Photos suggest rhino horns have shrunk over past century, likely due to hunting

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDG

 

IMAGE: THEODORE ROOSEVELT STANDS ABOVE A BLACK RHINO HE HAS JUST KILLED (1911). view more 

CREDIT: NONE NEEDED

By scrutinising over a century’s worth of photos, University of Cambridge researchers have made the first ever measurements that show rhinoceros horns have gradually decreased in size over time.

The researchers measured the horns of 80 rhinos, photographed in profile view between 1886 and 2018. The photographs, held by the Rhino Resource Centre - an online repository - included all five species of rhino: white, black, Indian, Javan and Sumatran. Horn length was found to have decreased significantly in all species over the last century.

Real rhino horns are so valuable that strict security protocols typically prevent researchers accessing them for study, so this is the first time that horn length has been measured over a long timeframe.  

The researchers think rhino horns have become smaller over time due to intensive hunting. Rhino horns command a high price and are in demand both as a financial investment, and for their use in traditional medicines in China and Vietnam.

Hunting has not only caused severe declines in rhino populations; the researchers suggest that shooting rhinos with the longest horns has increasingly left smaller-horned survivors – which have reproduced more and passed on their smaller traits to future generations. This has been shown for other animals before, but never rhinos.

“We were really excited that we could find evidence from photographs that rhino horns have become shorter over time. They’re probably one of the hardest things to work on in natural history because of the security concerns,” said Oscar Wilson, formerly a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, first author of the report. Wilson is now based at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

He added: “Rhinos evolved their horns for a reason - different species use them in different ways such as helping to grasp food or to defend against predators - so we think that having smaller horns will be detrimental to their survival.”

The researchers also measured other body parts on each rhino photograph, including body and head length, so that horn length could be accurately measured in proportion to body size.

The report is published today in the journal People and Nature.

By analysing thousands of drawings and photographs made over the last 500 years, the researchers also saw a dramatic shift in human perceptions of rhinos around 1950, when the animals became the focus of conservation efforts rather than hunting.

“We found that we can use images from the last few centuries to visualise how human attitudes towards wildlife have changed, and how artists have influenced these views,” said Dr Ed Turner at the University’s Department of Zoology, senior author of the report.

Many hundreds of photographs showing rhinos shot dead by hunters, taken in the late 19th and early 20th century, are included in the collection. These include a photograph of American President Theodore Roosevelt, taken in 1911, standing triumphantly over a black rhino he had just killed.

Other early images show rhinos as huge, frightening animals chasing humans. The researchers think these images helped justify the hunting of these animals.

The images suggest that there was very little effort to promote rhino conservation to the public before the 1950s. But after this the focus suddenly changed from hunting the animals to trying to keep them alive. The researchers say this shift coincides with the collapse of European empires, when African countries became independent and European hunters no longer had easy access to Africa for hunting.

More recent images appear to reflect a growing awareness of the threats facing the natural world.

“For at least a few decades now there’s been much more of a focus on the conservation of rhinos – and this is reflected in the more recent images, which relate to their conservation in sanctuaries or their plight in the wild,” said Wilson.

The Rhino Resource Centre holds over 5000 illustrations and photographs of rhinos, drawn together from extensive archival research and submissions from rhino experts. Artwork covers over 500 years, and photographs cover the past 150 years.

Sumatran rhino in 1986 (IMAGE)

Rhino in a UK safari park.

CREDIT

Kees Rookmaaker

Indian rhinos in 2021 (IMAGE)

Indian rhinos (a mother and her calf) at Whipsnade Zoo, UK

CREDIT

Oscar Wilson

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JOURNAL

People and Nature

DOI

10.1002/pan3.10406 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Image-based analyses from an online repository provide rich information on long-term changes in morphology and human perceptions of rhinos

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Nov-2022

Singapore scientists crack the genome of Singapore's national flower

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AGENCY FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH (A*STAR), SINGAPORE

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS WITH THE PAPILIONANTHE MISS JOAQUIM. (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) PROF TEH BIN TEAN, DIRECTOR, SINGHEALTH DUKE-NUS INSTITUTE OF BIODIVERSITY MEDICINE, AND SENIOR GROUP LEADER OF THE LABORATORY OF BIODIVERSITY GENOMICS AT GIS, AND PROF PATRICK TAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GENOME INSTITUTE OF SINGAPORE. PHOTO CREDIT: SINGHEALTH view more 

CREDIT: SINGHEALTH

A collaboration between A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute of Biodiversity Medicine (BD-MED) has decoded the entire genetic blueprint of Singapore’s National Flower, Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, also commonly known as Vanda Miss Joaquim (VMJ). Chemical profiling, informed by the genome analysis, further uncovered natural products such as flavonols and anthocyanins, notable for their antioxidant properties and distinctive colour pattern. The study was published in Communications Biology on 15 September 2022.

