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Research in situ

Nature Methods volume 4, pages 887–890 (2007)Cite this article

Research performed where epidemics hit the hardest is necessary to bring solutions to the major health crises that plague poverty-stricken areas. Far from being limited to these areas, 'research in situ' can benefit health management worldwide. There are pressing technological needs to be addressed in order to facilitate such research.

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Figure 1: African Giant Pouched rats, which have been trained to detect landmines, are also being trained to detect tuberculosis by the Apopo program in Tanzania.
Figure 2: A Togatainer, being installed at the Gugulethu Clinic, Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, has an electrical generator, information systems and laboratory equipment needed for monitoring HIV treatment.

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Acknowledgements

I thank E. Harris for critical and creative comments, and for sharing a manuscript in press for my review; L.-G. Bekker for information about the Togatainer; and J. Sanchez and J. Peinado for information about CLIS, the study-scheduling software.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert M. Grant is at the J. David Gladstone Institutes and University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA. robert.grant@ucsf.edu,

    Robert M Grant

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Competing interests

R.M.G. is the principal investigator of a HIV chemoprophylaxis prevention trial that is sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health, co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and uses study medication donated by Gilead Sciences. He has received reagents or services to support research from Monogram Biosciences, Abbott Laboratories, Seimens and Roche Molecular Systems.

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Grant, R. Research in situ. Nat Methods 4, 887–890 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth1119

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