Lindsey Wu

Bio: Lindsey Wu is an academic researcher from University of London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Malaria & Chemistry. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 28 publications receiving 682 citations. Previous affiliations of Lindsey Wu include Imperial College London.

Neglected Disease Research and Development: How Much Are We Really Spending?

Abstract: The need for new pharmaceutical tools to prevent and treat neglected diseases is widely accepted [1]. The creation of a vaccine for HIV/AIDS, more effective diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB), and better treatments for leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness would greatly improve health in the developing world in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. However, funders wishing to invest in this vitally important area currently face an information gap. There is little consensus on what constitutes a neglected disease or what new products are required [2]. Health research funding figures have been published by the Council on Health Research for Development and the Global Forum for Health Research [3,4], but these do not disaggregate product-related research and development (R&D) or neglected disease investments. Specific R&D investment data are available for some neglected diseases—including annual surveys of HIV/AIDS and TB funding since 2000 and 2005, respectively [5,6], and a one-off survey of malaria R&D funding published in 2005 [7]—but these cannot readily be compared since each survey uses different methodologies and covers different diseases, products, donors, and countries. For most neglected diseases, there is simply no information. In order to address these information deficits, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned the George Institute for International Health to conduct five sequential annual surveys of global investment into R&D of new pharmaceutical products to prevent, manage, or cure diseases of the developing world. This article summarises key data from the first G-FINDER report (http://www.thegeorgeinstitute.org/prpppubs).

Comparison of diagnostics for the detection of asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections to inform control and elimination strategies

Abstract: The global burden of malaria has been substantially reduced over the past two decades. Future efforts to reduce malaria further will require moving beyond the treatment of clinical infections to targeting malaria transmission more broadly in the community. As such, the accurate identification of asymptomatic human infections, which can sustain a large proportion of transmission, is becoming a vital component of control and elimination programmes. We determined the relationship across common diagnostics used to measure malaria prevalence - polymerase chain reaction (PCR), rapid diagnostic test and microscopy - for the detection of Plasmodium falciparum infections in endemic populations based on a pooled analysis of cross-sectional data. We included data from more than 170,000 individuals comparing the detection by rapid diagnostic test and microscopy, and 30,000 for detection by rapid diagnostic test and PCR. The analysis showed that, on average, rapid diagnostic tests detected 41% (95% confidence interval = 26-66%) of PCR-positive infections. Data for the comparison of rapid diagnostic test to PCR detection at high transmission intensity and in adults were sparse. Prevalence measured by rapid diagnostic test and microscopy was comparable, although rapid diagnostic test detected slightly more infections than microscopy. On average, microscopy captured 87% (95% confidence interval = 74-102%) of rapid diagnostic test-positive infections. The extent to which higher rapid diagnostic test detection reflects increased sensitivity, lack of specificity or both, is unclear. Once the contribution of asymptomatic individuals to the infectious reservoir is better defined, future analyses should ideally establish optimal detection limits of new diagnostics for use in control and elimination strategies.

Evaluating the impact of pulse oximetry on childhood pneumonia mortality in resource-poor settings

Abstract: It is estimated that pneumonia is responsible for 15% of childhood deaths worldwide. Recent research has shown that hypoxia and malnutrition are strong predictors of mortality in children hospitalized for pneumonia. It is estimated that 15% of children under 5 who are hospitalized for pneumonia have hypoxaemia and that around 1.5 million children with severe pneumonia require oxygen treatment each year. We developed a deterministic compartmental model that links the care pathway to disease progression to assess the impact of introducing pulse oximetry as a prognostic tool to distinguish severe from non-severe pneumonia in under-5 year olds across 15 countries with the highest burden worldwide. We estimate that, assuming access to supplemental oxygen, pulse oximetry has the potential to avert up to 148,000 deaths if implemented across the 15 countries. By contrast, integrated management of childhood illness alone has a relatively small impact on mortality owing to its low sensitivity. Pulse oximetry can significantly increase the incidence of correctly treated severe cases as well as reduce the incidence of incorrect treatment with antibiotics. We also found that the combination of pulse oximetry with integrated management of childhood illness is highly cost-effective, with median estimates ranging from US$2.97 to $52.92 per disability-adjusted life year averted in the 15 countries analysed. This combination of substantial burden reduction and favourable cost-effectiveness makes pulse oximetry a promising candidate for improving the prognosis for children with pneumonia in resource-poor settings.

Optimisation and standardisation of a multiplex immunoassay of diverse Plasmodium falciparum antigens to assess changes in malaria transmission using sero-epidemiology.