VMJ was declared the National Flower of Singapore in 1981, and has since captured the fascination of both locals and tourists. The GIS and BD-MED teams employed various genetic sequencing technologies to assemble the entire VMJ genome for the first time, revealing a total of 19 chromosomes spanning 2.4 billion nucleic acid base pairs with approximately 32,000 genes. These genes influence the production of proteins which impact the orchid’s traits and cellular processes, and demonstrated the presence of natural products in our national flower responsible for its distinctive colour pigmentation, smell, and other natural bioactive compounds.

Knowledge of the VMJ genome enables the team to perform chemical profiling to uncover VMJ’s antioxidant properties and distinctive colour pattern—flavonols and anthocyanins. The orchid was also found to contain vandaterosides, a bioactive compound capable of slowing the skin-ageing process which was previously discovered in Papilionanthe Teres, the seed parent of VMJ.

Prof Teh Bin Tean, Director of SingHealth Duke-NUS BD-MED, and Senior Group Leader of the Laboratory of Biodiversity Genomics at A*STAR's GIS, said, “We are heartened to be able to construct and decipher the genetic blueprint of our national flower, and hope that this achievement will be a significant contribution to our national heritage. VMJ is an orchid hybrid with magnificent blooms, and it is widely used as a breeding stalk for over 400 various orchid hybrids. Findings on its genomic makeup could help us better understand how to enhance genomic resources and pave the way for future research in gene and metabolite engineering. Deciphering the genetic code of flora species such as the VMJ also allows us to uncover naturally occurring bioactive compounds, which could be used for healthcare purposes and to understand, prevent and fight diseases.”

Prof Patrick Tan, Executive Director of GIS, said, “Singapore’s biodiversity is well represented, with over 4,000 species of native flora which are threatened in the face of global climate irregularities and issues. Thanks to advancing sequencing technology, we are able to conserve the genomes of flora by preserving the genetic code through sequencing. We are tremendously honoured to start our journey studying Singapore’s plant biodiversity with our national flower.”

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JOURNAL

Communications Biology

ARTICLE TITLE

Genome assembly and chemogenomic profiling of National Flower of Singapore Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim ‘Agnes’ reveals metabolic pathways regulating floral traits

The WHAM Report: Investing just $40 million new dollars in lung cancer research related to women has dramatic impact on U.S. economy – even assuming the most minor health improvements

Reports and Proceedings

BURNESS

Greenwich, CT (November 1, 2022)—Doubling the funding for research focused on women and lung cancer will have enormous economic impacts for families and the nation, according to a new report released today by Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM), which commissioned The RAND Corporation to create this study on lung cancer in women. According to rigorous modeling based on a number of conservative estimates, even health improvements of 0.1 percent in mortality and quality of life will yield a return on investment of $1,200 for every additional dollar spent. Today’s findings mirror three previous studies from WHAM, which were executed by The RAND Corporation and show similar findings with respect to the power of investment for women’s health research associated with Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

 

For lung cancer, this is particularly critical because in the U.S., lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in women. More women die of lung cancer (estimated approximately 61,000 in 2022, according to CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians) than of breast, ovarian and cervical cancers combined. And non-smoking women are more than two times as likely to get lung cancer as their male counterparts, yet the sex disparities of the disease have yet to be thoroughly examined, and only 15 percent of lung cancer research is focused on women.

 

Lung cancer research receives the least amount of funding of the major cancers affecting women. The new report is a first-of-its-kind microsimulation model that examines socioeconomic impacts of investments in women’s health research in the U.S. – revealing critical gaps in the nation’s current research portfolio and the potential gain to the economy through greater funding.

 

The new research examines the return on investment if the research funding for women and lung cancer were doubled. Assuming that the additional research generates health improvements of only 0.1 percent or less in terms of age incidence, mortality and quality of life, the nation can reliably anticipate the following payoff:

• For the U.S. population aged 25 and older, more than 22,700 years can be saved across 30 years of extended life, with substantial gains in health-related quality of life.
• Approximately 2,500 more labor years (valued at $45 million in labor productivity) result from increased work time and longer life.

 

Overall, doubling the investment would have an expected ROI of more than 1,200 percent.

 

“These findings are stunning,” said WHAM Founder and CEO Carolee Lee. “Women are sick and dying from a disease that disproportionately affects them, yet research doesn’t acknowledge this fact. And the pain of disease is not just a medical problem by any means. This new data could not be more clear about the economic pain we all pay when women leave the workforce early to manage their own health or serve as caregivers for their loved ones. Women’s health is an economic issue that impacts everyone, and we can’t afford to ignore it.”

 

“This research shows that very small investments in women’s health can generate outsized returns, in part because women’s health research is still very much under-funded,” said Lori Frank, senior author of the study. “Our modeling suggests that even small investments in women’s lung cancer research could result in significant gains in health outcomes, health-related quality of life and workforce productivity. But it also points to the importance of addressing diseases that hit women harder; equity in medical research leads to meaningful benefits.”

