Fogarty is building research capacity to fight noncommunicable diseases

November / December 2017 | Volume 16, Issue 6

Full November / December 2017 Global Health Matters newsletter [PDF <1M]

City street very crowded with pedestrians, tall buildings with signs and merchandise line the street

Pedestrian traffic on the busiest street in Chennai, India.

By Karin Zeitvogel

Long seen as a burden of the developed world, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) now disproportionately affect the very resource-poor countries that are least prepared to tackle them. Nearly three-quarters of the 38 million deaths caused by NCDs each year occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the prevalence of chronic diseases is predicted to rise sharply.

To help address this imbalance, Fogarty supports efforts to build the ranks of researchers overseas and expand knowledge of chronic diseases. One way it offers support is through its Chronic, Noncommunicable Diseases and Disorders Across the Lifespan (NCD-Lifespan) research training grants, which address not only diabetes, cancer, stroke and cardiovascular disease but also mental illness, neurological and developmental disorders, and substance abuse.

Most often under the program, grants are provided to U.S. universities to team up with their foreign counterparts. Together, they set up programs that train new researchers to conduct research to alter unhealthy lifestyle-related behaviors that cause most NCDs, including physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, tobacco use and excessive consumption of alcohol. Participants also study other aspects of chronic diseases including early-life determinants, co-morbid conditions and common interventions.

Many behaviors that cause NCDs are the product of an ongoing global epidemiologic transition, which has seen centers of population shift from rural areas to cities, where people adopt more sedentary lifestyles and diets shift from grains, fruits and vegetables to primarily processed, low-fiber foods.

NCD-Lifespan has sought to scale up already available interventions in LMICs by developing in-country research capacity and building local knowledge of everything from disease patterns to cultural norms.

More than 50 NCD-Lifespan training grants, backed in full or in part by Fogarty, have been awarded since 2009 to institutions from Argentina to Vietnam, Egypt to South Africa. The aim of each program has been to train local researchers to better understand the growing threat from NCDs, determine the unique cultural circumstances and available resources, and map out the steps needed to reduce the dangers to health from chronic diseases.

"We share many common problems with LMICs, including a growing epidemic of chronic illness that we face in the U.S. and other high-income countries," said Fogarty Director Dr. Roger I. Glass. "As we've seen in other global research collaborations, the solutions we find together for taking on NCDs may be applicable to improving the health of people everywhere."

More Information

Fogarty's Chronic, Noncommunicable Diseases and Disorders Across the Lifespan (NCD-Lifespan) program

Current awards supported by Fogarty's NCD-Lifespan research training program

Global Status Report on NCDs
World Health Organization (WHO), April 2011
Lower-income countries that face the most rapid shift in noncommunicable disease burden are also the least prepared
Health Affairs, November 6, 2017
Resources related to the article Customizing stroke prevention research in Pakistani population

International Cerebrovascular Translational Clinical Research Training Program
Principal investigator: Drs. Ayeesha Kamran Kamal and Saad Shafqat

Resources related to the article Energizing psychiatric research in Egypt, India

Cross-Fertilized Research Training for New Investigators in Egypt and India
Principal investigators: Drs. Vishwajit Laxmikant Nimgaonkar, Smita N. Deshpande and Hader A. Mansour
The Impact of Yoga Supplementation on Cognitive Function Among Indian Outpatients
Principal investigator: Dr. Triptish Bhatia

Resources related to the article Training Africans to fight NCDs in Africa

Wits Noncommunicable Disease Research Leadership Program
Principal investigator: Drs. Michele Ramsay, Nigel John Crowther, Kerstin Klipstein-Grobusch and Karen Sliwa