
Emory has reached a collaborative agreement to allow our students and faculty to participate in teaching and research at the Sevilleta LTER site. They teach an intensive course at Sevilleta on field methods in the ecology of infectious diseases. Special emphasis is placed on field methods in vector-borne and mammalian reservoir infectious disease ecology. Several long-term research projects on infectious diseases are underway at Sevilleta, and PBEE students can develop projects there in collaboration with CDC and Emory faculty.

The Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge is a 640-square-mile refuge located approximately 50 miles south of Albuquerque and 20 miles north of Socorro, New Mexico within and adjacent to the Rio Grande valley. It has a wide range of ecosystem types: Chihuahuan Desert, Great Plains Grassland, Great Basin Shrub-Steppe, Piņon-Juniper Woodland, Bosque Riparian Forests, Wetlands and Montane Coniferous Forest. Much of the research is overseen by the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and focuses on the floral and faunal properties of transitions between grass and shrub life forms represented by two components of the Chihuahuan Desert biome and their junctions with the Great Plains shortgrass steppe biome. Many studies emphasize the interactions among biotic and abiotic processes that influence the initiation, maintenance, expansion and disintegration of patches across the landscape. A fully equipped field laboratory is maintained by the University of New Mexico.

Ongoing infectious disease research includes two NSF funded studies. The first characterizes the ecological conditions associated with the spatio-temporal dynamics of rodent populations as reservoirs of three infectious agents: hantaviruses, plague and Bartonella. The second examines the dynamics of mosquito populations along the Rio Grande valley from El Paso, Texas to the Colorado border as related to the introduction, persistence and spread of West Nile virus.

Montana
Since 1994, the CDC has been collaborating with Montana Tech University in Butte, Montana in the long-term study of hantaviruses in their reservoirs at several field sites in central and western Montana. Studies underway involve the monitoring of long-term mark-recapture grids to track host population dynamics, hantavirus infection dynamics, and the environmental variables driving these dynamics. Additional studies address hantavirus transmission in peridomestic environments and investigate the relationship of hantavirus infection to dispersal of deer mice. Montana Tech, CDC, and Emory scientists have initiated enclosure experiments to investigate the effects of host density and rodent community composition on the transmission of hantaviruses. Students accompany investigators to the field, learn specialized safety techniques for handling and sampling animals infected with aerosol-borne hemorrhagic fever viruses, and participate in research projects. Traveling, breathing fresh air, and camping under the clear, Montana "big sky" may be required.