Abstract: Background: Antibody responses have been used to characterise transmission and exposure history in malaria-endemic settings for over a decade. Such studies have typically been conducted on well-standardised enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). However, recently developed quantitative suspension array technologies (qSAT) are now capable of high-throughput and multiplexed screening of up to hundreds of analytes at a time. This study presents a customised protocol for the Luminex MAGPIX © qSAT using a diverse set of malaria antigens. The aim is to develop a standardised assay for routine serological surveillance that is implementable across laboratories and epidemiological settings. Methods: A panel of eight Plasmodium falciparum recombinant antigens, associated with long- and short-lived antibody responses, was designed for the Luminex MAGPIX © platform. The assay was optimised for key steps in the protocol: antigen-bead coupling concentration, buffer composition, serum sample dilution, and bead storage conditions. Quality control procedures and data normalisation methods were developed to address high-throughput assay processing. Antigen-specific limits of quantification (LOQs) were also estimated using both in-house and WHO reference serum as positive controls. Results: Antigen-specific bead coupling was optimised across five serum dilutions and two positive controls, resulting in concentrations operational within stable analytical ranges. Coupled beads were stable after storage at room temperature (22⁰C) for up to eight weeks. High sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing positive and negative controls at serum sample dilutions of 1:500 (AUC 0.94 95%CI 0.91-0.96) and 1:1000 (AUC 0.96 95%CI 0.94-0.98) were observed. LOQs were also successfully estimated for all analytes but varied by antigen and positive control. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that developing a standardised malaria-specific qSAT protocol for a diverse set of antigens is achievable, though further optimisations may be required. Quality control and data standardisation methods may also be useful for future analysis of large sero-epidemiological surveys.

Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease

Abstract: Despite economic and medical advances, acute rheumatic fever and consequent rheumatic heart disease remain a major public health burden in low and middle-income countries, and a designated priority for the World Health Organisation. The clinical consequences are major and enduring, particularly for women of child-bearing age, and access to diagnosis, preventive therapy and transcatheter or surgical interventions remains a challenge. Herein, we provide a summary of key aspects of the condition, with particular focus on epidemiology, pathogenesis and immune mechanisms, diagnosis and clinical manifestations, contemporary management and preventive strategies.

A checklist for health research priority setting: nine common themes of good practice

Abstract: Health research priority setting processes assist researchers and policymakers in effectively targeting research that has the greatest potential public health benefit. Many different approaches to health research prioritization exist, but there is no agreement on what might constitute best practice. Moreover, because of the many different contexts for which priorities can be set, attempting to produce one best practice is in fact not appropriate, as the optimal approach varies per exercise. Therefore, following a literature review and an analysis of health research priority setting exercises that were organized or coordinated by the World Health Organization since 2005, we propose a checklist for health research priority setting that allows for informed choices on different approaches and outlines nine common themes of good practice. It is intended to provide generic assistance for planning health research prioritization processes. The checklist explains what needs to be clarified in order to establish the context for which priorities are set; it reviews available approaches to health research priority setting; it offers discussions on stakeholder participation and information gathering; it sets out options for use of criteria and different methods for deciding upon priorities; and it emphasizes the importance of well-planned implementation, evaluation and transparency.

