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Akyüz K, Cano Abadía M, Goisauf M, Mayrhofer MT. Unlocking the potential of big data and AI in medicine: insights from biobanking. Front Med (Lausanne) 2024; 11:1336588. [PMID: 38357641 PMCID: PMC10864616 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1336588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Big data and artificial intelligence are key elements in the medical field as they are expected to improve accuracy and efficiency in diagnosis and treatment, particularly in identifying biomedically relevant patterns, facilitating progress towards individually tailored preventative and therapeutic interventions. These applications belong to current research practice that is data-intensive. While the combination of imaging, pathological, genomic, and clinical data is needed to train algorithms to realize the full potential of these technologies, biobanks often serve as crucial infrastructures for data-sharing and data flows. In this paper, we argue that the 'data turn' in the life sciences has increasingly re-structured major infrastructures, which often were created for biological samples and associated data, as predominantly data infrastructures. These have evolved and diversified over time in terms of tackling relevant issues such as harmonization and standardization, but also consent practices and risk assessment. In line with the datafication, an increased use of AI-based technologies marks the current developments at the forefront of the big data research in life science and medicine that engender new issues and concerns along with opportunities. At a time when secure health data environments, such as European Health Data Space, are in the making, we argue that such meta-infrastructures can benefit both from the experience and evolution of biobanking, but also the current state of affairs in AI in medicine, regarding good governance, the social aspects and practices, as well as critical thinking about data practices, which can contribute to trustworthiness of such meta-infrastructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaya Akyüz
- Department of ELSI Services and Research, BBMRI-ERIC, Graz, Austria
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Sariola S. Mistrust: Community engagement in global health research in coastal Kenya. SOCIAL STUDIES OF SCIENCE 2023; 53:449-471. [PMID: 37002697 PMCID: PMC10240637 DOI: 10.1177/03063127231162082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
This article explores a case of mistrust in global health research and community engagement. It uses ethnographic material collected in 2014 and 2016 in Kenya, concerning community engagement by a HIV vaccine research group working with men who have sex with men and transgender women. In 2010, the research group was attacked by members of the wider community. Following the attack, the research group set up an engagement program to reduce mistrust and re-build relationships. Analysis focusing on mistrust shows the dynamics underlying the conflict: Norms around gender and sexuality, political support for LGBTIQ+ rights, and resources disparities were all at stake for those embroiled in the conflict, including researchers, study participants, religious leaders, and LGBTIQ+ activists in the region. Rather than a normative good with liberatory potential, community engagement in this paper is discussed as a relational tool with which mistrust was managed, highlighting the fragility of participation.
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Goisauf M, Cano Abadía M. Ethics of AI in Radiology: A Review of Ethical and Societal Implications. Front Big Data 2022; 5:850383. [PMID: 35910490 PMCID: PMC9329694 DOI: 10.3389/fdata.2022.850383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being applied in medicine to improve healthcare and advance health equity. The application of AI-based technologies in radiology is expected to improve diagnostic performance by increasing accuracy and simplifying personalized decision-making. While this technology has the potential to improve health services, many ethical and societal implications need to be carefully considered to avoid harmful consequences for individuals and groups, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Therefore, several questions are raised, including (1) what types of ethical issues are raised by the use of AI in medicine and biomedical research, and (2) how are these issues being tackled in radiology, especially in the case of breast cancer? To answer these questions, a systematic review of the academic literature was conducted. Searches were performed in five electronic databases to identify peer-reviewed articles published since 2017 on the topic of the ethics of AI in radiology. The review results show that the discourse has mainly addressed expectations and challenges associated with medical AI, and in particular bias and black box issues, and that various guiding principles have been suggested to ensure ethical AI. We found that several ethical and societal implications of AI use remain underexplored, and more attention needs to be paid to addressing potential discriminatory effects and injustices. We conclude with a critical reflection on these issues and the identified gaps in the discourse from a philosophical and STS perspective, underlining the need to integrate a social science perspective in AI developments in radiology in the future.
