Leprosy Mailing List – July 25, 2025
Ref.: (LML) Widening the pool of talent
From: Joel Almeida, Mumbai, India
Dear Pieter and colleagues,
Cutting-edge R&D is becoming more widespread. For example, AI use by Chinese researchers for drug development.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59870-4
In 2024, the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry respectively were awarded to researchers whose work also heavily relied on AI. AI tends to shorten the half-life of errors in fact or logic.
In 2003, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), the Malaysian Ministry of Health, and the Institut Pasteur of France, with the participation of WHO/TDR, had teamed up with MSF to found the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi). It has discovered useful molecules.
India, Brazil, Indonesia, China, African countries, among others, are all rich in talent. As HD control moves towards more prompt and reliable diagnosis, more insightful epidemiological/ immunological/ microbiological understanding, and more rapidly effective interventions, the pool of talent and ideas can steadily widen. The centre of gravity can shift towards endemic countries, so that the best talent there perceives HD to be a fascinating field of research, even if it may be viewed only as a stepping-stone to other fields of research.
Our envisioned future can be more closely tied to fact and logic. We can imagine a health worker taking nasal swabs from a random sample of people in workplaces or marketplaces, for rapid semi-quantitative detection of astronomical quantities of bacillary DNA (as occur in LL HD). Immunological approaches to dealing with the hyper-susceptibility of some persons with LL-type genomes. Drugs with few or no unintended effects. Interventions that reduce the risk of inflammation in and around nerves. Better assistive and rehab devices for the millions who live with the sequelae of HD. The use of automated simultaneous translation to overcome language barriers. And more still, even as we make the most of what currently works best.
Some unexpected epidemiological gains in the recent past have been creating justifiable optimism. Creating successes on the ground is the best way to gain widespread support in terms of better plans, more talent, expanded financing. Endemic countries and the talent there are an important pillar of success.
With all sincerity,
Joel Almeida
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LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder
LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/
Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com
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