ICMR – Call For Proposals For Research On Viral Hepatitis In India
This call expires in :
Background:
Viral hepatitis is increasingly being recognized as a public health problem, having epidemic
proportions that cause 1.34 million deaths each year. In India, the estimated burden of
hepatitis is very high, necessitating focus on prevention and control measures of hepatitis to mitigate the morbidity and mortality due to hepatitis. Amongst the reported causes of mortality amongst communicable diseases in India in 2015, viral hepatitis accounted for 3% of total. There is however, a paucity of nationally representative data to establish accurate disease burden. New infections caused by the five known hepatitis viruses – A, B, C, D and E (HAV, HBV, HCV, HDV and HEV) – can be prevented. In addition, testing and treatment can improve the health of persons with chronic infections. The sequel to chronic hepatitis includes cirrhosis and hepato-cellular carcinoma that pose long term burden on the health system.
Description:
This announcement aims at seeking the full-fledged proposals for research on Viral Hepatitis in India covering the following possible areas of research, to be funded by the Govt. of India. Financial support will be for a maximum of 2 years.
Priority Areas of Research :
Lab Monitoring / Strengthening for Real Time Data Inflow and Feedback
• Automated report generation using modern technology.
Rapid or Molecular Technology Utilization
• Capacity building and hands-on training of laboratory staff at various levels to perform
molecular assays.
• Use of molecular technology in understanding the distribution/ clustering of
strains/circulating genotypes / serotypes.
Operational Research
• Diseases burden studies (epidemiology, transmission dynamics and risk factors) for viral
hepatitis with special focus on HEV.
• To understand viral / host components leading to severity during pregnancy for
Hepatitis E.
• Identify barriers for low immunization coverage for Hep B in India.
• Studies to understand the impact of immunization of Hep B over years.
• Develop point-of-care diagnostics (for bedside use) with good sensitivity and specificity.
• Multi-centric screening of blood and stool samples from organ transplant patients to
know HEV chronicity.
• Field testing / clinical trials of new interventions (drugs / vaccines).
• To analyse HBV vaccine response in HIV infected individuals.
• Comparison of indigenous and Chinese HEV vaccines in clinical trials.
• Understanding efficacy of alternative medicine in preventing/treating viral hepatitis.
• Assessment of utility and cost effectiveness studies of NAT with routine ELISA in blood
banks in HBV, HCV and HIV among blood donors.
• Estimating the cost-effectiveness of RUP syringes.
• Understanding modes of transmission of viral hepatitis B in local settings.
Prevention
• To assess re-infection rates in Hep B and Hep C.
• To assess SVR in re-infection rates.
• To develop interventions to prevent re-infections.
• Develop monitoring systems for adherence to DAAs.
• Studies to identify effective approaches for partner testing.
• To identify effective approaches for adherence to treatment in different
risk groups.
• To assess incidence of Hepatitis A among men having sex with men.
Instructions for Submitting Proposals:
Proposals to be submitted by the Indian investigators should be duly forwarded by the Head of the Institute. Research proposals must be in the ICMR format for adhoc research projects available at www.icmr.nic.in and www.icmrextramural.in and should provide the following details:
• Detailed Research plan including a description of the project, monitoring plans if
required, and expected outcomes.
• Research proposal should describe the research methodology in detail, the abstract,
references, detailed study design alongwith budget and justification of each of the
budget items.
• Abstract of the project that describes the research, need, and significance of the
proposed study.
• Detailed proposals should be submitted as per the “Full Proposal Submission Format”
guidelines available at (www.icmrextramural.in).
The application should be accompanied by letter from the Investigator describing his/her
activities and specific role in the project and his/her brief biodata along with 10 hard copies of the project proposal duly signed by the PIs and forwarded through the Head of the Institution.
How to Apply:
The applicants should submit their application through the ICMR electronic project
management system (ePPMS) http://icmrextramural.in/ICMR/.
Interested researchers should avail the “Online Submission of Extramural Research Projects” facility available at the ICMR website (http://www.icmr.nic.in/). They would need to register themselves with the online submission system. Complete guidelines for the same have been provided in the website (www.icmrextramural.in); The same should strictly be followed. PIs already registered need not register again.
Detailed proposals should be submitted as per the “Full Proposal Submission Format”
guidelines available at (www.icmrextramural.in). In case of any queries related to online
submission, please contact ICMR online team at Ph: 011-26588590, Email:
[email protected], [email protected].
Investigators should select Broad Area as “Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases” and Major Discipline as “Viral Hepatitis” for submission of Proposals.
The Investigator should select Dr. Harpreet Kaur as Programme Officer.
Contact Person:
Dr. Harpreet Kaur, Scientist ‘E’ (Email: [email protected] and Ph: 011-26588237), Division of ECD (Room No. 413, Porta Cabin, 3rd Floor), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR Hqrs.), P.O. Box No. 4911, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi – 110 029, India.
Full Proposal Submission Deadline / End Date: 15th January, 2018
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