Weekly round-up #117
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Weekly round-up #117
Welcome to the 117th VALIDATE Weekly Round-Up of news and opportunities. This is the seventh issue of the Weekly Round-Up written in lockdown and we hope all of our members and readers are keeping safe and busy during this challanging time.
VALIDATE Collaborators and Members Map
The VALIDATE Network has continued to grow and we now have over 375 members representing nearly 200 organisations in 49 countries on every inhabited continent (and we would be happy to hear about any Antarctica based potential members!). We have just revised our website's collaborators page to make it increasingly functional and useful to our members. It now includes an interactive map, which you can use to search the world for organisations participating in VALIDATE and click through to a list of members based there. We hope members use this tool to, among other things, facilitate networking and build new research collaborations. You might not know the other VALIDATE members at your institution so now you can easily get in touch, and, if you are visiting another organisation, you can check the map and perhaps arrange to meet with fellow members based there.
If you have any thoughts about the map, including suggested updates, please email us – validate@ndm.ox.ac.uk.
More VALID8 Interviews
Last week we launched our VALID8 interview series. Since then, we have sat down with Eduardo Coelho, Bernardo Villarreal-Ramos and Fabiana Bigi and talked about everything from the struggles of funding research, to the genetics of leishmania, and how nature continually surprises researchers.
If you wish to take part in VALID8, drop us an email – validate@ndm.ac.uk.
Helen McShane on BCG and COVID-19
Our Network Director Professor Helen McShane was on the Guardian Science Weekly podcast discussing the current debate over the use of the BCG vaccine as protection against COVID-19.
- BBSRC David Phillips Fellowships - Support for researchers wishing to establish their first independent research group - deadline 12 May 2020
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Innovative approaches to enhance poverty-related diseases research - This call for proposals aims to fund a number of small- to medium-scale clinical trials and/or clinical research studies that can deliver proof-of-concept or validation of smart, highly innovative technologies or concepts to prevent, treat or diagnose PRDs in sub-Saharan Africa - deadline 13 August
Remember, we make regular updates to our funding opportunities page, so check back regularly.
Training Opportunities and Events:
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant, once again, that there is not much in the way of relevant events or training available right now. We will keep you informed about any upcoming opportunities on our training and events pages.
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Research Fellow in Tuberculosis, University of Surrey UK, deadline 10 June 2020
Keep an eye on our job webpage which is updated with the latest opportunities.
- Kala-azar elimination in a highly-endemic district of Bihar, India: A success story, Kumar V et. al. in Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases
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The co-infection of Buruli ulcer and cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sudanese patient: An association by choice or by chance?, Nail A et al, in Journal of Infection and Public Health
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Leprosy in the twenty-first century: a microbiological, clinical, and epidemiological study in northwestern Spain, Barbeito-Castiñeiras G et al, in Springer
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Burkholderia pseudomallei pathogenesis and survival in different niches, Yip C et al in Biochem Soc Trans
Check our publications page for regular updates.
Highlights on Twitter this week: the BSI launched their 'Protecting the World' report to celebrate UK vaccine research - with VALIDATE highlighted!; a Nature article giving three ways to turn the page after your first paper rejection; researchers at Texas A&M University are studying whether BCG can be used to treat COVID-19; Springer has released over 400 science books as free downloadable PDFs as part of their new COVID-19 package; Alyssa Frederick on how to defend a PhD remotely; an op-ed in The Guardian stating how the TB epidemic teaches us that the battle against COVID-19 won't be won in hospitals alone; guidance for PhD students in writing up methods, report and how to discuss findings; new WHO guide on coping with stress; new Rosetrees researcher profiles on VALIDATE co-director Helen Fletcher and VALIDATE Affiliate Hannah Painter; South Africa has started a COVID-19 trial of the BCG vaccine; and sample chapters, showing you how to engage in rigorous, valid and respectful qualitative research. All this and more at @NetworkVALIDATE, follow to keep up to date with everything surrounding our focus pathogens.
Published: 6 May 2020
