Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Programme for Research in Tropical Medicine

The Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust (MLW) Research Programme is based in Blantyre, Malawi, at its Wellcome Trust-funded research laboratories. These were opened on 22 January 1999, and are adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Central Teaching Hospital and the University of Malawi College of Medicine.

Director

Professor Rob Heyderman.

Activities

The programme investigates health problems of local and regional significance such as malaria, HIV/AIDs, anaemia, tuberculosis and other bacterial and viral infections. The MLW Programme is currently supported by core funds to provide central facilities to support a number of fellowships and project grants.

Malawian collaborating institutions

The Programme works in collaboration and partnership with the University of Malawi College of Medicine. The partnership of over ten years has helped to strengthen the research capacity in Malawi and to improve diagnosis and treatment of serious diseases in the country.

UK collaborating institutions

The Programme has direct collaborative links with the University of Liverpool and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Other collaborations

Professor Terrie Taylor, Michigan State University, is a close and long-standing collaborator studying the pathophysiology of severe malaria. A number of Malawian PhD studentships funded by the Gates Malaria Partnership are based at and supervised by Programme staff, as well as Wellcome Trust-funded Fellows.

Wellcome Trust-funded Fellows based at the Programme

The Programme hosts clinical and basic scientists holding a range of Wellcome Trust intermediate and training fellowships.

There are also close collaborations with UK-based researchers, including Professor Peter Winstanley (Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Liverpool), Professor Steve Ward (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) and Dr Alister Craig (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), among others.