Research and innovation

  • Only 3.6% of global clinical trials take place in Africa (clinicaltrials.gov).
  • Many diseases remain understudied due to a lack of research adapted to local contexts.
  • About 20% of ALIMA’s work is dedicated to humanitarian medical research. 

In the face of health crises and humanitarian challenges, medical research plays a key role in adapting care to real-world conditions. ALIMA bridges the gap between research and humanitarian action to develop innovative solutions and improve the effectiveness of medical interventions in Africa. 

Humanitarian context and challenge

A lack of research in humanitarian contexts

Clinical research is essential to improve medical care, yet it remains underdeveloped in low-income countries. This leads to:

  • A lack of clinical trials adapted to the needs of humanitarian fields.
  • An insufficient response to emerging epidemics, due to a lack of existing and locally available treatments.
  • Standardized care protocols are incomplete for certain diseases in Africa.

 

💡 Why does this matter?

  • An urgent need for solutions adapted to low-resource contexts.
  • An essential link between humanitarian action and medical innovation.
  • An opportunity to sustainably improve the health of vulnerable populations. 

 

📌 Over 50 research projects have been conducted by ALIMA since 2009.
📌 Over 10 ongoing projects, covering infectious diseases, malnutrition, and maternal and child health

➡️ To address these challenges, ALIMA places research and innovation at the heart of its mission. 

ALIMA’s action

💡 How does ALIMA link research and humanitarian action?

ALIMA develops collaborative and operational research projects to improve medical care in emergency contexts

 

🔹 CORAL: a unique collaborative research platform 

🔬 Launched in 2016, the Clinical and Operational Research Alliance (CORAL) brings together:

  • ALIMA
  • Inserm GHiGS (Global Health in the Global South)
  • PACCI (ANRS Program, Côte d’Ivoire)

 

🎯 Goal: integrating medical research into humanitarian action in Africa to fight emerging diseases and improve maternal and child health. 

 

🔹Improving malnutrition management  

OptiMA (Optimizing the Management of Acute Malnutrition) 
  • Tested in Burkina Faso (2016-2018), OptiMA has proven its effectiveness by simplifying treatment protocols for faster and more accessible care.
  • The program is being expanded to Niger, Mali, and DRC to treat more children.
  • MUAC for Mothers: a tool that enables mothers to detect malnutrition early using a simple bracelet to measure their child’s upper arm circumference.

 

🔹Clinical research on viral hemorrhagic fevers 

Response to Ebola outbreaks and other emerging infectious diseases
  • During the 2018-2019 Ebola outbreak in the DRC, ALIMA, in collaboration with the PALM consortium, helped identify two treatments that reduced mortality rates to less than 20% (compared to up to 90% previously). 
  • Development of innovative solutions such as the CUBE (Biosecure Emergency Room for Epidemics), allowing safe patient care in high-risk environments. 

 

📌 ALIMA is currently leading several studies on emerging infectious diseases to test drugs for Lassa fever (INTEGRATE) or for Ebola post-exposure prophylaxis (IMOVA, EBOPEP).

 

Our research partners 

ALIMA collaborates with many research centers, universities, and health institutions

 

🏛 Academic and medical institutions 

  • Inserm – French National Institute for Health and Medical Research
  • IRD – Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
  • ISPED – Institute of Public Health, Epidemiology, and Development
  • ITM – Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
  • INRB – National Institute for Biomedical Research, DRC

 

International organizations and research programs

  • NIH – U.S. National Institutes of Health
  • ANRS-MIE – French National Agency for Research on Emerging Infectious Diseases
  • EDCTP – Europe-Developing Countries Partnership for Clinical Trials
  • ALERRT – African Coalition for Training and Response in Epidemic Research

 

💊 Clinical research initiatives

  • PAC-CI – ANRS Program Côte d’Ivoire
  • DNDi – Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative
  • Unitaid, GiveWell Foundation, Fondation WAM

 

Our main ongoing research programs 

  • Wakobo Ti Kodro
  • Nutrivax Measle
  • RISQ
  • OPTIMAX
  • EBO-PEP
  • IMOVA
  • INTEGRATE

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  • To adapt care to real-world challenges.
  • To improve protocols for the management of understudied diseases.
  • To strengthen responsiveness to emerging epidemics. 
  • Child malnutrition (OptiMA, MUAC for Mothers)
  • Viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, Lassa)
  • Maternal and child health & pediatrics (AIRE, Wakobo)

Through collaborations with international research institutes and funding from organizations such as Unitaid, EDCTP, ANRS-MIE, and the GiveWell Foundation. 

On the ground

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