November 2006 Report
Summary:
Much like the previous month, November was characterized by a continued flurry of activities in both site construction and research. Final touches to the duplex flats were completed and the Managers for Construction, Accounts and Office/Library Services moved into their new accommodation.
Entomological field data collection was in progress. After submission of the first data set to NMCC, large scale genotyping of malaria samples was set to continue in the following month, following arrival of more reagents from the USA. Dr Ralph Leblanc arrived for continued patient recruitment and follow-up in Chitongo, on the Immune responses study with Dr Kumar. Shortly after publication in the Malaria Journal, MIAM pioneering research on the PCR detection of malaria infection using urine and saliva samples, was announced in a few public domains in the USA. Plans were made for a press release in Zambia.
I - General Site Development and Maintenance
The general construction and developmental activity on the campus site continued. The site grounds persons worked well to groom the vegetation bloom that came with the commencing rainy season.
The site generator ran a few times in November due to outages on the national grid power supply. However the situation had stabilized by the latter part of the month.
II - Construction of Buildings
The continued momentum of campus site constructions saw to completion of last fitments for the duplex flats. The Managers for Accounts (Miss Carol Nsangu and Miss Fair Hachipumbe), Office and Library Services (Miss Marjorie Hamahuwa) and Construction (Mr. Peter Penno) managed to move into their new accommodation. Staff house C reached gable level, with the front porch construction well in progress.
Meanwhile, the bustle of construction work at the dormitory site continued, and the concrete slab was poured, readying the structure for start of the main bricklaying works. Electric wiring was extended to the dormitory site for night security. A Drake and Gorham technician replaced a capacitor for one of the new MIAM Laboratory air-con units and also serviced the rest of the air conditioners.
III - Information Technology
Internet access was fairly steady throughout the month. MIAM employees continued to use their new login passwords. An additional wireless unit was installed next to the IT room entrance.
IV - Vehicles/Transport
Increased transport needs posed a challenge to the MIAM vehicle fleet. The 2.8D Toyota hilux continued to run local field trips, on the Norris as well as Kumar projects. The 3.0D Toyota hilux ran a couple of trips to Lusaka, in addition to local trips to Chitongo on the Immune responses project. Due to the bumpy road to Chitongo, the bottom fuel tank cover plate fell off, as well as one of the screws holding the front license plate. However, these were all recovered and promptly fixed by Maintenance personnel, after some welding of the cover plate at Mapanza Steel Works.
The Pajero IO was down with a worn clutch plate and plans were made to buy a replacement in Lusaka. The Fuso lorry continued to be heavily used, owing to hectic construction works. However, it experienced frequent breakdowns, which again the Maintenance staff had to redress promptly. A new lorry was ordered from Japan and expected to arrive in Durban by the new year. The Condor was again consuming oil and Mr. Haadinke planned to take it to Lusaka for repair, while taking Dr Leblanc for departure to the USA. With the imminent start of another Epidemiology project by Drs Snehal and Moss, an additional vehicle would be helpful to alleviate pressure on the current fleet.
V - Research Activities
With the commencing rainy season, both field and laboratory data collection activities were heightened in November.
Field work gathered pace as Dr. Norris’ Entomology teams continued with human landing catch (HLC) and regional spray catch collections of mosquitoes. Subsequently, Dr. Ralph Leblanc arrived from Hopkins and resumed patient recruitments, follow-ups and sample collections for the Immune responses project in Chitongo. A small “question-answer” meeting preceded these project activities, where some community members who did not fully understand the project were given the platform to ask questions. It was fruitful and patient enrollment commenced soon afterwards.
Data collection tools were reviewed in preparation for pilot data collection for the new Epidemiology project by Drs Shah and Moss. Harry Hamapumbu and Petros Moono were very instrumental in implementation of data collection for the Entomology and Immune responses projects, respectively. Mr. Hamapumbu also acquired an online diploma in project management.
The lab scientist Taida Kumwenda continued to run PCR assays for the P. falciparum fitness project. With more reagents kindly brought by Dr. Leblanc, preparations were under way to finalize the high throughput genotyping assays for the NMCC drug efficacy surveillance programme.
Ongoing data entry for the anaemia study was in progress.
There was a brief US public release on the MIAM urine and saliva PCR article published in the Malaria Journal in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A draft was in preparation for a press release in Zambia.
VI - Other
MIAM representation was invited, to participate in a meeting for the establishment of the Zambian National Health Research Ethics body. This has been postponed to December 15. Dr. Sue Penno finally obtained her Medical Council Registration, allowing her to start contributing her wealth of expertise to the operation of MIAM labs as well as capacity building.