Research

The Buruli Ulcer Foundation's sister non-profit, the McCord Research Foundation, is a proud financial contributor to the Aquatic Entomology Lab (commonly referred to as the Merritt Lab) at Michigan State University and the Small Lab at the University of Tennessee.

The Merritt Lab

The Merritt Lab is a group of undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral associates and research associates that study and research the ecology of aquatic insects, under the direction of Dr. Richard Merritt. Among other projects, one of the Merritt Lab's current focuses is investigating possible links among biting aquatic insects, water quality, landscape and Buruli ulcer transmission in Ghana and other regions in West Africa.

The McCord Research Foundation's grant enhances funding by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation to conduct a five-year study to identify the transmission and causes of the Buruli ulcer in Ghana. The NIH and NSF grants were awarded jointly to Michigan State University and the University of Tennessee to study this problem.

The McCord Research Foundation grant will assist the Merritt Lab in conducting ecological sampling and assessment in the rivers and streams of Ghana to determine what factors and environmental conditions encourage the growth, development and spread of the bacteria that causes the Buruli ulcer. It is also being used to set up prophylactic education programs as well as support groups for children and their families who are already suffering with the effects of the ulcer.

By determining the origin of the disease and how it's transmitted, we hope to eventually stop it at its source and prevent children from ever contracting it at all.

Meet the Merritt Lab Team:
Dr. Richard Merritt, Ph.D.
Dr. Mollie McIntosh, Ph.D.
Ryan Kimbirauskas, M.A.

The Small Lab

The Buruli Ulcer Research Group at University of Tennessee is composed of undergraduate research students, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who conduct research on the pathogenesis, genetics and ecology of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of the Buruli ulcer under the direction of Pamela L. Small, Professor of Microbiology. The laboratory serves as a training ground for foreign students and visiting scientists interested in conducting research on the Buruli ulcer and has hosted trainees from Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria.

The Small lab disseminates M. ulcerans strains and defined mutants to the academic committee and produces the M. ulcerans toxin mycolactone to an international group of researchers under a contract from the World Health Organization. Post-doctoral fellow Dr. Heather Williamson, Graduate Student Lydia Mosi, and undergraduate Amy Heathcott are key members of the Small Lab Buruli Ulcer Team.