Challenges and prospects

Abstract: VOLUME ONE: CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Banana Time: Job Satisfaction and Informal Interaction - Donald Roy Perceptions and Methods in Men Who Manage - Melville Dalton Men and Women of the Corporation - Rosabeth Kanter Manufacturing Consent - Michael Burawoy Breakfast at Spiro's: Dramaturgy and Dominance - Michael Rosen The World of Corporate Managers - Robert Jackall Engineering Humour: Masculinity Joking and Conflict in Shop-Floor Relations - David Collinson Extract from Crafting Selves: Power Gender and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace - Dorinne Kondo Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High-Tech Corporation - Gideon Kunda Theorizing Managerial Work: A Pragmatic Pluralist Approach to Interdisciplinary Research - Tony Watson Rational Choice Situated Action and the Social Control of Organizations: The Challenger Launch Decision - Diane Vaughan Strategizing as Lived Experience and Strategists - Dalvir Samra-Fredericks Power Control and Resistance in 'The Factory that Time Forgot' - Mahmoud Ezzamel et al. Extract from Talking about Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job - Julian Orr Extract from The Business of Talk: Organizations in Action - Diedre Boden Extract from Investigating Small Firms: Nice Work? - Ruth Holliday Narrative Interviewing and Narrative Analysis in a Study of a Cross-Border Merger - Anne-Marie Soderberg Speech Timing and Spacing: The Phenomenon of Organizational Closure - Francois Cooren and Gail T. Fairhurst, VOLUME TWO: METHODS APPROACHES TECHNIQUES: GUIDES AND EXEMPLARS The Infeasibility of Invariant Laws in Management Studies: A Reflective Dialogue in Defence of Case Studies - Tsuyoshi Numagami The Interview: From Neutral Stance to Political Involvement - Andrea Fontana and James Frey Rethinking Observation: From Method to Context - Michael Agrosino et al. Notes on (Field) notes - James Clifford The Textual Approach: Risk and Blame in Disaster Sensemaking - Robert Gephart Triangulation in Organizational Research: A Re-presentation - Julie Wolfram Cox and John Hassard The Storytelling Organization: A Study of Performance in an Office Supply Firm - David Boje Semiotics and the Study of Occupational and Organizational Cultures - Stephen Barley The Use of Grounded Theory for the Qualitative Analysis of Organizational Behaviour - Barry Turner Reflecting on the Strategic Use of CAQDAS to Manage and Report on the Qualitative Research Process - Mark Wickham and Megan Woods Longitudinal Field Research on Change - Andrew Pettigrew Historical Perspectives in Organization Studies: Factual Narrative and Archeo-Genealogical - Michael Rowlinson Action Research: Explaining the Diversity - Cathy Cassell and Phil Johnson Photography and Voice in Critical Qualitative Management Research - Samantha Warren Moments Mixed Methods and Paradigm Dialogues - Norman Denzin VOLUME THREE: PRACTICES AND PREOCCUPATIONS Extract from The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research - Norman Denzin and Yvonna Lincoln Learning to Be a Qualitative Management Researcher - Catherine Cassell et al. Getting In Getting On Getting Out and Getting Back - David Buchanan et al. Reflections on the Researcher-Researched Relationship: A Woman Interviewing Men - Terry Arendell Real-Time Reflexivity: Prods to Reflection - Karl Weick Towards an Integrative Reflexivity in Organizational Research - Leah Tomkins and Virginia Eatough Appealing Work: An Investigation of How Ethnographic Texts Convince - Karen Golden-Biddle and Karen Locke The Philosophy and Politics of Quality in Qualitative Organizational Research - John Amis and Michael Silk Objectivity and Reliability in Qualitative Analysis: Realist Contextualist and Radical Constructionist Epistemologies - Anna Madill et al. Whatever Happened to Organizational Ethnography: A Review of the Field of Organizational Ethnography and Anthropological Studies - S.P. Bate Working with Pluralism: Determining Quality in Qualitative Research - Mark Easterby-Smith, Karen Golden-Biddle and Karen Locke The Role of the Researcher: An Analysis of Narrative Position in Organisation Theory - Mary Jo Hatch The Professional Apprentice: Observations of Fieldwork Roles in Two Organizational Settings - John Van Maanen and Deborah Kolb In Defense of Being "Native": The Case for Insider Academic Research - Teresa Brannick and David Coghlan Ethics and Ethnography - Robert Dingwall Extract from Qualitative Methods in Management Research - Evert Gummesson Making Sense as a Personal Process - Judi Marshall My Affair with the "Other": Identity Journeys across the Research-Practice Divide - Laura Empson VOLUME FOUR: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS Secrecy and Disclosure in Fieldwork - Richard Mitchell Organization Science as Social Construction: Postmodern Potentials - Kenneth Gergen and Tojo Joseph Thatchenkerry Farewell to Criteriology - Thomas Schwandt Reflexive Inquiry in Organizational Research: Questions and Possibilities - Ann Cunliffe The Action Turn: Towards a Transformational Social Science - Peter Reason and William Torbert Signing My Life Away? Researching Sex and Organization - Joanna Brewis Evaluating Qualitative Management Research: Towards a Contingent Criteriology - Phil Johnson et al. Postcolonialism and the Politics of Qualitative Research in International Business - Gavin Jack and Robert Westwood Organization Studies and Epistemic Coloniality in Latin America: Thinking Otherness from the Margins - Eduardo Ibbaro-Colado Fitting Oval Pegs into Round Holes: Tensions in Evaluating and Publishing Qualitative Research in Top-Tier North American Journals - Michael Pratt Hegemonic Academic Practices: Experiences of Publishing from the Periphery - Susan Merilainen et al., Case Study as Disciplinary Convention: Evidence from International Business Journals - Rebecca Piekkari, Catherine Welsh and Eriikka Paavilainen Managerialism and Management Research: Would Melville Dalton Get a Job Today? - Emma Bell Ways of constructing research questions: gap-spotting or problematization? - Jorgen Sandberg and Mats Alvesson