 

“This report brings important new data to the case that we have been making for years: that lung cancer impacts women differently – both physically and societally – and these disparities must be addressed,” said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, President and CEO of GO2 for Lung Cancer and supporter of the report. “The WHAM findings not only underscore the need for legislation that expands resources to better understand the science of lung cancer in women, but also show how investing in research could result in economic benefits for women living with the disease.”

 

The WHAM Report can be a tool to help decisionmakers plan for future research strategies, help funders decide how to allocate their portfolios, and address the business case for payers and business leaders to invest in women’s health.

 

The report authors recommend expanding the research agenda to address multiple aspects of sex and gender in lung cancer using the limited evidence base, including:

• The unknown interactions of sex and gender with lung cancer etiology, risk factors and disease progression to inform treatment and prevention research.
• Understudied interactions of gender and race with lung cancer risk, health care and disease progression; in particular, examining obstacles to access to and use of diagnostic technology, including for personalized medicine.
• Differences by sex and gender in lifestyle impacts on disease.
• Differences in disease course and outcomes by sex and gender, based on different patterns of the use of formal and informal caregiving.

 

“Women are more than half of the population and workforce, control 60 percent of personal wealth, and are responsible for 85 percent of consumer spending and 80 percent of healthcare decisions,” said Lee. “Yet even while diseases impact them disproportionately and differently, pulling many from the workforce too soon, investment in women’s health research lags. This is such an easy win for our country.”

 

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WHAM (Women’s Health Access Matters, whamnow.org)
Women’s health is an economic issue we can’t afford to ignore. WHAM works to increase awareness of and funding for women’s health research by accelerating scientific discovery in women’s health in four primary disease verticals – autoimmune disease, brain health, cancer, and heart health. The WHAM Report quantifies the economic opportunity for investing in women’s health, looking across diseases that impact women differently and differentially, including coronary artery disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease. Learn more at www.thewhamreport.org.

 

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. Learn more at www.rand.org.

 

GO2 for Lung Cancer is leading the charge to confront lung cancer – and we're taking it on relentlessly from every front, every day. Founded by patients and survivors, we’re the go-to for one-on-one assistance, supportive connections, treatment information, and finding the best care in our local communities. We’re the place to go to learn about the latest research and special initiatives that increase survivorship – especially for our most vulnerable and underserved. We’re the source for improving health policies and leading public awareness to shift this disease from one of stigma to one of hope. Learn more at www.go2.org.

Calls for five year old students to learn how to protect themselves online

A new report has recommended early childhood school curriculums need to include cybersecurity education to protect children online.

Reports and Proceedings

EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: CYBERSECURITY EXPERTS SAY CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS FIVE NEED BE TO BE TAUGHT HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES ONLINE. view more 

CREDIT: PIXABAY

More children than ever are using the internet, and they’re using it younger than ever before. 

Now, a new report led by Edith Cowan University (ECU) Associate Professor and Security Research Institute (SRI) Deputy Co-Director Dr Nicola Johnson has recommended additional consultation around cybersecurity curriculum needs to occur.  

“We need to start early with five-year-olds. We need to get the curriculum ‘right’ for Western Australia. There is a need to educate people from a young age to protect themselves from common cybersecurity threats,” Dr Johnson said. 

Cybersecurity curriculum mapping 

The Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre 2022 report determined that WA school children might miss out on learning key cybersecurity skills in the current curriculum.  

“Exactly what needs to be taught surrounding cybersecurity needs to be very clear within the curriculum. Teachers need professional learning to help them teach cybersecure behaviour effectively and confidently. 

While primary students are taught about the dangers of using the internet and how to be safe online, the report pointed to the vagueness of what is to be covered in the new version of the Australian Curriculum. 

“It is only in year 11 and 12 elective subjects that students are taught what is now fundamental aspects of cybersecurity; this is too late,” Dr Johnson explained. 

In year 11, students completing Computer Science as a part of their WA ATAR are required to learn the role of ethical hacking in network security, penetration testing, encryption, and two-factor authentication.  

“There is a strong case for this key knowledge as well as Australian privacy principles and laws to be explicitly taught at much younger ages, given how cyber criminals so quickly and creatively come up with new ways to scam our citizens.” 

Securing the future of cybersecurity 

Australia is experiencing a critical shortfall in the cybersecurity workforce. 

Recognised by the Federal Government as the fastest growing employment sector with an estimated 17,000 new jobs by 2026, Dr Johnson says more intensive cyber security teaching in schools could ease future shortages. 

“By teaching content typically learned in senior secondary to younger children, we can reduce both future job shortages and the enormous cost of cybercrime,” Dr Johnson said. 

“We acknowledge that for these changes to be implemented, attention needs to be given to resourcing, particularly in regional schools. This can be achieved by further consultation with industry providers and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).” 

Dr Johnson is co-facilitating stakeholder consultation workshops at the end of November. Interested participants should make contact. 

