We are pleased to share our new podcast series, Elimination Exchange, which explores the tools, interventions, and innovations that will help us consign infectious diseases of poverty to the history books.

This first episode* features Professor Dan Fletcher from the University of California, Berkeley, discussing the LoaScope, an innovative field diagnostic tool developed by his group to help accelerate progress towards onchocerciasis elimination in Africa.

You can listen to this podcast on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and by subscribing to our RSS Feed.

These podcasts will be published every two months and will feature interviews with experts in disease elimination and eradication from around the world.

If you are interested in learning more about the LoaScope, please refer to the articles below:

  • Breslauer D., Maamari R., Switz N Lam W. and Fletcher D. Mobile phone based clinical microscopy for global health applications. PLoS One. 2009 Jul 22;4(7):e6320. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006320. PMID: 19623251; PMCID: PMC2709430.
  • D’Ambrosio M, Bakalar M, Bennuru S, Reber C, Skandarajah A et al. Point-of-care quantification of blood-borne filarial parasites with a mobile phone microscope. Sci Transl Med. 2015 May 6;7(286):286re4. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa3480. PMID: 25947164.
  • Herrick J. Test-and-not-treat: importance for mass drug administration. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020 Jan;20(1):8-10. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30533-X. Epub 2019 Oct 31. PMID: 31676243.
  • Kamgno J, Pion S, Chesnais C, Bakalar M, D’Ambrosio M et al. A Test-and-Not-Treat Strategy for Onchocerciasis in Loa loa–Endemic Areas. N Engl J Med 2017; 377:2044-2052.doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1705026. Epub 2017 Nov 8. PMID: 29116890; PMCID: PMC5629452.
  • Kamgno J, Nana-Djeunga H, Pion S, Chesnais C, Klion et.al. Operationalization of the test and not treat strategy to accelerate the elimination of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis in Central Africa. Int Health. 2018 Mar 1;10(suppl_1):i49-i53. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihx051. PMID: 29471340; PMCID: PMC6282645.

*This episode was recorded in July 2021. Music by Benoît Combreas.

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