APCDR – The African Partnership for Chronic Disease Research

The APCDR is an international network of research groups which work together to facilitate and promote collaborative research of chronic diseases across Africa. It is co-directed by Dr Sandhu and Professor Pontiano Kaleebu, director of MRC/UVRI Uganda.

The APCDR was established in response to the changing distribution of communicable diseases and an increase in the burden of non-communicable diseases and the recognition that low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including those in sub-Saharan Africa will need to expand their health care capacities to effectively respond to these epidemiological transitions.

The APCDR recognises that the interrelated risk factors for chronic diseases and substantial resource constraints in LMICs argue for combined strategies to understand their underlying causes and to efficiently implement strategies for effective prevention and long-term management and ensure that African populations benefit from the on-going advances in biomedical research. In order to achieve these aims the APCDR focuses its activities on networking, collaborative working, data management and capacity-building.

 

GLOBAL HUMAN DIVERSITY

We are engaged in a programme of studies assessing cultural and genetic diversity and disease patterns among worldwide indigenous populations to provide further insight into human history and increase our understanding of the environmental, physical and biological adaptations that characterise disease susceptibility.

Understanding the genetic determinants of complex human traits and diseases can lead to novel insights into disease aetiology, which may identify new therapeutic targets, and the potential for better disease prognosis and management.

This work builds on our existing research programmes, and those of our collaborating partners, which include the identification of novel genetic signals for cardiometabolic traits in populations from sub-Saharan Africa including those that are specific to the African continent; the development of the largest study of indigenous populations across sub-Saharan Africa; and population scale sequencing of human populations across South East Asia and Oceania.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Enquiries about the group, our research and training opportunities should be sent by email to Paris Litterick (pl7@sanger.ac.uk).