The report was compiled with research from Edith Cowan University staff including Dr Nicola Johnson, Deputy Co-Director of the Security Research Institute (SRI), Associate Professor of Digital Technologies in Education, School of Education, Dr Leslie Sikos, SRI/School of Science, Dr Ahmed Ibrahim, SRI/School of Science, and Dr Cheryl Glowrey, School of Education.  

The project is supported by the Government of Western Australia, the Office of Digital Government (DGov), under its participation in Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC). ECU and SRI performs research and development as the CSCRC’s research provider. 

The work has been supported by the Cyber Security Research Centre Limited whose activities are partially funded by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme. 

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

Monoclonal antibody prevents malaria infection in African adults

Antibody protected NIH clinical trial participants during six-month malaria season

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NIH/NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

 

IMAGE: AN ANTIBODY DRUG CALLED CIS43LS PREVENTS MALARIA INFECTION BY INTERRUPTING THE LIFECYCLE OF THE PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM PARASITE. THE ANTIBODY BINDS TO AND NEUTRALIZES SPOROZOITES, THE STAGE OF THE PARASITE TRANSMITTED FROM MOSQUITOS TO HUMANS. view more 

CREDIT: NIH

One dose of an antibody drug safely protected healthy, non-pregnant adults from malaria infection during an intense six-month malaria season in Mali, Africa, a National Institutes of Health clinical trial has found. The antibody was up to 88.2% effective at preventing infection over a 24-week period, demonstrating for the first time that a monoclonal antibody can prevent malaria infection in an endemic region. These findings were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 2022 Annual Meeting in Seattle. 

“We need to expand the arsenal of available interventions to prevent malaria infection and accelerate efforts to eliminate the disease,” said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH. “These study results suggest that a monoclonal antibody could potentially complement other measures to protect travelers and vulnerable groups such as infants, children, and pregnant women from seasonal malaria and help eliminate malaria from defined geographical areas.” 

NIAID sponsored and funded the trial, which was led by Peter D. Crompton, M.D., M.P.H., and Kassoum Kayentao, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. Dr. Crompton is chief of the Malaria Infection Biology and Immunity Section in the NIAID Laboratory of Immunogenetics, and Dr. Kayentao is a professor at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies (USTTB) of Bamako, Mali. 

An estimated 241 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide in 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), resulting in an estimated 627,000 deaths, mostly in children in sub-Saharan Africa. These cases included more than 11 million pregnant women in Africa, resulting in an estimated 819,000 newborns with low birthweight and thus at increased risk for illness and death. 

The only malaria vaccine currently recommended by WHO, called RTS,S (Mosquirix), provides partial protection against clinical malaria during the early years of life when given to children aged 5 to 17 months in four doses over a 20-month period. Other drugs consisting of small chemical compounds that effectively prevent malaria infection are also available for infants and young children as well as travelers. The requirement for frequent dosing of these drugs can limit adherence, however, and the emergence of drug resistance may also limit their usefulness. Thus, there is an urgent need for new, fast-acting, infrequently dosed interventions that safely provide strong protection against malaria infection.

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. The mosquito injects the parasites in a form called sporozoites into the skin and bloodstream. These travel to the liver, where they mature and multiply. Then the mature parasite spreads throughout the body via the bloodstream to cause illness. P. falciparum is the Plasmodium species most likely to result in severe malaria infections, which, if not promptly treated, may lead to death.

The Phase 2 NIAID-USTTB trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of a one-time, intravenous infusion of a monoclonal antibody called CIS43LS. This antibody was previously shown to neutralize the sporozoites of P. falciparum in the skin and blood before they could infect liver cells. Researchers led by Robert A. Seder, M.D., isolated a naturally occurring form of this antibody from the blood of a volunteer who had received an investigational malaria vaccine, and then modified the antibody to extend the length of time it would remain in the bloodstream. Dr. Seder is the acting chief medical officer and acting associate director of the NIAID Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and chief of the VRC’s Cellular Immunology Section. 

The study team for the Phase 2 trial enrolled 369 healthy, non-pregnant adults aged 18 to 55 years in the rural communities of Kalifabougou and Torodo in Mali, where intense P. falciparum transmission typically occurs from July through December each year. 

The first part of the trial assessed the safety of three different doses of CIS43LS—5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, 10 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg—administered by intravenous infusion in 18 study participants, with six participants per dose level. The study team followed these participants for 24 weeks and found the antibody infusions were safe and well-tolerated.   

The second part of the trial assessed the efficacy of two different doses of CIS43LS compared to a placebo. Three hundred and thirty participants were assigned at random to receive either 10 mg/kg of the antibody, 40 mg/kg, or a placebo by intravenous infusion. No one knew who was assigned to which group until the end of the trial. The study team followed these individuals for 24 weeks, testing their blood for P. falciparum weekly for the first 28 days and every two weeks thereafter. Any participant who developed symptomatic malaria during the trial received standard treatment from the study team.

