A Medical Device Daily

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI; Seattle), a non-profit institute, reported receiving a $252,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust (Vancouver, Washington) for “core” research equipment.

IDRI said that the grant will enable it to assemble an equipment core to enhance its basic research on immune responses against infectious diseases. IDRI’s mission is to research and develop technologies to be used against diseases that continue to burden individuals and countries in the developing world.

IDRI projects enabled under the Murdock grant are focused on chronic infections resulting in leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, trachoma, Buruli ulcer, leprosy, and Chagas disease. Together, these diseases present major public health burdens and cause premature death or disability.

Targeted Diseases Leishmaniasis, transmitted by the bite of a sandfly and caused by Leishmania infection, is endemic in 88 countries. Roughly 15 million new cases of leishmaniasis occur each year. Visceral leishmaniasis, which causes damage to internal organs, is often fatal if untreated.

The Murdock Trust core equipment grant will enable IDRI to purchase large equipment that is difficult to obtain with conventional research grant funding. Once implemented, the equipment core will enable IDRI’s researchers to engage in high-throughput and state-of-the-art assays.

The Murdock Charitable Trust has focused its grant efforts in five Pacific Northwest states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.