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Miyazaki Y, Marin-Mogollon C, Imai T, Mendes AM, van der Laak R, Sturm A, Geurten FJA, Miyazaki S, Chevalley-Maurel S, Ramesar J, Kolli SK, Kroeze H, van Schuijlenburg R, Salman AM, Wilder BK, Reyes-Sandoval A, Dechering KJ, Prudêncio M, Janse CJ, Khan SM, Franke-Fayard B. Generation of a Genetically Modified Chimeric Plasmodium falciparum Parasite Expressing Plasmodium vivax Circumsporozoite Protein for Malaria Vaccine Development. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10:591046. [PMID: 33392104 PMCID: PMC7773900 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.591046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Chimeric rodent malaria parasites with the endogenous circumsporozoite protein (csp) gene replaced with csp from the human parasites Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) and P. vivax (Pv) are used in preclinical evaluation of CSP vaccines. Chimeric rodent parasites expressing PfCSP have also been assessed as whole sporozoite (WSP) vaccines. Comparable chimeric P. falciparum parasites expressing CSP of P. vivax could be used both for clinical evaluation of vaccines targeting PvCSP in controlled human P. falciparum infections and in WSP vaccines targeting P. vivax and P. falciparum. We generated chimeric P. falciparum parasites expressing both PfCSP and PvCSP. These Pf-PvCSP parasites produced sporozoite comparable to wild type P. falciparum parasites and expressed PfCSP and PvCSP on the sporozoite surface. Pf-PvCSP sporozoites infected human hepatocytes and induced antibodies to the repeats of both PfCSP and PvCSP after immunization of mice. These results support the use of Pf-PvCSP sporozoites in studies optimizing vaccines targeting PvCSP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yukiko Miyazaki
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | | | - Takashi Imai
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.,Department of Infectious Diseases and Host Defense, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan
| | - António M Mendes
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | | | | | - Fiona J A Geurten
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Shinya Miyazaki
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | | | - Jai Ramesar
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Surendra K Kolli
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Hans Kroeze
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | | | - Ahmed M Salman
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Brandon K Wilder
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States
| | - Arturo Reyes-Sandoval
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Miguel Prudêncio
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Chris J Janse
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Shahid M Khan
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
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Gabrielsen AM. Openness and trust in data-intensive science: the case of biocuration. MEDICINE, HEALTH CARE, AND PHILOSOPHY 2020; 23:497-504. [PMID: 32524312 PMCID: PMC7426290 DOI: 10.1007/s11019-020-09960-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Data-intensive science comes with increased risks concerning quality and reliability of data, and while trust in science has traditionally been framed as a matter of scientists being expected to adhere to certain technical and moral norms for behaviour, emerging discourses of open science present openness and transparency as substitutes for established trust mechanisms. By ensuring access to all available information, quality becomes a matter of informed judgement by the users, and trust no longer seems necessary. This strategy does not, however, take into consideration the networks of professionals already enabling data-intensive science by providing high-quality data. In the life sciences, biological data- and knowledge bases managed by expert biocurators have become crucial for data-intensive research. In this paper, I will use the case of biocurators to argue that openness and transparency will not diminish the need for trust in data-intensive science. On the contrary, data-intensive science requires a reconfiguration of existing trust mechanisms in order to include those who take care of and manage scientific data after its production.