The investigators analyzed the efficacy of CIS43LS two ways. Based on the time to first P. falciparum infection over the 24-week study period, the high dose (40 mg/kg) of CIS43LS was 88.2% effective at preventing infection and the lower dose (10 mg/kg) was 75% effective. An analysis of the proportion of participants infected with P. falciparum at any time over the 24-week study period found the high dose was 76.7% at preventing infection and the lower dose was 54.2% effective.

“These first field results demonstrating that a monoclonal antibody safely provides high-level protection against intense malaria transmission in healthy adults pave the way for further studies to determine if such an intervention can prevent malaria infection in infants, children, and pregnant women,” Dr. Seder said. “We hope monoclonal antibodies will transform malaria prevention in endemic regions.”

Dr. Seder and colleagues have developed a second antimalarial monoclonal antibody, L9LS, that is much more potent than CIS43LS and therefore can be administered in a smaller dose as an injection under the skin (subcutaneously), rather than by intravenous infusion. An early-phase NIAID trial of L9LS in the United States found that the antibody was safe and prevented malaria infection for 21 days in 15 out of 17 healthy adults exposed to P. falciparum in a carefully controlled setting. Two larger, NIAID-sponsored Phase 2 trials assessing the safety and efficacy of L9LS in infants, children and adults are underway in Mali and Kenya. 

Additional information about the Phase 2 trial of CIS43LS is available at ClinicalTrials.gov under study identifier NCT04329104.

References:
K Kayentao. Testing the safety and efficacy of anti-malaria monoclonal antibodies in African adults and children. Session 41 - Progress in the discovery and clinical development of anti-malaria monoclonal antibodies. ASTMH 2022 Annual Meeting, Seattle. Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. 5:40 pm Pacific Time.

K Kayentao et al. Safety and efficacy of a monoclonal antibody against malaria in Mali. The New England Journal of Medicine DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2206966 (2022).

RL Wu et al. Low-dose subcutaneous or intravenous monoclonal antibody to prevent malaria. The New England Journal of Medicine DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2203067 (2022).

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NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website. 

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit https://www.nih.gov/. 

NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health®

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JOURNAL

New England Journal of Medicine

DOI

10.1056/NEJMoa2206966 

US-led panel exploring Cuba's solo development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines calls for lowering barriers blocking global access to the country’s biotech innovations

First high-level delegation in five years to visit Cuba; groundbreaking Havana dialogue seeks greater role for Cuba to confront “shocking inequities” in global access to medical advances

Reports and Proceedings

BURNESS

For more information, contact:

Preeti Singh at psingh@burness.com

On behalf of the delegation 

US-led Panel Exploring Cuba’s Solo Development and Deployment of COVID-19 Vaccines Calls for Lowering Barriers Blocking Global Access to the Country’s Biotech Innovations 

First high-level delegation in five years to visit Cuba; groundbreaking Havana dialogue seeks greater role for Cuba to confront “shocking inequities” in global access to medical advances

Exchange also focuses on Cuba’s exceptional COVID vaccine coverage for adults and children—far greater and achieved far earlier than wealthy countries

SEATTLE (October 31, 2022) — The first U.S.-led scientific delegation to visit Cuba in five years released a consensus report today concluding that this small country’s ability to develop and rapidly immunize more than 90 percent of its citizens with safe and effective homegrown COVID-19 vaccines should serve as a model for confronting global public health emergencies in low-resource settings and the developing world.

The call for greater engagement with Cuba’s biotech sector was among the key conclusions of Cuba’s COVID-19 Vaccine Enterprise: Report from a High-Level Fact-Finding Delegation to Cuba, released today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

“What we learned about Cuba’s extraordinary COVID-19 vaccine work made it clear that it can be an important player for increasing global access to life-saving advances. And while the politics are complex, we must confront the barriers preventing its impressive brain trust of scientists and public health experts from doing so,” said Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Osterholm served as co-leader of the delegation alongside Cristina Rabadán-Diehl, PharmD, PhD, MPH, a scientist who spent 25 years leading international work at the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services before becoming Associate Director of Clinical Trials for Westat. The delegation (see delegation members below) was organized by MEDICC (Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba), a U.S.-based non-profit that promotes health-related dialogue and collaboration. The delegation also had members from Africa and the Caribbean and collectively brought expertise in public health systems, infectious diseases, biotechnology, and vaccine development.

The engagement was supported, in part, by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.

“The pandemic we are still fighting today has been greatly prolonged — at the cost of millions of lives and billions of dollars — by shocking inequities in access to vaccines and treatments,” Rabadán-Diehl said. “Cuba alone cannot close this gap, but it could make a much greater contribution. While there are internal challenges in areas like manufacturing capacities and publishing peer-reviewed studies, current external economic barriers on biotech and pharmaceutical products and investments are a significant limitation. They should be removed for the health of people in low- and middle-income countries in the Americas and beyond.”

