GB-GOV-13-FUND--GCRF-EP_T003197_1 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Recent events such as the Anak Krakatau eruption and tsunami, and the Lombok and Palu earthquakes and tsunami have once again brought the attention of the world on Indonesia. In 2018 alone, it is estimated that natural disasters claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people and displaced around 3 million people across the country. Natural disasters, manmade conflicts and violence are commonly experienced across the country, alongside a rising demand for emergency services. The lack of emergency medical transportation across Indonesia is a main barrier to the access and availability of medical care for the 264 million population. Until recently, Indonesia had no public ambulance service but is now moving towards an integrated national emergency response system. There are however many challenges faced including vast geographical areas, severe traffic congestion, and inadequate numbers of ambulances. Making efficient and effective use of such valuable resources is therefore critical and will be the focus of our research, as is helping to empower local services and provide for the poorest in society who cannot afford to take privately run ambulances. The National 118 Emergency Ambulance Service was established in 2005 by the Indonesian Surgeons' Association, and is the only public ambulance service in the country, operating currently in five cities: Jakarta, Palembang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Makasser. Whilst some private ambulance providers are available, these are hugely expensive and thus out of reach of the majority of the Indonesian population who consequently suffer from a lack of timely access to medical care and are at high risk of morbidity and mortality. Traffic accidents account for 70% of the country's trauma deaths, and nearly 1 in 3 of all deaths are caused by strokes and ischemic heart disease/heart attacks, where rapid access to appropriate treatment is absolutely vital. In Jakarta alone, 118 serves a potential population of 11 million people (the 15th most populous city in the World and the largest in Southeast Asia), covering an area of 661 square km, but remarkably with only 15 ambulances currently available based at 5 locations across the city. Not surprisingly response times and outcomes are very poor, because of the lack of vehicles, the sheer volume of traffic on the roads (Jakarta is reported to have the worst traffic jams of any major Asian city), and the large area to cover. Our research programme will use Operational Research (OR) methods for mathematical modelling of emergency medical services (EMS). We will work directly with the Founder and Director of the Indonesian National 118 Ambulance Service, Professor Aryono Pusponegoro MD, PhD, and his EMS team to help forecast emergency demand and make critical decisions on the optimal types, capacities and geographical locations of vehicles for a sustainable emergency service. Such factors directly impact on the probability of patient survival, ability to respond to major disasters, and the overall quality of care provided. Our ambitious, adventurous and transformative research programme is underpinned by novel scientific methods that will: (i) develop a methodology to forecast spatiotemporal demand without historical call data using census and survey data within a machine-learning framework, and (ii) develop a novel approach to consider EMS capacities and allocations for maximising survival within a heterogeneous population (multiple medical needs) using a heterogeneous fleet with consideration of multiple vehicle types each with differing travel times/speeds. This will be achieved via the creation of an optimisation and simulation decision-support framework that will be deployed by the national 118 emergency ambulance service. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world. DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL CARDIFF UNIVERSITY DSIT previous reporting-org identifier DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY General enquiries enquiries@odamanagement.org https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-science-partnerships-fund-ispf Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, 22-26 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EG Indonesia 107720.02 235047.14 87380.82 4358.42 4358.00 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 0.10 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 0.09 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 4358.00 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 4358.00 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 4358.42 4358.0 24024.0 58998.82 58998.82 58998.82 58524.75 58524.75 58524.75 49195.27 460764.76 GB-GOV-13-FUND--GCRF-EP_T003472_1 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY The Network will focus on the need and ability to evaluate and increase the resilience to natural-human hazards of increasingly vulnerable populations in the hyper-expanding margins of cities, specifically in Vietnam and more generally in SE Asia. The focus is aimed at the GCRF challenge "resilience to environmental shocks and change", and directly supports key SDG targets within SDG 11 (Sustainable Communities and Cities) and the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The Network will tackle specific targets 11.5 and 11.B, which respectively address the need to significantly reduce the loss of lives and livelihoods caused by disasters while protecting vulnerable populations, and substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and