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Sharma A. ‘We Do Not Want Fake Energy’: The Social Shaping of a Solar Micro-grid in Rural India. SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY 2020. [DOI: 10.1177/0971721820903006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
During the last two decades, numerous policy actors have advocated multiple models for the diffusion of solar energy-based technologies in India. In recent years, the social development-based energy business model was promoted by some NGOs, civil society groups and academicians for reaching the poor for meeting their energy needs. Using a case study approach, this article explores the social shaping of a solar micro-grid established in rural Bihar through the hybrid model of environmental governance. The article employs the social shaping of technology framework to explain the top-down and bottom-up interpretations of the solar micro-grid in rural India. By focusing on the idea of citizens and consumers, it explains the influence of the wider socio-political context in closing down the debate and stabilising the choices. The article illustrates the implications of the narrow framing of the socio-technical ensemble by the NGO’s and civil society groups (top-down perspective) on the diffusion potential of the solar micro-grid. The bottom-up perspective adds more layer to the interpretation of the socio-technical ensemble. An integrated, comprehensive understanding based on both the top-down and bottom-up perspective would help in developing a responsible research and innovation paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aviram Sharma
- Aviram Sharma (Corresponding author), School of Ecology and Environment Studies, Nalanda University, Rajgir, Bihar 803116, India
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Kapumba BM, Jambo K, Rylance J, Gmeiner M, Sambakunsi R, Parker M, Gordon SB, Gooding K. Stakeholder views on the acceptability of human infection studies in Malawi. BMC Med Ethics 2020; 21:14. [PMID: 32024497 PMCID: PMC7003337 DOI: 10.1186/s12910-020-0454-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human infection studies (HIS) are valuable in vaccine development. Deliberate infection, however, creates challenging questions, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) where HIS are new and ethical challenges may be heightened. Consultation with stakeholders is needed to support contextually appropriate and acceptable study design. We examined stakeholder perceptions about the acceptability and ethics of HIS in Malawi, to inform decisions about planned pneumococcal challenge research and wider understanding of HIS ethics in LMICs. METHODS We conducted 6 deliberative focus groups and 15 follow-up interviews with research staff, medical students, and community representatives from rural and urban Blantyre. We also conducted 5 key informant interviews with clinicians, ethics committee members, and district health government officials. RESULTS Stakeholders perceived HIS research to have potential population health benefits, but they also had concerns, particularly related to the safety of volunteers and negative community reactions. Acceptability depended on a range of conditions related to procedures for voluntary and informed consent, inclusion criteria, medical care or support, compensation, regulation, and robust community engagement. These conditions largely mirror those in existing guidelines for HIS and biomedical research in LMICs. Stakeholder perceptions pointed to potential tensions, for example, balancing equity, safety, and relevance in inclusion criteria. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest HIS research could be acceptable in Malawi, provided certain conditions are in place. Ongoing assessment of participant experiences and stakeholder perceptions will be required to strengthen HIS research during development and roll-out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blessings M Kapumba
- Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre, 3, Malawi.
| | - Kondwani Jambo
- Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre, 3, Malawi
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Jamie Rylance
- Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre, 3, Malawi
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Markus Gmeiner
- Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre, 3, Malawi
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Rodrick Sambakunsi
- Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre, 3, Malawi
| | - Michael Parker
- Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities and Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Stephen B Gordon
- Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre, 3, Malawi
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Kate Gooding
- Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre, 3, Malawi
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
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Balancing methodological purity and social relevance: monitoring participant compliance in a behavioural RCT. BIOSOCIETIES 2019. [DOI: 10.1057/s41292-019-00163-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Ryan MJ, Giles-Vernick T, Graham JE. Technologies of trust in epidemic response: openness, reflexivity and accountability during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. BMJ Glob Health 2019; 4:e001272. [PMID: 30899567 PMCID: PMC6407545 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2018] [Revised: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 01/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Trust is an essential component of successful cooperative endeavours. The global health response to the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak confronted historically tenuous regional relationships of trust. Challenging sociopolitical contexts and initially inappropriate communication strategies impeded trustworthy relationships between communities and responders during the epidemic. Social scientists affiliated with the Ebola 100-Institut Pasteur project interviewed approximately 160 local, national and international responders holding a wide variety of roles during the epidemic. Focusing on responder's experiences of communities' trust during the epidemic, this qualitative study identifies and explores social techniques for effective emergency response. The response required individuals with diverse knowledges and experiences. Responders' included on-the-ground social mobilisers, health workers and clinicians, government officials, ambulance drivers, contact tracers and many more. We find that trust was fostered through open, transparent and reflexive communication that was adaptive and accountable to community-led response efforts and to real-time priorities. We expand on these findings to identify 'technologies of trust' that can be used to promote actively legitimate trustworthy relationships. Responders engaged the social technologies of openness (a willingness and genuine effort to incorporate multiple perspectives), reflexivity (flexibly responsive to context and ongoing dialogue) and accountability (taking responsibility for local contexts and consequences) to facilitate relations of trust. Technologies of trust contribute to the development of a framework of practical techniques to improve the acceptance and effectiveness of future emergency response strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly J Ryan
- Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | | | - Janice E Graham
- Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Marin-Mogollon C, van Pul FJA, Miyazaki S, Imai T, Ramesar J, Salman AM, Winkel BMF, Othman AS, Kroeze H, Chevalley-Maurel S, Reyes-Sandoval A, Roestenberg M, Franke-Fayard B, Janse CJ, Khan SM. Chimeric Plasmodium falciparum parasites expressing Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite protein fail to produce salivary gland sporozoites. Malar J 2018; 17:288. [PMID: 30092798 PMCID: PMC6085629 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-018-2431-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2018] [Accepted: 07/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rodent malaria parasites where the gene encoding circumsporozoite protein (CSP) has been replaced with csp genes from the human malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax, are used as pre-clinical tools to evaluate CSP vaccines in vivo. These chimeric rodent parasites produce sporozoites in Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes that are capable of infecting rodent and human hepatocytes. The availability of chimeric P. falciparum parasites where the pfcsp gene has been replaced by the pvcsp would open up possibilities to test P. vivax CSP vaccines in small scale clinical trials using controlled human malaria infection studies. METHODS Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing two chimeric P. falciparum parasites, were generated, where the pfcsp gene has been replaced by either one of the two major pvcsp alleles, VK210 or VK247. In addition, a P. falciparum parasite line that lacks CSP expression was also generated. These parasite lines have been analysed for sporozoite production in An. stephensi mosquitoes. RESULTS The two chimeric Pf-PvCSP lines exhibit normal asexual and sexual blood stage development in vitro and produce sporozoite-containing oocysts in An. stephensi mosquitoes. Expression of the corresponding PvCSP was confirmed in oocyst-derived Pf-PvCSP sporozoites. However, most oocysts degenerate before sporozoite formation and sporozoites were not found in either the mosquito haemocoel or salivary glands. Unlike the chimeric Pf-PvCSP parasites, oocysts of P. falciparum parasites lacking CSP expression do not produce sporozoites. CONCLUSIONS Chimeric P. falciparum parasites expressing P. vivax circumsporozoite protein fail to produce salivary gland sporozoites. Combined, these studies show that while PvCSP can partially complement the function of PfCSP, species-specific features of CSP govern full sporozoite maturation and development in the two human malaria parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherin Marin-Mogollon
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Fiona J A van Pul
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Shinya Miyazaki
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Takashi Imai
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Host Defense, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8510, Japan
| | - Jai Ramesar
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Ahmed M Salman
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, The Henry Welcome Building for Molecular Physiology, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Beatrice M F Winkel
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Ahmad Syibli Othman
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, Malaysia
| | - Hans Kroeze
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Severine Chevalley-Maurel
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Arturo Reyes-Sandoval
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, The Henry Welcome Building for Molecular Physiology, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Meta Roestenberg
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Blandine Franke-Fayard
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Chris J Janse
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Shahid M Khan
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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The 5th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus: We Are Not Done Yet-Remaining Challenges in Hepatitis C. Can J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2016; 2016:7603526. [PMID: 27843889 PMCID: PMC5098058 DOI: 10.1155/2016/7603526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects approximately 268,000 Canadians and results in more years of life lost than any other infectious disease in the country. Both the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) have identified HCV-related liver disease as a priority and supported the establishment of a National Hepatitis C Research Network. In 2015, the introduction of new interferon- (IFN-) free therapies with high cure rates (>90%) and few side effects revolutionized HCV therapy. However, a considerable proportion of the population remains undiagnosed and treatment uptake remains low in Canada due to financial, geographical, cultural, and social barriers. Comprehensive prevention strategies, including enhanced harm reduction, broader screening, widespread treatment, and vaccine development, are far from being realized. The theme of the 2016 symposium, "We're not done yet: remaining challenges in Hepatitis C," was focused on identifying strategies to enhance prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of HCV to reduce disease burden and ultimately eliminate HCV in Canada.
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