The delegation’s report found that despite existing restrictions, over the last few decades Cuba has slowly developed a global network of biotech partnerships. They include a recent agreement with the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, to conduct clinical trials in the US on a Cuban biotech treatment for lung cancer. Delegation members cited these collaborations as a framework for wider engagement, alongside Cuba’s existing partnerships with the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization. The delegation also called for greater Cuban involvement in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Bank’s new Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response.

Lessons from Cuba’s Decision to Fly Solo on COVID-19 Vaccines

The impetus for the delegation mission was to meet directly with Cuban scientists and public health experts to learn more about an unusual moment in the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-2020, concerned that it would not be able to procure vaccines from global suppliers, Cuba made the risky decision to go it alone and pursue a completely independent COVID-19 vaccine development program. The country’s biotech sector ended up taking two vaccine regimens through phase 3 trials and emergency use authorization. They were then distributed via Cuba’s health system to achieve one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world — including 97 percent coverage of Cubans aged 2-18 years old, the highest pediatric coverage reported globally.

The vaccines utilize well-known technologies that allow them to be stored with conventional refrigeration, compared to the ultra-cold temperatures required for mRNA vaccines. They have received emergency use authorizations from several countries, including Mexico, Iran, Viet Nam, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Belarus and Venezuela. Efforts are underway to secure an Emergency Use Listing from WHO.

Delegation members were especially interested in whether Cuba’s unprecedented pediatric coverage could point to a potential pathway for reducing disease transmission across all age groups. They observed that children often serve as significant vectors for accelerating the spread of infectious diseases to populations more at risk, such as the elderly. (And childhood immunization with other types of vaccines—notably pneumococcal vaccines—have been credited with significantly reducing infections for all.) The report called for an international collaboration with Cuban scientists and public health officials to assess the impact of high pediatric vaccination coverage with COVID-19 vaccines.

Delegation members also were intrigued by recent studies initiated by Cuban scientists to assess the potential of one of their COVID-19 vaccines, known as SOBERANA Plus, to be used globally as a “universal booster.” Cuban scientists are investigating whether it can effectively boost protection regardless of the initial vaccine series and also boost protection provided by prior infection — even in the unvaccinated.

The delegation report called for Cuban scientists to move more quickly to secure peer-reviewed publication of their clinical trial results. The group found that, while they understood Cuban scientists were working in challenging circumstances, a lag in publishing phase 3 results likely “delayed global access to Cuba’s COVID-19 vaccines.”

Meanwhile, delegation members noted that Cuban health professionals expressed a willingness to collaborate with other health systems to share strategies for rapidly achieving high vaccine coverage during public health emergencies — and especially in low-resource settings. The report went on to note that Cuba’s biotech capabilities could help address the growing disparity in access to health innovations to fight the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries.

The report explained that members were “not functioning as a regulatory review or certification body,” nor did they “seek independent verification of the data presented” on vaccine efficacy or coverage. But they cited Cuba’s previous record for developing safe, effective vaccines.

Overall, they said their goal was to engage with peers who “share a commitment to promoting scientific collaborations that seek to address the global gap in access to high-impact health innovations and interventions, a long-term disparity magnified by the pandemic.” They noted that “our delegation and our Cuban colleagues benefited from open, transparent scientific engagement, a prerequisite for the bilateral and multilateral collaboration urgently needed today to effectively prevent and address global health emergencies.”

# # #

DELEGATION MEMBERS ISSUING THIS REPORT

Co-Leaders:

• Michael T. Osterholm PhD is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, and director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP).
• Cristina Rabadán-Diehl PharmD PhD MPH spent more than two decades at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and also the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she was Director of the Office of the Americas. She is now Associate Director for Clinical Trials at Westat.

Members:

• Joshua Anzinger PhD is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the West Indies Department of Microbiology and Consultant Virologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies, both in Kingston, Jamaica.
• Maria Elena Bottazzi PhD is Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Co-director of Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She is co-creator of the patent-free technology behind the Corbevax COVID-19 vaccine.
• Celia Christie-Samuels MBBS DM Peds MPH FAAP FIDSA FRCP(Edin) is Professor of Paediatrics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica and former director of their Vaccines Infectious Diseases Centre and Jamaica’s Perinatal, Paediatric and Adolescent HIV/AIDS Programme.
• Ngozi Erondu PhD MPH is an infectious disease epidemiologist who serves as Technical Director of the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE) and provides technical support for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and governments in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
• Jeanne Marrazzo MD MPH FACP FIDSA holds the C. Glenn Cobbs Endowed Chair and is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine.
• Sandra Milan Phd Bio is a Vice President, Project Team Leadership, Molecular Oncology at Genentech. She has more than 20 years of industry experience, including two years of vaccine development work and 18 years of developing oncology therapeutics.
• Peter Kojo Quashie PhD is a Senior Research Fellow at the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), University of Ghana, where his focus areas include molecular virology, antiviral therapeutics and antimicrobial drug mechanisms and resistance.
• Thomas Schwaab MD is an immunologist at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center where he serves as Chief of Strategy, Business Development and Outreach, and CEO of Global Biotechnology and Cancer Therapeutics (CBGT).
• David Williams MA MPH MDiv PhD is the Norman Professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health . He is also Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.