to develop and implement holistic disaster risk management at all levels. Similar challenges arise in SDG 13.1 (climate change and its impacts). The environment within which coupled natural-human hazards occur and the people and institutions that are impacted by hazardous events comprise a complex physical and social system characterized by interactions across a range of time and spatial scales. Understanding how to increase the system resilience to adverse events means bringing all vested groups to the same table at the same time. This strategy allows Network members to both inform be informed about each other's perspectives, methodologies, and language, to understand and reveal assumptions and to generate a common articulation of a resilience plan or framework. We will do this by developing a Network constituency that includes: researchers, decision and policy makers, managers (land-use, disaster, etc.), planners (city, rural, etc.), community leaders (particularly minority and historically under-represented communities), developers (private sector), investment banks, re/insurance, small and medium business enterprises (SMEs), and DRR specialists. And within "researchers", we include the fields of complex systems, environmental historical analysis, cultural policy, socio-economic processes, behavioural sciences, psycho-visual arts, ecosystem services, environmental physical science, etc. This marriage of disciplines allows us to cross cultural contexts in both the vulnerable population and in the institutions that have responsibility for the management of natural hazards and - significantly - institutions responsible for ostensibly non-hazard issues (e.g. energy, industrial development, etc.). The long time-scales to be examined combined with the broad range of stakeholders will enable us to examine the role of culture and policy and trade-offs evident in the need for economic development. The Network will add value to existing knowledge largely through the integration of researchers and stakeholders and through the atypically broad church of research disciplines to be engaged, which we demonstrate in the initial and committed membership. We will deliver our objectives through three workshops (and related activities). The first will provide a forensic examination of selected disasters that will serve as the context of the second critical workshop that allows Network members to effectively teach other members about their perspectives, methodologies, language and assumptions. A third workshop will present a synthesis (a road-map that articulates a common resilience approach or plan) to high-level decision makers from relevant cities in SE Asia. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world. DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL VIGMR DSIT previous reporting-org identifier DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY General enquiries enquiries@odamanagement.org https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-science-partnerships-fund-ispf Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, 22-26 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EG Asia, regional 18847.05 75540.86 56999.22 25130.74 25130.74 -132387.57 18999.95 18999.71 18999.71 18847.05 18847.05 18847.05 18847.05 151387.13 GB-GOV-13-FUND--GCRF-EP_T020164_1 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Liver cancer is a critical problem in Viet Nam, killing 25 thousand Vietnamese individuals each year - more than any other cancer. The problem is especially acute in Viet Nam because of the convergence of overlapping risk factors: hepatitis B and C are prevalent; alcohol consumption is very high; dioxins persist in the environment stemming from the use of Agent Orange during the Viet Nam War; and cultural and economic factors mean that patients frequently present for modern medicine only at a very advanced stage, relying first on traditional herbal remedies. However, Viet Nam also presents unique opportunities. Its traditional medicine is largely empirical i.e. based on experience rather than philosophical convictions. There is therefore opportunity for the discovery of natural products with therapeutic efficacy, which could be developed as approved drugs in an informed way through chemistry and biology. Centella asiatica is a popular medicinal herb, and our Vietnamese partners have discovered that one of its natural products, madecassic acid, is active against liver cancer, with chemical derivatives showing further improved potential. In this project we will work on a number of fronts to bring madecassic acid derivatives forward as potential new therapeutics against liver cancer, which could be produced within Viet Nam. This involves optimisation of growth conditions for maximal madecassic acid production (using analytical chemistry), improvement of chemical extraction processes, broadening the range of chemical derivatives in hand, in-depth studies using chemical biology of the cellular effects of madecassic acid, and exploration of use of polymers to control the rate of release in the body. This work will be underlined and supported by networking activities with stakeholders (doctors, industrialists, farmers, policy makers) in Viet Nam, and survey work to assess attitudes of the population to medicines which cross over the traditional-modern divide. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world. DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL UNIVERSITY OF KENT DSIT previous reporting-org identifier DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY General enquiries enquiries@odamanagement.org https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-science-partnerships-fund-ispf Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, 22-26 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EG Viet Nam 62330.59 228309.63 163207.23 20510.00 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 20510.00 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 76719.63 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 76719.63 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 76719.63 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 62330.59 20510.0 20510.0 46084.02 76103.21 76103.21 76103.21 76103.21 611291.45 GB-GOV-13-FUND--GCRF-EP_T020288_1 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Tuberculosis (TB) caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) bacterium is one the three major causes of infectious disease deaths worldwide. Approximately one quarter of the global population is infected, with annually 10 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths. While TB is treatable with suitable antibiotic combinations, disease symptoms are variable and easily confused with other conditions, meaning that individuals with active disease and capable of infecting others are not always quickly identified, allowing continued transmission. Fast, accurate identification of these patients is key to achieving the prompt antibiotic administration necessary to prevent infected individuals spreading disease. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified new diagnostic technologies to detect TB disease as one research focus for their End TB Strategy designed to reduce TB incidence by 80 % by 2030. This proposal aims to develop and evaluate tools to capture and detect M. tb in samples from patients with possible TB disease: specifically sputum coughed up by infected adults. The long term goal is to create a rapid diagnostic method capable of identifying TB disease and that is able to be used in resource-poor settings (i.e. the low and middle-income countries where the TB disease burden is greatest and medical infrastructure is limited). Our method combines three complementary technologies to capture and identify M. tb: 1. generation of specific sugar molecules able to bind selectively and tightly to the M. tb cell; and their attachment to 2. magnetic and 3. fluorescent particles. This will create two types of material able to bind M. tb - a magnetic particle, making the bacterium magnetic and enabling its capture in a magnetic field; and a fluorescent particle making the bacterium fluorescent and able to be detected using a microscope. Combining these particles will enable us to capture, concentrate and visualise M. tb from patient samples. Our experimental approach divides into three workpackages (WPs): WP1 focuses on using a range of innovative approaches to synthesise sugars able to bind M. tb; WP2 focuses on attaching these sugars to magnetic and fluorescent particles and investigating the physical properties (size, shape, magnetic and optical characteristics) of the resulting materials; and WP3 on evaluating the binding of these materials to bacteria. We will first test binding to the weakened BCG (vaccine) strain of M. tb in laboratory media mimicking the composition of sputum, comparing this with binding to other bacteria that may be present in these samples to establish their selectivity for M. tb over other species. We will extend these experiments to study M. tb strains isolated from patients. Finally we will evaluate our method on samples from patients presenting with possible TB infection, comparing our results with parallel tests carried out on the same samples using traditional methods (growth in culture, sputum microscopy or the GeneXpert system that detects M. tb genetic material). The results will determine whether this new approach can detect bacteria in the quantities present in patient samples and is able to discriminate between M. tb and other bacteria. Workpackages 1 and 2 will take place at the University of Bristol (UoB), workpackage 3 at UoB and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) where all experiments with patient-derived bacteria and samples will take place. Kenya is a WHO High Burden TB country; KEMRI has the expertise and infrastructure necessary to evaluate TB detection methods. Our proposal combines novel science (development of new materials that selectively bind M. tb) with support for posts, infrastructure and bidirectional exchange visits that will develop research capacity in Kenya. The diversity of our research team and the strong links between KEMRI, healthcare practitioners and policymakers will ensure delivery of impact in both the research community and potential end users. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world. DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL DSIT previous reporting-org identifier DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY General enquiries enquiries@odamanagement.org https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-science-partnerships-fund-ispf Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, 22-26 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EG Kenya 364700.64 145017.42 8925.67 8925.67 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 8925.67 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 8925.67 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 8925.67 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 8925.67 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 8925.67 DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 8213.8 8926.0 40716.98 95374.44 273525.48 91175.16 746198.42