| The Institute of Parasitic Diseases (IPD) is a affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine (CAPM) .Its precursor ,Huadong Branch of the National Institute of Health (NIH) ,was established in Nanjing in 1950,In 1956,it was renamed the Institute of Parasitic Diseases ,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS). It merged with the Hainan Anti-malaria Station and moved to Shanghai in 1957.It has been under CAPM since 1983.
At present ,the Institute has a total staff of 270,including 196 research and technical personnel;68 are senior professionals .Twenty-seven researchers returned from abroad after collaborating researches ,advanced study and training through WHO support or other channels ,fifteen of them have been appointed as chief of department and/or principal investigator in different departments.
In accordance to the national health policy and the five tasks assigned by CAPM ,the essential activities of IPD are as follows:
1.Research on the key technical problems confronted in the control of important parasitic diseases through conducting applied and applied-basic studies.
2.Assisting the Ministry of Health (MOH) in organization and coordination of national research programs of major parasitic diseases and planning of collaborations on some special topics.
3.Offering technical training and guidance to staff members from provincial/autonomous regional/municipal institutions.
4.Participation in development of national health regulations and standardizations and study on technical policies.
5.Collection,compilation and exchange of scientific information on parasitic diseases.
Institutional Structure
Eight departments are set up in line with research activities :Epidemiology ,Parasite Biology, Vector Biology and Control ,Immunology ,Biochemistry ,Pharmacochemistry ,Pharmacology and Scientific Information; Additionally ,the Central Laboratory of Instrumentation provides service. In recent years several laboratories and centers of national or academic level have been established ,namely ,Laboratory of Parasite&Vector Biology,M0H;office of Technical Advice for Schistosomiasis Control&Surveillance, MOH; National Reference Center For Immunodiagnosis of Schistosomiasis; Chinese National Center of Systematic Medical Malacology ; Medical Research and Diagnosis Center ,CAPM.
The Academic Board with the Director of IPD as the Chairman involves 25 experts who have profound knowledge and high morality taking the responsibilities of academic review, appraisal and consultation .The Board is subdivided into two panels ,i.e. the Panel 0f Schistosomiasis and other Helminthiases and the Panel of Malaria , Filariasis and Kala Azar.
Principal Research Area and Scientific Achievements
Cutting-edge technology in epidemiology ,parasite and vector biology ,biochemistry ,pharmacochemistry and pharmacology is applied in research projects on
malaria, schistosomiasis ,filariasis ,hydatidosis ,intestinal helminthiases and other important parasitoses .Studies mainly involve applied research on prevalence pattern, transmission characteristics, control strategies, intervention and surveillance, immunodiagnostic techniques, genetic engineering vaccine development, prophylactic and therapeutic drugs, as well as basic research on genetic variation of parasites and vectors, host immunity, mode of action of antiparasitic agents and ecological aspects of parasites. Today, 30-40 research projects are ongoing annually in IPD. All are priority projects at the national and ministry level, or in collaboration with foreign institutions. Projects concerning schistosomiasis and malaria account for 75%.0f all projects,80% belongs to applied research, and 20% to applied-basic research.
Altogether, more than 70 prizes have been awarded to IPD mainly for pr |