Experts pave the way for safer surgery to address global elective waiting lists

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

 

VIDEO: MR. ANEEL BHANGU TALKS ABOUT TWO STUDIES THAT WILL HELP TO PROVIDE SAFER SURGERY FOR THOUSANDS OF PATIENTS AROUND THE WORLD – PARTICULARLY IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Surgical care experts have today unveiled two studies in The Lancet that will help to provide safer surgery for thousands of patients around the world – particularly in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMIC).

Researchers found that routinely changing gloves and instruments just before closing wounds could significantly reduce Surgical Site Infection (SSI) – the world’s most common post-operative complication. Secondly, they tested a new toolkit that can make hospitals better prepared for pandemics, heatwaves, winter pressures and natural disasters that could reduce cancellations of planned procedures around the world.

Surgical infections

Patients in LMICs are disproportionately affected by wound infections, but following a trial of the procedure in Benin, Ghana, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa, researchers found that a routine switch of gloves and instruments during abdominal wound closures could prevent as many as 1 in 8 cases of SSI.

The ChEETAh trial was funded by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Publishing their findings today in The Lancet, researchers are calling for the practice to be widely implemented – particularly in LMICs.

Co-author Mr Aneel Bhangu, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “Surgical site infection is the world’s most common postoperative complication - a major burden for both patients and health systems. Our work demonstrates that routine change of gloves and instruments is not only deliverable around the world, but also reduced infections in a range of surgical settings. Taking this simple step could reduce SSIs by 13% - simply and cost-effectively.”

Patients who develop SSI experience pain, disability, poor healing with risk of wound breakdown, prolonged recovery times and psychological challenges. In health systems where patients have to pay for treatment this can be a disaster and increases the risk of patients being plunged into poverty after their treatment. The simple and low-cost practice of changing your gloves and instruments just before closing the wound is something which can be done by surgeons in any hospital around, meaning a huge potential impact.

Surgical Preparedness Index

Experts from the NIHR Global Research Health Unit on Global Surgery also unveiled their ‘Surgical Preparedness Index’ (SPI) today in The Lancet – a key study assessing the extent to which hospitals around the world were able to continue elective surgery during COVID-19.

Researchers identified different features of hospitals that made them more or less ‘prepared’ for times of increased pressure. They used COVID-19 as an important example, but highlighted that health systems are put under stress for all sorts of reasons each year – from seasonal pressures to natural disasters, and warfare. A team of clinicians from 32 countries designed the SPI which scores hospitals based on their infrastructure, equipment, staff, and processes used to provide elective surgery. The higher the resulting SPI score, the more prepared a hospital is for disruptions.

After creating the SPI tool, the experts asked 4,714 clinicians in 1,632 hospitals across 119 countries to assess the preparedness of their local surgical department. Overall most hospitals around the world were poorly prepared, and suffered a big drop in the number of procedures they were able to provide during COVID-19. The team found that a 10-point increase in the SPI score corresponded to four more patients that had surgery per 100 patients on the waitlist.

Lead author Mr. James Glasbey, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “Our new tool will help hospitals internationally improve their preparation for external stresses ranging from pandemics to heatwaves, winter pressures and natural disasters. We believe it help hospitals to get through their waiting lists more quickly, and prevent further delays for patients. The tool can be completed easily by healthcare workers and managers working in any hospital worldwide - if used regularly, it could protect hospitals and patients against future disruptions.”

Professor Dion Morton, Barling Chair of Surgery at the University of Birmingham and Director of Clinical Research at the Royal College of Surgeons of England commented: “Although not all postoperative deaths are avoidable, many can be prevented by increasing investment in research, staff training, equipment, and better hospital facilities. We must invest in improving the quality of surgery around the world.”

Dr Sarah Puddicombe, Assistant Director for Global Health at NIHR Coordinating Centre, said: "This important study helps pave the way to make surgery significantly safer for thousands of patients around the world. It is just one of many exciting findings that are beginning to emerge from NIHR-funded Global Health Research Units, Groups and projects working with partners around the world. We are committed to research that contributes to the health and wealth of the nation and benefits people and communities globally."

ENDS

For more information, embargoed copies of the papers or interviews, please contact:

• Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0) 121 414 8254 or +44 (0)782 783 2312 or t.moran@bham.ac.uk. For out-of-hours enquiries, please call +44 (0) 7789 921 165.

Notes for editors

• The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
• The following two papers will be published in The Lancet:

‘Routine sterile glove and instrument change at the time of abdominal wound closure to prevent surgical site infection: pragmatic, cluster randomised trial in seven low and middle income countries (ChEETAh)’ - NIHR Global Research Health Unit on Global Surgery. Journalists may wish to use this post-embargo link in their pieces: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01884-0/fulltext

‘Elective surgery system strengthening: development, measurement, and validation of the Surgical Preparedness Index (SPI) across 1,632 hospitals in 119 countries’ - NIHR Global Health Unit on Global Surgery, COVIDSurg Collaborative. Journalists may wish to use this post-embargo link in their pieces: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01846-3/fulltext   

• The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:

• Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care
• Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research
• Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future
• Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services
• Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy

• The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR commissions applied health research to benefit the poorest people in low- and middle-income countries, using Official Development Assistance funding.
• NIHR funder the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery built capacity and sustainable surgical research infrastructures in partner LMICs. The Unit working closely together with its UK and LMIC partners to deliver research studies and disseminate the findings.

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JOURNAL

The Lancet

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Routine sterile glove and instrument change at the time of abdominal wound closure to prevent surgical site infection: pragmatic, cluster randomised trial in seven low and middle income countries (ChEETAh)/

Violent supershear earthquakes are more common than previously thought

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES

Powerful supershear earthquakes, once considered rare, are much more common than previously thought, according to a study led by UCLA geophysicists and published today in Nature Geoscience.

The scientists analyzed all 6.7-or-greater magnitude strike-slip earthquakes worldwide since 2000 — there were 87 in all — and identified 12 of the supershear type, or about 14%. (Four of those earthquakes were previously unreported.)

That percentage is more than double what scientists expected; until now less than 6% of strike-slip earthquakes had been identified as supershear.

Strike-slip earthquakes occur when the edges of two tectonic plates rub sideways against each other. Supershear quakes are a subtype of that group that are caused when faults beneath the surface rupture faster than shear waves — the seismic waves that shake the ground back and forth — can move through rock. The effect corrals energy that is then released violently; the effect can be compared to a sonic boom.

As a result, supershear earthquakes tend to cause more shaking, and are potentially more destructive, than other earthquakes that have the same magnitude.

“When an airplane flies faster than sound can travel through air, a cone of pent-up sound waves forms in front of the plane and when it catches up, we hear it all at once,” said Lingsen Meng, UCLA’s Leon and Joanne V.C. Knopoff Professor of Physics and Geophysics, and the paper’s corresponding author. “Supershear earthquakes are potentially more destructive than other kinds of earthquakes because they are more effective at generating seismic waves, with more shaking, which could cause more damage.”

The research also found that supershear earthquakes occur as commonly beneath the oceans as they do on land, and that they are most likely to occur along strike-slip faults, such as California’s San Andreas Fault.

The findings suggest that disaster planning efforts should take into consideration whether nearby faults are capable of producing supershear earthquakes and, if so, take measures to prepare for a higher level of shaking and potential damage than could be caused by non-supershear earthquakes.

Meng said the reason relatively few supershear earthquakes have been found is that researchers mainly study earthquakes on land.

The paper’s co-authors are UCLA doctoral students Han Bao and Liuwei Xu of UCLA and Jean-Paul Ampuero, a senior researcher at Université Côte d’Azur in Nice, France.

The scientists used a method called backprojection to determine the direction in which seismic waves arrived to infer how fast an earthquake moves along the fault. The technique applies an algorithm to analyze brief time delays between seismic waves as they’re detected by a group of sensors. The method is similar to how one can locate a person by tracking the signals their smartphone sends to cell towers.

The data revealed supershear earthquakes tend to occur on mature strike-slip faults, in which the edges of two continental plates rub laterally against each other. In a mature fault, that action has been happening for long enough to create a zone of damaged rocks that act like a dam around the fault, slowing or blocking seismic wave propagation and concentrating their energy.

Ampuero said the findings could help scientists better understand what it takes for a fault to produce the kinds of ruptures that lead to supershear earthquakes.

In the past century, at least one large supershear earthquake has occurred in California: In 1979, a 6.5-magnitude quake in Southern California’s Imperial Valley region injured people as far away as Mexico and caused extensive damage to irrigation systems. And, although it predated scientific monitoring, the 1906 earthquake that caused extensive damage in San Francisco likely also fell into the supershear category.

Not all supershear earthquakes are that disastrous. The shape of the fault, the rocks around it, and other factors can affect the propagation of seismic waves and limit the accumulation of energy. Faults that curve tend to slow, deflect or absorb seismic waves, while straight faults let them flow freely.

In a previous study, Meng’s research group identified the catastrophic 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in 2018 as a supershear event. The temblor and ensuing tsunami killed at least 4,000 people. Despite the curve in the Indonesian earthquake fault, the horrific damage occurred because the fault moved faster than any previously recorded and energy from earlier temblors likely were stored up in the rocks, awaiting a moment to burst, Meng said.

Fortunately, Meng said supershear earthquakes in the ocean are less likely than earthquakes that cause the sea floor to move vertically to produce tsunamis.

The San Andreas Fault, on the other hand, is mostly straight and could experience an even more explosive rupture than the Sulawesi quake.

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JOURNAL

Nature Geoscience